LINCOLN  ROOM 


.,1 


'*<^- 

:!^' 


l^M 


V  Ah ;.,(/.' ■,-e(^< 


I,     fTT  ;.  • 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 

MEMORIAL 

the  class  of  1901 

founded  by 
HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 
and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


-^'■Xk 


:-'-  -r  X  --te 


^^w^^^ 


^^^ 


1% 


->'' 


t^imMmm 


^Ut-^ 


Z  ^.-^j^-?--i^-w  ^^y  ^  /' 


>'    /y. 


//   '   ^774  c///-\^     n  J    /2-    .Vv'^'V^^    /- 


; 


/     Ut^J-/  i    ■  r    / 


/    ^      L 


III  //V  /'/ 


/ 


^?    a 


/ 


L-l/-^t^'^  i^  '  ^' 


L'Abbe  Chiniouy 


THK    Al'dSri.K   (>:•■    IKMl'KKANCK  <)i'   CANADA. 


F/'om  a  faiiitino-  fa  ken  in  1846 


Notre  Dome,  Montreal. 


FIFTY    YEARS 


IN  THE 


CHURCH  OF  ROME. 


FATHER  CHINIQUY, 

THE    APOSTLE    OF    TEMPERANCE    OF    CANADA. 

AVTROR   OF    "  THE   MANUAL   OF    TEMPERANCE,"    "  THE   PRIEST,  THE   WOMAN  ANB   TMB 
CONFESSIONAL,"   "PAPAL  IDOLATRY,"   "  ROMB  AND   EDUCATION,"   «TC. 


KIKTEENTH    EDITION 


CHICAGO: 
ADAM    CRAIG,  77  and  79  JACKSON    STREET. 


COPYRIGHT, 

1886. 

BY  REV.  CHARLES  CHINIQUY,  ST.  ANNE,  KANKAKEE  CO.,  nX. 


Dedication. 


I 


TO  COLONEL  EDWIN  A.  SHERMAN. 

Allow  me  to*nention  _your  name  the  first  among  the  many  to  whom  1 
^•dicate  this  book. 

I  owe  this  to  yovi  as  a  token  of  gratitude  for  your  help  in  my  researches 
after  the  true  murderers  of  our  martyred  President  Abraham  Lincoln. 

I  found  you  as  wise  and  honorable  in  your  counsels  as  our  country 
found  you  brave  on  the  battlefields  of  Liberty. 

TO  TH1-:  ORANGEMEN'  OF   THE  UNITED  STATES,  CANADA, 

GREAT  BRITAIN,  AUSTRALIA,  TASMANIA 

AND  NEW  ZEALAND,* 

this  book  is  also  dedicated  by  the  humblest  of  their  brethren. 

Orangemen  !  Read  this  book :  you  will  not  only  understand  Roman- 
i«ni  as  you  never  did,  but  you  will  find  many  new  reasons  to  be,  more  than 
erer,  vigilant,  fearless  and  devoted,  even  to  death,  in  the  discharge  of  the 
sacred  duties  imposed  upon  you  by  your  love  for  your  country,  your  breth- 
ren and  your  God. 

TO  THE  HONEST  AND  LIBERTY-LOVING  PEOPLE   OF   THE 

UNITED  STATES, 
I  also  dedicate  this  book. 

Americans  !  You  are  sleeping  on  a  volcano,  and  you  do  not  suspect  it  t 
You  ar«  pressing  on  your  bosom  a  viper  which  will  bite  you  to  death,  and 
you  do  not  know  it. 

Read  this  book,  and  you  will  see  that  Rome  is  the  sworn,  the  most  im- 
placable, the  absolutely  irreconcilable  and  deadly  enemy  of  your  schools, 
your  institutions,  your  so  dearly  bought  rights  and  liberties. 

••L.   O.  A.   B.  A.   BoTNK  L.   O.   L.  No.  401. 

Montreal,  aoth  SepL,  1878. 
This  is  to  Certify  that  Bro.  C.   Chioiquv   was   duly  initiated   into   Boyne  L.  O.  L.  No. 
4DI,  and  is  a  member  in  ^ood  standing,  and  we  do  therefore  request  all  Brethren  to  receive 
Aim  as  such,  whereof  witness  our  hand  ard  seal  hereto  affixed. 

Master  No.  401. 

John  Hamu.ton,  Secretary. 


4  DEDICATION. 

Read  this  book,  and  you  will  not  only  understand  that  it  is  to  Rome 
you  owe  the  rivers  of  blood  and  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  the  last  civil 
war:  but  you  will  learn  that  Romanism  and  Liberty  can  not  live  on  the 
same  ground.     This  has  been  declared  by  the  Popes,  hundreds  of  times. 

Read  this  book:  And  you  will  not  only  see  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
murdered  by  Rome,  but  you  will  learn  that  Romanism,  under  the  mask  of 
religion,  is  nothing  but  a  permanent  political  conspiracy  against  all  the 
most  sacred  rights  of  man  and  the  most  holy  laws  of  God. 

In  those  pages  you  will  not  learn  to  hate  the  Roman  Catholics.  No  ! 
But  you  will  learn  to  be  more  than  ever  watchful  in  guarding  the  precious 
treasures  of  Freedom  bestowed  upon  you  by  your  fathers.  You  will  learn 
never  to  let  them  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who,  with  the  sacred  name  or 
Liberty  on  their  lips,  and  the  mask  of  Liberty  on  their  faces,  are  sworn  to 
destroy  all  Liberty. 

TO  ALL  THE  FAITHFUL  MINISTERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL, 

I  also,  dedicate  this  book. 

Venerable  Ministers  of  the  Gospel  !  Rome  is  the  great  danger  ahead 
for  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  you  do  not  understand  it  enough. 

The  atmosphere  of  light,  honesty,  truth  and  holiness  in  which  you  are 
born,  and  which  you  have  breathed  since  your  infancy,  makes  it  almost  im- 
possible for  you  to  realize  the  dark  inysteries  of  idolatry,  immorality,  degra- 
ding slavery,  hatred  of  the  Word  of  God,  concealed  behind  the  walls  of  that 
modern  Babylon.  You  are  too  honest  to  suspect  them;  and  your  precious 
time  is  too  much  taken  up  by  the  sacred  duties  of  your  ministry,  to  study  the. 
long  labyrinth  of  argumentations  which  form  the  bulk  of  the  greater  num- 
ber of  controversial  books.  Besides  that,  the  majority  of  the  books  of  con- 
troversv  against  Rome  are  of  such  a  dry  character  that,  though  many  begin 
to  read  them,  verv  few  have  the  courage  to  go  to  the  end.  The  consequence 
is  an  ignorance  of  Romanism  which  becomes  more  and  more  deplorable 
and  fatal,  every  day. 

It  is  ignorance  which  paves  the  way  to  the  triumph  of  Rome,  in 
a  near  future,  if  there  is  not  a  complete  change  in  your  views,  on  that 
subject. 

It  is  that  ignorance  which  paralyzes  the  arm  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and 
makes  the  glorious  word  "  Protestant "  senseless,  almost  a  dead  and  ridicu- 
lous Avord.  For  who  does  really  protest  against  Rome,  to-day  .''  where  are 
those  who  sound  the  trumpet  of  alarm  ? 

When  Rome  is  striking  you  to  the  heart  by  ci.rsing  your  schools  and 
wrenching  the  Bible  from  the  hands  of  your  children ;  when  she  is  not  only 
battering  your  doors,  but  scaling  your  walls  and  storming  your  citadels, 
how  few  dare  go  to  the  breach  and  repulse  the  audacious  and  sacrilegious 
fo«  ? 

Why  so  ?  Because  moaern  Protestants  have  not  only  forgotten  what 
Rome  was,  what  she  is,  and  what  she   will  forever  be:  the  most  irrecon- 


FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME.  ."i 

cilable  and  powerful  enemy  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ;  but  they  consider  her 
almost  a  branch  of  the  church  whose  corner-stone  is  Christ. 

Faithful  ministers  of  the  Gospel  !  I  present  you  this  book  that  you  may 
know  that  the  monster  Church  of  Rome,  who  shed  the  blood  of  your  fore- 
fathers, is  still  at  work,  to-day,  at  your  very  door,  to  enchain  your  people  to 
the  feet  of  her  idols.  Read  it,  and  for  the  first  time,  you  will  see  the  inside 
life  of  Popery  with  the  exactness  of  Photography.  From  the  supreme 
art  with  which  the  mind  of  the  young  and  timid  child  is  fettered,  en- 
chained and  paralyzed,  to  the  unspeakable  degradation  of  the  priest  under 
the  iron  heel  of  the  bishop,  everything  will  be  revealed  to  you  as  it  has 
never  been  before. 

The  superstitions,  the  ridiculous  and  humiliating  practices,  the  secret 
and  mental  agonies  of  the  monks,  the  nuns  and  the  priests,  will  be  shown  to 
you  as  they  were  never  shown  before.  In  this  book,  the  sophisms  and  errors 
of  Romanism  are  discussed  and  refuted  with  a  clearness,  simplicity  and 
evidence  which  my  twenty-five  years  of  priesthood  only  could  teach  me.  It 
is  not  in  boasting  that  I  say  this.  There  can  be  no  boasting  in  me  for  hav- 
ing been  so  many  years  an  abject  slave  of  the  Pope.  The  book  I  offer  you 
is  an  arsenal  filled  with  the  best  weapons  you  ever  had  to  fight,  and,  with  the 
help  of  God,  conquer  the  foe. 

The  learned  and  zealous  champion  of  Protestantism  in  Great  Britain 
Rev.  D.  Badenoch,  who  has  revised  the  manuscript,  wrote  to  a  friend:  "I 
do  iiot  think  there  is  a  Protestant  work  more  thrilling  in  interest  and  more 
important  at  the  present  time.  It  is  not  only  full  of  incidents,  but  also  of 
arguments,  on  the  side  of  truth  with  all  classes  of  Romanists,  from  the 
bishops  to  the  parish  priests.  I  know  of  no  work  which  gives  so  graphically 
the  springs  of  Roman  Catholic  life,  and  at  the  same  time,  meets  the 
plausible  objections  to  Protestantis'm  in  Roman  Catholic  circles.  I  wish 
with  all  my  heart  that  this  work  would  be  published  in  Great  Britain." 

The  venerable,  learned  and  so  well  known  Rev.  Dr.  Kemp,  Principal 
of  the  Young  Ladies'  College  of  Ottawa,  Canada,  only  a  few  days  before  his 
premature  death,  wrote:  "  Mr.  Chinqiuy  has  submitted  every  chapter  of  his 
*  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome  '  to  me:  I  have  read  it  with  care  and 
with  the  deepest  interest ;  and  I  commend  it  to  the  public  favor  in  the  high- 
est terms.  It  is  the  only  book  I  know  that  gives  anything  like  a  full  and 
authentic  account  of  the  inner  workings  of  Popery  on  this  continent,  and  so 
effectively  unmasks  its  pretence  to  sanctity.  Besides  the  moft  interesting 
biographical  incidents,  it  contains  incisive  refutations  of  the  most  plausible 
assumptions  and  deadly  errors  of  the  Romish  Church.  It  is  well  fitted  to 
awaken  Protestants  to  the  insidious  designs  of  the  arch-enemy  of  their 
faith  and  liberties,  and  to  arouse  them  to  a  decisive  opposition.  It  is  written 
in  a  kindly  and  Christian  spirit,  does  not  indulge  in  denunciations,  and, 
while  speaking  in  truth,  it  does  so  in  love.  Its  style  is  lively  and  its  English 
good,  with  only  a  delicate  flavor  of  the  author's  native  French." 


6  DEDICATION. 

TO  THE  BISHOPS,  PRIESTS  AND  PEOPLE  OF  ROME, 

this  book  is  also  dedicated. 

In  the  name  of  your  immortal  souls,  I  ask  you,  Roman  Catholics,  to 
read  this  book. 

By  the  mercy  of  God,  you  will  find,  in  its  pages,  how  you  are  cruelly 
deceived  by  your  vain  and  lying  traditions. 

You  will  see  that  it  is  not  through  your  ceremonies,  masses,  confessions, 
purgatory,  indulgences,  fastings,  etc.,  you  are  saved.  You  have  nothing  to 
do  but  to  believe,  repent  and  love. 

Salvation  is  a  gift  !  Eternal  life  is  a  gift  !  Forgiveness  of  sin  is  a  gift  I 
Christ  is  a  gift  ! 

Read  this  book,  presented  by  the  most  devoted  of  your  friends,  and,  by 
the  mercy  of  God,  you  will  see  the  errors  of  your  ways — you  will  look  to 
the  GIFT —  you  will  accept  it — and  in  its  possession  you  will  feel  rich  and 
happy  for  time  and  eternity. 


SPECIAL  NOTICE 

TO  NEW  EDITION. 


Since  the  publication  of  the  second  edition  of  "  Fifty  Years  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,"  the  incendiary  torch  of  the  foe  has  twice  reduced  into 
ashes  the  electrotype  plates,  with  many  volumes  already  printed,  and  about 
to  be  delivered  to  subscribers. 

Though  those  two  disasters  have  completely  ruined  me  financially, 
they  have  not  discouraged  me,  for  my  trust  was  in  God,  and  in  Him 
alone.  Relying  on  JMs  divine  and  paternal  protection,  I  offer  this  New 
Edition  to  my  brethren,  with  the  prayerful  hope  that  the  Good  Master  will 
bless  it  for  His  glory,  and  the  good  of  His  elect,  wherever  it  may  go. 

I  have  no  words  to  sufficiently  bless  the  friends  who  have  extended 
to  me  a  helping  hand  to  raise  the  book  from  its  fiery  grave;  and  I  can- 
not sufficiently  thank  the  Press,  both  religious  and  secular,  of  Europe 
and  America,  for  the  kind  appreciation  given,  almost  everywhere,  to  mj 
humble   labor. 

May  this  book,  with  the  help  of  God,  be  the  means  of  giving  liberty 
to  those  who  are  held  in  the  bondage  of  ignorance,  superstition  and 
idolatry,  is  the  sincere  desire  of  their  friend, 

C.  CHINIQUY. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Frontispiece — Father  Chiniquy, 

"  "  "  IN  Priest's  Robes, 

Festivities  in  a  Parsonage, .  54 

Grand  Dinner  of  the  Priests, 205 

Cardinal  Newman, ^05 

Fall  of  the  "  Holy  Fathers,"         ......  ^36 

Leo  XIII.,  present  Pope, 676 

Abraham  Lincoln, 693 


k 


Contents. 


Pago. 
TITLE I 

Dedication 3-7 

Preface  to  Third  Edition 8 

Chapter  I. 
The  Bible  and  the  Priest  of  Rome 9 

Chapter  II. 
M^  firet  school-days  at  St.  Thomas— The  Monk  and  Celibacy 14-31 

Chapter  III. 
The  Confession  of  Children 23-30 

Chapter  IV. 
The  Shepherd  whipped  b_v  his  Sheep 31-40 

Chapter  V. 
The  Priest,  Purgatory,  and  the  poor  Widow's  Cow 41-48 

Chapter  VI. 
Festivities  in  a  Parsonage 49-5^ 

Chapter  VII. 
Preparation  for  the  First  Communion — Initiation  to  Idolatry 57-6o 

Ch.\pter  VIII. 
The  First  Communion 61-65 

Chapter  IX. 
Intellectual  Education  in  the  Roman  Catholic  College 66-74 

Chapter  X. 
Moral  and  Religious  Instruction  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Colleges.       7S-^5 


>  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Chapter  XI.  Page. 

Protestant  Children  in  the  Convents  and  Nunneries  of  Rome S6-93 

CH.\PTER    XII. 

Rome  and  Education — Why  does  the  Church  of  Rome  hate  the 
Common  Schools  of  the  United  States,  and  wants  to  destroy 
them .- — Why  does  she  object  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the 
Schools .' 94-1 1 7 

Ch.\pter   XIII. 

Theolog_v  of  the  Church  cf  Rome:  its  Anti-Social  and  Anti-Chris- 
tian Character 11S-128 

Chapter    XIV. 
The  Vow  of  Celibacy 1 29-140 

Chapter  XV. 
The  Impurities  of  the  Theology  of  Rome 141-153 

Chapter  XVI. 
The  Priest  of  Rome  and  the  Holy  Fathers ;  or,  how  I  swore  to  give 

up  the  Word  of  God  to  follow  the  word  of  Men   154-162 

Chapter  X\'II. 
TTie  Roman  Catholic  Priesthood,  or  Ancient  and  Modem  Idolatry,  163-172 

Chapter   XVIII. 

Nine  Consequences  of  the  Dogma  of  Transubstantiation — The  old 

Paganism  under  a  Christian  name 173-182 

Chapter  XIX. 
Vicarage,  and  Life  at  St  Charles,  Rivierre  Boyer 183-194 

Chapter  XX. 
Papineau  and  the  Patriots  in  1S33 — The  burning  of  '*  Le  Canadien  " 

by  the  Curate  of  St,  Charles 195-203 

Chapter    XXI. 
Grand    Dinner  of  the   Priests — The  Maniac   sister  of   Rev.  Mr. 

Perras 304-215 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Chapter  XXII.  Page. 

I  am  appointed  Vicar  of  the  Curate  of  Charlesbourgh — The  Pietjr, 

Lives  and  Deaths  of  Fathers  Bedard  and  Perras 216-326 

Chapter   XXIII. 
The  Cholera  Morbus  of  1834 — Admirable  courage  and  self-denial 

of  the  Prie>.ts  of  Rome  during  the  epidemic 327-235 

Chapter    XXIV. 
I    am    named    a    Vicar  of   St.  Roch,  Quebec  City — The  Rev.  Mr. 

Tetu — Tertullian — General  Cargo — Tha  Seal  Skin>  2},f>-2^i 

Chaptkr   XXV. 

Simony — Strange  and  sacrilegious  traffic  in  the  so-called  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  —Enormous  sums  of  Money  made  by  the  sale 
of  Masses — The  Society  of  three  Masses  abolished  and  the 
Societv  of  one  Ma>>i  established 242-251 

Chaptkk    .\  \  \  i 
Continuation  of  the   trade  in  Masvfs .    252-260 

Chapter   .\.\\1I. 

Quebec  Marine  Hospital — The  first  time  I  carried  the  "  Bon  Dieu" 
(the  wafer  god)  in  my  vest  pocket — The  Grand  Oyster  Soiree 
at  Mr.  Buteau's — The  Rev.  L.  Parent  and  the  "  Bon  Dieu  "  at 
the  Oyster  Soiree 261-267 

Chapter  XXVIII. 

Dr.  Douglas — My  First  Lesson  on  Temperance — Study  of  Anatomy 
— Working  of  Alcohol  in  the  Human  Frame — The  Murderess 
of  her  own  Child — I  forever  give  up  the  use  of  Intoxicating 
Drinks 26S-282 

Chapter    XXIX. 

Conversions  of  Protestants  to  the  Church  of  Rome — Rev.  Anthony 
Parent,  Superior  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec:  His  peculiar 
way  of  finding  access  to  the  Protestants  and  bringing  them  to 
the  Catholic  Church — How  he  spies  the  Protestants  through 
the  Confessional — I  persuade  ninety -three  Families  to  become 
Catholics 283- 29J 


Xll  FIFTY    VI   ^RS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Chapter  XXX. 
The  Murders  and  Thefts  in  Quebec  from  1835  to  1886— The  night 
Excursion  with  two  Thieves — The  Restitution — The  Dawn  of 
Light 294-303 

Chapter  XXXI. 
Chambers  and  his  AccompHces  Condemned  to  death — Asked  me 
to  prepare  them  for  their  terrible  Fate^ — A  week  in  their  Dun- 
geon— Their  Sentence  of  Death  changed  to  Deportation  to 
Botany  Bay — Their  Departure  for  exile — I  meet  one  of  them  a 
sincere  Convert,  very  rich,  in  a  high  and  honorable  position  in 
Australia  in  1S78 304-317 

Chapter  XXXII. 
The  Miracles  of  Rome — Attack  of  Typhoid  Fever — Apparation  of 
St.  Anne  and  St.  Philomene — My  Sudden  Cure — The  Curate 
of  St.  Anne  Du   Nord,  Mons.  Ranvoise,  almost  a  disguised 
Protestant 313-334 

Chapter  XXXIII. 
My  Nomination  ao  Curate  of  Beauport — Degradation  and  Ruin  of 
that  place  through  Drunkenness — My  opposition  to  rny  nomi- 
nation useless— Preparation  to  Establish  a  Temperance  Society 
— I  write  to  Father  Mathew  for  advice 33S-34* 

Chapter    XXXIV. 
The  Hand  of  God  in  the  establishment  of  a  Temperance  Society  in 

Beauport  and  Vicinity 343-350 

Chapter   XXXV. 
F^imdation  of  Temperance  Societies  in  the  neighboring  Parishes — 
Providential  arrival  of  Monsignor  De  Forbin  Janson,  Bishop  of 
Nancy — He  publicly  defends  me  against  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
and  forever  breaks  the  opposition  of  the  Clergy 35^-359 

Chapter  XXXVI. 
The  God  of  Rome  eaten  by  Rats 360-367 

Chapter  XXXVII. 
Visit   of  a    Protestant   stranger — He   throws   an    Arrow   into   my 

Priestly  Soul  never  to  be  taken  out 368-373 

Chapter  XXXVIII. 
ff.rection   of   the    Column   of    Temperance — School  Buildings — A 

noble  and  touching  act  of  the  people  at  Beauport 374-383 


CONTEXTS.  X!i: 

Chapter  XXXIX 
Sent  to  succeed  Rev.  Mr   Varin,   Curate   of   riamouraska — Stem 
opposition   of   that    Curate   and    the   suriounding   Priests  and 
People — Hours  of  Desolation  in  Kamouraska — The  good  Mas- 
ter allays  the  Tempest,  and  bids  the  Waves  be  still 384-39J 

Chapter  XL. 
Organization  of  Temperance  Societies  in  Kamouraska  and  sur- 
rounding Country — The  Girl  in  the  Garb  of  a  man  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Curates  of  Quebec  and  Eboulements — Frightened 
by  the  Scandals  seen  everywhere — Give  up  my  Parish  of 
Kamouraska  to  join  the  "  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  of 
Longueuiel." 394-403 

Chapter  XLI. 
Perversions  of  Dr.  Newman  to  the  Church  of  Rome  in  the  light 
of   his   own    explanations,    Common  Sense  and  the  Word  of 
God 404-430 

Chapter  XLII. 
Noviciate  in  the  Monastery  of  the  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  of 
Longueuiel — Some  of  the  thousand  Acts  of  Follji^and  Idolatry 
which  form  the  life  of  a  Monk — The  Deplorable  Fall  of  one  of 
the  Fathers — F'all  of  the  Grand  Vicar  Quiblier — Sick  in  the 
Hotel  Dicu  of  Montreal — Sister  Urtubise,  what  she  says  of 
Maria  Monk — The  two  Missionaries  to  the  Lumbermen — Fall 
and  Punishment  of  a  Father  Oblate — What  one  of  the  best 
Father  Oblates  thinks  of  the  Monks  and  the  Monastery 431-449 

Ch.\pter  XLIII. 
I  accept  the  hospitality  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  of  Longueuiel — I 
Give  my  reasons  for  leaving  the  Oblates  to  Bishop  Bourget — 
He  presents  ine  with  a  splendid  Crucifix  blessed  by  his  Holiness 
for  me,  and  accepts  my  services  in  the  cause  of  Temperance 
in  the  Diocese  of  Montreal 450-456 

Chapter  XLIV. 
Preparation  for  the  last  Conflict — Wise  Counsel,  Tears  and  Distress 
of  Father  Mathew — Longueuiel  the  first  to  accept  the  great  re- 
form of  Temperance — The  whole  District  of  Montreal,  St. 
Hyacinthe  and  Three  Rivers  Conquered — The  City  of  Montreal 
with  the  Sulpicians  take  the  Pledge — Gold  Medal— Officially 
named  Apostle  of  Temperance  in  Canada — Gift  of  £500  from 
Parliament 457-469 


XIV  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Chapter  XLV. 
My  Sermon  on  rhe  Virgin  Mary — Compliments  of  Bishop  Prince 
— Stormy  Night— First  serious  doubts  about  the  Church  of 
Rome — Faithful  discussion  with  the  Bishop — The  Holy  Fath- 
ers opposed  to  the  modern  Worship  of  the  Virgin — The 
Branches  of  the  Vine 470-483 

Chapter  XLVI. 
The  Holy  Fathers — New  mental  troubles  at  not  finding  the  Doc- 
trines  of   my    Church   in  their  writings — Purgatory   and   the 
Sucking  Pig  of  the  Poor  Man  of    Varennes 4S4-496 

Chapter  XLVII. 
Letter  from  the  Rev.  Bishop  Vandeveld  of  Chicago — Vast  project 
of  the  Bishop  of  the  United  States  to  take  possession  of  the 
Rich  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Prairies  of  the  West, 
to  rule  that  Great  Republic — They  want  to  put  me  at  the  head 
of  the  Work — My  Lecture  on  Temperance  at  Detroit — 
Intemperance  of  the.  Bishops  and  Priests  of  that  City 497-505 

Chapter  XLVIII. 
My  visit  to  Chicago  in  1S57 — Bishop  Vandeveld — His  Predecessor 
Poisoned — Magniflcient  Prairies  of  the  West — Return  to  Cana- 
da— Bad  Feelings  of  Bishop  Bourget — I  decline  sending  a  rich 
Woman  to  the  Nunnery  to  enrich  the  Bishop — A  Plot  to  Des- 
troy me 506-521 

Chapter  XLIX. 
The  Plot  to  Destroy  me — The  Interdict — The  Retreat  at  the  Jesuits' 
College — The  Lost  Girl,  Employed  by  the  Bishop,  retracts — • 
The  Bishop  Confounded,  sees  his  Injustice,  makes  amends — 
Testimonial  Letters — The  Chalice — The  Benediction  before  I 
leave  Canada 522-534 

Chapter  L. 
Address  presented  me  at  Longueuil — I  arrive  at  Chicago — I  select 
the  spot  for  my  Colony — I  build  the  first  Chapel — Jealousy  and 
Opposition  of  the  Priests  of  Bourbonnais  and  Chicago — Great 
Success  of  the  Colony 535-54^ 

Chapter  LI. 
Intrigues,  Impostures,  and  Criminal  life  of  the  Priests  in  Bourbon- 
nais—Indignation  of  the  Bishop — The   People  ignominiously 
turn  out  the  Criminal  Priests   from   their    Parish — Frightful 
Scandal — Faith  in  the  Church  of  Rome  seriously  Shaken 542-553 


CONTENTS.  XT 

Chapter  LII.  Pagre- 

Correspondence  with  the  Bishop 554-5^9 

Chapter  LIII. 
The  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary S70-579 

Chapter  LIV. 
The  Abomination  of  Auricular  Confession 5S0-602 

Chapter  LV. 

The  Ecclesiastical   Retreat — Conduct  of  the   Priests — The  Bishop 

Forbids  me  to  Distribute  the  Bible 603-616 

Chapter  LVI. 

Public  Acts  of  Simony — Thefts  and  Brigandage  of  Bishop  O'Regan 
— General  Cry  of" Indignation — I  determine  to  resist  him  to  his 
face — He  employs  Mr.  tjpink  again  to  send  me  to  Gaol,  and  he 
fails — Drags  me  as  a  Prisoner  to  Urbana  in  the  Spring  of  1S56 
and  fails  again — Abraham  Lincoln  defends  me — My  dear  Bible 
becomes  more  than  ever  my  Light  and  my  Counselor 617-629 

Chapter    LVII. 

Bishop  O'Regan  sells  the  Parsonage  of  the  French  Canadians  of 
Chicago,  pockets  the  money,  and  turns  them  out  when  they 
come  to  complain — He  determines  to  turn  me  out  of  my 
Colony  and  send  me  to  Kahokia — He  forgets  it  next  day  and 
publishes  that  he  has  Interdicted  me — My  People  send  a  Depu- 
tation to  the  Bishop — His  Answers — The  Sham  Excommuni- 
cation by  three  drunken  Priests 630-643 

Chapter    LVIII. 

Address  from  my  People,  asking  me  to  remain — I  am  again  dragged 
as  a  prisoner  by  the  Sheriff  to  Urbana — Abraham  Lincoln's 
anxiety  about  the  issue  of  the  Prosecution — My  Distress — 
The  Rescue — Miss  Philomena  Moffat  sent  by  God  to  save  me 
— LeBelle's  Confesbion  and  Distress — My  Innocence  acknowl- 
edged— Noble  Words  and  Conduct  of  Abraham  Lincoln — The 
Oath  of  Miss  Philomena  Moffat 643-667 

Chapter  LIX. 

A  moment  of  Interruption  in  the  Thread  of  my  "Fifty  Years  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,"  to  see  how  my  sad  Previsions  about  my 
defender,  Abraham  Lincoln,  were  to  be  realized — Rome  the 
Implacable  Enemy  of  the  United  States 668-687 

Chapter  LX. 

The  Fundamental  Principals  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  drawn  from  the  Gospel  of  Christ — My  first  visit  to 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  warn  him  of  the  Plots  I  knew  against  his 
Life — The  Priests  circulate  the  news  that  Lincoln  was  born  in 
the  Church  of  Rome — Letter  of  the  Pope  to  Jeff  Davis — My 
last  visit  to  the  President — His  admirable  reference  to  Moses — 
His  willingness  to  die  for  his  Nation's  Sake 688-7i© 


XVI  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Chapter  LXI. 

Abraham  Lincoln  a  true  man  of  God,  and  a  true  Disciple  of  the 
Gospel — The  Assassination  bv  Booth — The  tool  of  the  Priests 
— ^John  Surratt's  house — The  Rendezvous  and  Dwelling  Place 
of  the  Priests — ^John  Surratt  Secreted  by  the  Priests  after  the 
murder  of  Lincoln — The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  known  and 
published  in  the  town  thi-ee  hours  before  its  occurrence 7ii-73i 

Chapter  LXIL 

Deputation  of  two  Priests  sent  by  the  People  and  the  Bishops  of 
Canada  to  persuade  us  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  Bishop — 
The  Deputies  acknowledge  publicly  that  the  Bishop  is  wrong 
and  that  we  are  right — -For  peace  sake,  I  consent  to  withdraw 
from  the  contest  on  certain  conditions  accepted  by  the 
Deputies — One  of  the  Deputies  turns  false  to  his  promise,  and 
betrays  us,  to  be  put  at  the  head  of  my  Colony — My  last  inter- 
view with  him  and  Mr.  Brassard 73^750 

Chai'Ter  LXin. 
Mr.  Desaulnier  is  name  Vicar  General  of  Chicago  *;o  crush  us — 
Our  People  more  united  than  ever  to  defend  their  rights— Let- 
ters of  the  Bishops  of  Montreal  against  me,  and  my  answer — 
Mr.  Brassard  forced,  against  his  conscience,  to  condemn  us — 
My  answer  to  Mr.  Brassard — He  writes  to  beg  my  pardon. . . .   751-773 

Chapter  LXIV. 
I  write  to  the  Pope  Pius  IX,  and  to  Napoleon,  Emperor  of  France, 
and  send  them  the  Legal  and  Public  Documents  proving  the 
bad  conduct  of  Bishop  O'Regan — Grand  Vicar  Dunn  sent  to 
tell  me  of  my  victory  at  Rome,  and  the  end  of  our  trouble — I 
go  to  Dubuque  to  offer  my  submission  to  the  Bishop — The 
peace  sealed  and  publicly  proclaimed  by  Grand  Vicar  Dunn 
the  28th  of  March,  1S5S" ." 774-783 

Chapter  LXV. 
Excellent  testimonial  from  my  Bishop — My  Retreat — Grand  Vicai 
Saurin  and  his  assistant.  Rev.  M.  Granger — Grand  Vicar  Dunn 
writes  me  about  the  new  storm  prepared  by  the  Jesuits — Vision 
— Christ  offers  Himself  as  a  Gift — I  am  forgiven,  rich,  happy 
and  saved — Back  to  my  People 784-809 

Chapter  LXVI. 
The  Solemn  Responsibilities  of  my  New  Position — We  give  up  the 
Name  of  Roman  Catholic  to  call  ourselves  Christian  Catholics 
— Dismay  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishops — My  Lord  Duggan, 
Coadjutor  of  St.  Louis,  hurried  to  Chicago— He  comes  to 
St.  Anne  to  persuade  the  People  to  submit  to  his  Authority — 
He  is  ignoininiously  turned  out,  and  runs  aw-ay  in  the  midst  of 
the  Cries  of  the  People 801-817 

Chapter  LXVII. 
Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Principal  Events  from  my   Conversion   to 
this  day — My  Narrow  Escapes — The  end  of  the  Voyage  through 
the  Desert  to  the  Promised  Land 81^-832 


Chapter  T. 

THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  PRIEST  OF  ROBCE. 

MY  father,  Charles  Chiniquy,  born  in  Quebec,  had  studied  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  of  that  city,  to  prepare  himself 
for  the  priesthood.  But  a  few  days  before  making  his  vows, 
having  been  the  witness  of  a  great  iniquity  in  the  high  quarters 
of  the  church,  he  changed  his  mind,  studied  law  and  became  a 
notary. 

Married  to  Reine  Perrault,  daughter  of   Mitchel  Perrault,  in 
1808,  he  settled  at  first  in   Kamoraska,  where  I  was  born  on  the. 
30th  July,  1S09. 

About  four  or  five  years  later,  my  parents  emigrated  to 
Murray  Bay.  That  place  was  then  in  its  infancy,  and  no  school 
had  yet  been  established.  My  mother  was,  therefore,  my  first 
teacher. 

Before  leaving  the  Seminary  ot  Quebec  my  father  had 
received  from  one  of  the  Superiors,  as  a  token  of  his  esteem,  a 
beautiful  French  and  Latin  Bible.  That  Bible  was  the  first 
book,  after  the  A  B  C,  in  which  I  was  taught  to  read.  My 
mother  selected  the  chapters  which  she  considered  the  most 
interesting  for  me;  and  I  read  them  every  day  with  the  greatest 
attention  and  pleasure.  I  was  even  so  much  pleased  with  several 
chapters,  that  I  read  them  over  and  over  again  till  I  knew  them 
by  heart. 

When  eight  or  nine  years  of  age,  I  had  learned  by  heart  the 
history  of  the  creation  and  the  fall  of  man;  the  deluge;  the 
sacrifice  of  Isaac;  the  history  of  Moses;  the  plagues  of  Egypt: 
the  sublime  hymn  of  Moses  after  crossing  the  Red  Sea ;  the 
history  of  Samson;  the  most  interesting  events  of  the  life  of 
David;  several  Psalms;  all  the  speeches  and  parables  of  Christ 


lO  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

and  the  whole  history  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  our  Saviour 
as  narrated  by  John. 

I  had  two  brothers,  Louis  and  Achille;  the  first  about  four, 
the  second  about  eight  years  younger  than  myself.  When  they 
were  sleeping  or  playing  together,  how  many  delicious  hours  I 
have  spent  by  my  mother's  side,  in  reading  to  her  the  sublime 
pages  of  the  divine  book. 

Sometimes  she  interrupted  me  to  see  if  I  understood  what  I 
read;  and  when  my  answers  had  made  her  sure  that  I  under- 
stood it,  she  used  to  kiss  me  and  press  me  on  her  bosom  as  an 
expression  of  her  joy. 

One  day,  while  I  was  reading  the  history  of  the  sufferings  of 

the  Saviour,  my  young  heart  was  so  much  impressed  that  I  could 

hardly  enunciate  the  words,  and  my  voice  trembled.  My  mother, 

perceiving  my   emotion,   tried   to   say  something  on  the  love  of 

Tesus  for  us,   but   she   could    not   utter   a   word — her  voice   w^as 
t 
suffocated  by  her  sobs.     She  leaned  her  head  on  my  forehead, 

and  I   felt  two   streams   of  tears   falling   from   her  eyes  on  my 

cheeks.     I  could    not   contain    myself  an}^  longer.     I  wept  also; 

and  m}^  tears  were  mixed  with  hers.     The  holy  book  fell  from 

mv  hands,  and  I  threw  myself  into  my  dear  mother's  arms. 

No  human  words  can  express  what  was  felt  in  her  soul  and 
in  mine  in  that  most  blessed  hour  !  No  !  I  will  never  forget  that 
solemn  hour,  when  my  mother's  heart  was  perfectly  blended 
with  mine  at  the  feet  of  our  dying  Saviour.  There  was  a  real 
perfume  from  heaven  in  those  my  mother's  tears  which  were 
flowing  on  me.  It  seemed  then,  as  it  does  seem  to  me  to-day, 
that  there  was  a  celestial  harmony  in  the  sound  of  her  voice  and 
in  her  sobs.  Though  more  than  half  a  century  has  passed  since 
that  solemn  hour  when  Jesus,  for  the  first  time,  revealed  to  me 
something  of  His  suffering  and  of  His  love,  my  heart  leaps  with 
joy  every  time  I  think  of  it. 

We  were  some  distanoe  from  the  church,  and  the  roads,  in 
the  rainy  days,  were  very  bad.  On  the  Sabbath  days  the  neigh- 
boring farmers,  unable  to  go  to  church,  were  accustomed  to 
gather  at  our  house  in  the  evening.  Then  iny  parents  used  to 
'.uit  me  up  on   a   large   table  \\\  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  and  I 


IHK     JJIKI.K     AND     lllE     PKIKSI      OK     HOME.  II 

delivered  to  those  good  people  the  most  beautiful  parts  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments.  The  breathless  attention,  the  applause 
of  our  "guests,  and — may  I  tell  it — often  the  tears  of  joy  which 
my  mother  tried  in  vain  to  conceal,  supported  mv  strength  and 
gave  me  the  courage  I  wanted,  to  speak  when  so  young  before 
so  many  people.  When  my  parents  saw  that  I  was  growing 
tired,  my  mother,  who  had  a  fine  voice,  sang  some  of  the  beau- 
ful  French  hymns  with  which  her  memory  was  filled. 

Several  times,  when  the  fine  weather  allowed  me  to  go  to 
church  with  my  parents,  the  farmers  would  take  me  into  their 
calcches  (buggies)  at  the  door  of  the  temple,  and  request  me  to 
give  them  some  chapter  of  the  Gospel.  With  a  most  perfect 
attention  they  listened  to  the  voice  of  the  child,  whom  the  Good 
Master  had  chosen  to  give  them  the  bread  which  comes  from 
heaven.  More  than  once,  I  remember,  that  when  the  bell  called 
us  to  the  church,  they  expressed  their  regret  that  they  could  not 
hear  more. 

On  one  of  the  beautiful  spring  davs  of  iSiS,  my  father  was 
writing  in  his  office,  and  my  mother  was  working  with  her 
needle,  singing  one  of  her  favorite  hymns,  and  I  was  at  the  door, 
playing  and  talking  to  a  fine  robin  which  I  had  so  perfectly 
trained  that  he  followed  me  wherever  I  went.  All  of  a  sudden 
I  saw  the  priest  coming  near  the  gate.  The  sight  of  him  sent  a 
thrill  of  uneasiness  through  my  whole  frame.  It  was  his  first 
visit  to  our  home. 

The  priest  was  a  person  below  the  common  stature,  and  had 
an  unpleasant  appearance — his  shoulders  were  large  and  he  was 
very  corpulent;  his  hair  was  long  and  uncombed,  and  his  double 
chin  seemed  to  groan  under  the  weight  of  his  flabby  cheeks. 

I  hastily  ran  to  the  door,  and  whispered  to  my  parents, "  M.  le 
cure  arrive"  ("Mr.  Curate  is  coming").  The  last  sound  was 
hardly  out  of  my  lips,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Courtois  was  at  the 
door,  and  my  father,  shaking  hands  with  him,  gave  him  a 
welcome. 

That  priest  was  born  in  France,  where  he  had  a  narrow 
escape,  having  been  condemned  to  death  under  the  bloody 
administration  of  Robespierre.     He   had  found  a  refuge,  with 


12  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

many  other  French  priests  in  England,  whence  he  came  to 
Quebec,  and  the  bishop  of  that  place  had  given  him  the  charge 
of  the  parish  of  Murray  Bay. 

His  conversation  was  animated  and  interesting  for  the  first 
quarter  of  an  hour.  It  was  a  real  pleasure  to  hear  him.  But  of 
a  sudden  his  countenance  changed  as  if  a  dark  cloud  had  come 
over  his  mind,  and  he  stopped  talking.  My  parents  had  kept 
themselves  on  a  respectful  reserve  with  the  priest.  They  seemed 
to  have  no  other  mind  than  to  listen  to  him.  The  silence  which 
followed  was  exceedingly  unpleasant  for  all  the  parties.  It  looked 
like  the  heavy  hour  which  precedes  a  storm.  At  length  the 
priest,  addressing  my  father,  said,  "  Mr.  Chiniquy,  is  it  true  that 
you  and  your  child  read  the  Bible  ? " 

"  Yes,  sir, "  was  the  quick  reply,  "  my  little  boy  and  I  read 
the  Bible,  and  what  is  still  better,  he  has  learned  by  heart  a  great 
number  of  its  most  interesting  chapters.  If  you  will  allow  it, 
Mr.  Curate,  he  will  give  you  some  of  them." 

"  I  did  not  come  for  that  purpose, "  abruptly  replied  the 
priest;  "but  do  you  not  know  that  you  are  forbidden  by  the 
holy  Council  of  Trent  to  read  the  Bible  in  French  ? " 

"  It  makes  very  little  difference  to  me  whether  I  read  the 
Bible  in  French,  Greek  or  Latin, "  answered  my  father,  "  for  I 
understand  these  languages  equally  well." 

"  But  are  you  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  you  cannot  allow  your 
child  to  read  the  Bible  ?  "  replied  the  priest. 

"  My  wife  directs  her  own  child  in  the  reading  of  the  Bible, 
and  I  cannot  see  that  we  commit  any  sin  by  continuing  to  do  in 
future  what  we  have  done  till  now  in  that  matter.  " 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy, "  rejoined  the  priest,  "  you  have  gone  through 
a  whole  course  of  theology ;  you  know  the  duties  of  a  curate ; 
you  know  it  is  my  painful  duty  to  come  here,  get  the  Bible  from 
you  and  burn  it.  " 

My  grandfather  was  a  fearless  Spanish  sailor  (our  original 
name  was  Etchiniquia),  and  there  was  too  much  Spanish  blood 
and  pride  in  my  father  to  hear  such  a  sentence  with  patience  in 
his  own  house.  Quick  as  lightning  he  was  on  his  feet.  I  pressed 
myself,  trembling,  near  my  mother,  who  trembled  also. 


THE    BIBLE    AND    THE    PRIEST    OF    ROME.  !» 

At  first  I  feared  lest  some  very  unfortunate  and  violent  scene 
should  occur;  for  my  father's  anger  at  that  moment  was  really 
terrible. 

But  there  wras  another  thing  which  affected  me.  I  feared 
lest  the  priest  should  lay  his  hands  on  my  dear  Bible,  which  was 
just  before  him  on  the  table;  for  it  was  mine,  as  it  had  been 
given  to  me  the  last  year  as  a  Christmas  gift. 

Fortunately,  my  father  had  subdued  himself  after  the  first 
moment  of  his  anger.  He  was  pacing  the  room  with  a  double- 
quick  step;  his  lips  were  pale  and  trembling,  and  he  was  mutter- 
ing between  his  teeth  words  which  were  unintelligible  to  any 
one  of  us. 

The  priest  was  closely  watching  all  my  father's  movements; 
his  hands  were  convulsively  pressing  his  heavy  cane,  and  his  face 
was  giving  the  sure  evidence  of  a  too  well-grounded  terror.  It 
was  clear  that  the  ambassador  of  Rome  did  not  find  himself  in- 
fallibly  sure  of  his  position  on  the  ground  he  had  so  foolishly  chosen 
to  take;  since  his  last  words  he  had  remained  as  silent  as'a  tomb. 

At  last,  after  having  paced  the  room  for  a  considerable  time, 
m\  father  suddenly  stopped  before  the  priest,  and  said,  "Sir,  is 
that  all  you  have  to  say  here  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  trembling  priest. 

"  Well,  sir,"  added  my  father,  "  you  know  the  door  by  which 
you  entered  mv  house;  please  take  the  same  door  and  go  away 
quickly.  " 

The  priest  went  out  immediately.  I  felt  an  inexpressible  joy 
when  I  saw  that  my  Bible  was  safe.  I  ran  to  my  father's  neck, 
kissed  and  thanked  him  for  his  victory.  And  to  pav  him,  in  my 
childish  way,  I  jumped  upon  the  large  table  and  recited,  in  my 
best  style,  the  fight  between  David  and  Goliath.  Of  course,  in 
mv  mind,  my  father  was  David  and  the  priest  of  Rome  was  the 
giant  whom  the  little  stone  from  the  brook  had  stricken  down. 

Thou  knowest,  O  God,  that  it  is  to  that  Bible,  read  on  my 
mother's  knees,  I  owe,  by  thy  infinite  mercy,  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth  to-day;  that  Bible  had  sent,  to  my  young  heart  and 
intelligence,  rays  of  light  which  all  the  sophisms  and  dark  errors 
of  Rome  could  never  completely  extinguish. 


Chapter  11. 

MY    PIBST    SOHOOIi-DAYS    AT    ST.   THOMAS -THE  KONK   AWD 

CELIBACY. 

IN  the  month  of  June,  i8iS,  my  parents  sent  nje  to  an  excellent 
shool  at  St.  Thomas.  One  of  my  mother's  sisters  resided 
there,  who  was  the  wife  of  an  industrious  miller,  called  Stephen 
Eschenbach.  They  had  no  children,  and  they  received  me  as 
their  own  son. 

The  beautiful  village  of  St.  Thomas  had  already,  at  that  time, 
a  considerable  pojDulation.  The  two  fine  rivers  which  unite  their 
rapid  waters  in  its  very  midst  before  they  fall  into  the  magnifi- 
cent basin  from  which  they  flow  into  the  St.  Lawrence,  supplied 
the  water-power  for  several  mills  and  factories. 

There  was  in  the  village  a  considerable  trade  in  grain,  flour 
and  lumber.  The  fisheries  were  very  profitable,  and  the  game 
was  abundant.     Life  was  really  pleasant  and  easy. 

The  families  Tachez,  Cazeault,  Fournier,  Dubord,  Frechette, 
Tetu,  Dupuis,  Couillard,  Duberges,  which  were  among  the  most 
ancient  and  notable  of  Canada,  were  at  the  head  of  the  intellec- 
tual and  material  movements  of  the  J^lace,  and  they  were  a  real 
honor  to  the  French  Canadian  name. 

I  met  there  with  one  of  my  ancestors  on  my  mother's  side 
whose  name  was  F.  Amour  des  Plaines.  He  was  an  old  and 
brave  soldier,  and  would  sometimes  show  us  the  numerous 
wounds  he  had  received  in  the  battles  in  which  he  had  fought 
for  his  country.  Though  nearly  eighty  years  old,  he  sang  to  us 
the  songs  of  the  good  old  times  with  all  the  vivacity  of  a  young 
man. 

The  school  of  Mr.  Allen  Jones,  to  which  I  had  been  sent, 
was  worthy  of  its  wide-spread  reputation.     I  have  never  known 

14 


MY    FIRST    SCHOOL   DAYS    AT    ST.    THOMAS,    ETC.  IC 

«nd  teacher  who  deserved  more,  or  who  enjoyed  in  a  higher 
degree,  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  pupils. 

He  was  born  in  England,  and  belonged  to  one  of  the  most 
respectable  families  there.  He  had  received  the  best  education 
which  England  could  give  to  her  sons.  After  having  gone 
through  a  perfect  course  of  study  at  home,  he  had  gone  to  Paris, 
where  he  had  also  completed  an  academical  course.  He  was 
perfectly  master  of  the  French  and  English  languages.  And  it 
was  not  without  good  reasons  that  he  was  surrounded  by  a  great 
number  of  scholars  from  every  corner  of  Canada.  The  children 
of  the  best  families  of  St.  Thomas  were  with  me,  attending  the 
school  of  Mr.  Jones.  But  he  was  a  Protestant,  the  priest  was 
much  opposed  to  him,  and  every  effort  was  made  bv  that  priest 
to  induce  my  relatives  to  take  me  away  from  that  school  and 
»end  me  to  one  under  his  care. 

The  name  of  the  priest  was  Loranger.  He  had  a  swarthy 
countenance,  and  in  person  was  lean  and  tall.  His  preaching 
had  no  attraction,  and  he  was  far  from  being  popular  among 
the  intelligent  part  of  the  people  of  St.  Thomas. 

Dr.  Tachez,  whose  high  capacity  afterwards  brought  him  to 
the  head  of  the  Canadian  Government,  was  the  leading  man  of 
St.  Thomas.  Being  united  by  the  bonds  of  a  sincere  friendship 
with  his  nephew,  L.  Cazeault,  who  was  afterward  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  University  of  Laval,  in  Quebec,  I  had  many  oppor- 
tunities of  going  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Tachez,  where  mv  voung 
friend  was  boarding. 

In  those  days.  Dr.  Tachez  had  no  need  of  the  influence  of  the 
priests,  and  he  frequently  gave  vent  to  his  supreme  contempt  for 
them.  Once  a  week  there  was  a  meeting  in  his  house  of  the 
principal  citizens  of  St.  Thomas,  where  the  highest  questions  of 
history  and  religion  were  freely  and  warmly  discussed;  but  the 
premises  as  well  as  the  conclusion  of  these  discussions  were 
invariably  adverse  to  the  priests  and  religion  of  Rome,  and  too 
often  to  every  form  of  Christianity. 

Though  these  meetings  had  not  entirely  the  character  or 
exclusiveness  of  secret  societies,  they  were  secret  to  a  great 
•xtent.     My  friend  Cazeault  was  punctual  in  telling  me  the  days 


l6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OK    ROME. 

and  hours  of  the  meeting,  and  I  used  to  go  with  him  to  an 
adjoining  room,  from  which  we  could  hear  everything  Avithout 
being  suspected.  From  what  I  heard  and  saw  in  these  meetings, 
I  most  certainly  would  have  been  ruined,  had  not  the  Word  of 
God,  with  which  my  mother  had  filled  my  young  mind  and 
heart,  been  my  shield  and  strength.  I  was  often  struck  with 
terror  and  filled  with  disgust  at  what  I  heard  at  those  meetings. 
But  what  a  strange  and  deplorable  thing  !  My  conscience  was 
condemning  me  every  time  I  listened  to  these  impious  discussions, 
while  there  w^as  a  strong  craving  in  me  to  hear  them  that  I  could 
not  resist. 

There  was  then  in  St.  Thomas  a  personage  who  was  unique 
in  his  character.  He  never  mixed  with  the  society  of  the  village, 
but  was,  nevertheless,  the  object  of  much  respectful  attention 
and  inquiry  from  every  one.  He  was  one  of  the  former  monks 
of  Canada,  known  under  the  name  of  Capucin  or  Recollets, 
whom  the  conquest  of  Canada  by  Great  Britain  had  forced  to 
leave  their  monastery. 

He  was  a  clockmaker,  and  lived  honorably  by  his  trade. 
His  little  white  house,  in  the  very  midst  of  the  village,  was  the 
perfection  of  neatness. 

Brother  Mark,  as  he  was  called,  was  a  remarkably  well-built 
man;  high  stature,  large  and  splendid  shoulders,  and  the  most 
beautiful  hands  I  ever  saw.  His  long  black  robe,  tied  around 
his  waist  by  a  white  sash,  was  remarkable  for  its  cleanliness. 
His  life  was  really  a  solitarv  one,  always  alone  with  his  own 
sister,  who  kept  his  house. 

Every  day  that  the  weather  was  propitious,  Brother  Mark 
spent  a  couple  of  hours  in  fishing,  and  as  I  was  myself  exceed- 
ingly fond  of  that  exercise,  I  used  to  meet  him  often  along  the 
banks  of  the  beautiful  rivers  of  St.  Thomas. 

His  presence  was  always  a  good  omen  to  me ;  for  he  was 
more  expert  than  I  in  finding  the  best  places  for  fishing.  As 
soon  as  he  found  a  place  where  the  fish  was  abundant,  he  would 
make  signs  to  me,  or  call  me  at  the  top  of  his  voice  that  I  might 
share  in  his  good  luck.  I  appreciated  his  delicate  attention  to  me, 
and  repaid  him  with  the  marks  of  a  sincere  gratitude.      The  good 


k 


MY    FIRST    SCHOOL-DAYS    AT    ST.  THOMAS,    ETC.  IJ 

monk  had  entirely  conquered  my  young  heart,  and  I  cherished 
a  sincere  regard  for  him.  He  often  invited  me  to  his  solitary 
but  neat  little  home,  and  I  never  visited  him  without  receiving 
some  proofs  of  a  sincere  kindness.  His  good  sister  rivalled  him 
in  overwhelming  me  with  such  marks  of  attention  and  love  as 
I  could  only  expect  from  a  dear  mother. 

There  was  a  mixture  of  timidity  and  dignity  in  the  maners 
of  brother  Mark  which  I  have  found  in  no  one  else.  He  was 
fond  of  children:  and  nothing  could  be  more  graceful  than  his 
smde  every  time  that  he  could  see  that  I  appreciated  his  kindness, 
and  that  I  gave  him  any  proof  of  mv  gratitude.  But  that  smile, 
and  any  other  expression  of  joy,  were  very  transient.  On  a 
sudden  he  would  change,  and  it  was  obvious  that  a  mysterious 
cloud  was  passing  over  his  heart. 

The  Pope  had  released  the  monks  of  the  monastry  to  which 
he  belonged,  from  their  vows  of  poverty  and  obedience.  The 
consequence  was  that  the\'  could  become  independant,  and  even 
rich,  by  their  own  industry.  It  was  in  their  power  to  rise  to  a 
respectable  position  in  the  worlc^by  their  honorable  efforts.  The 
pope  had  given  them  the  permission  they  wanted,  that  they 
might  earn  an  honest  living.  But  what  a  strange  and  incredible 
folly  to  ask  the  permission  of  a  pope  to  be  allowed  to  live 
honorably  on  the  fruits  of  one's  own  industry  ! 

These  poor  monks,  having  been  released  from  their  vows  of 
obedience,  were  no  longer  the  slaves  of  a  man:  but  were  now 
permitted  to  go  to  heaven  on  the  sole  condition  that  they  would 
obey  the  laws  of  God  and  the  laws  of  their  country  !  But  into 
what  a  frightful  abyss  of  degradation  men  must  have  fallen,  to 
believe  that  they  required  a  license  from  Rome  for  such  a  purpose. 
This  is,  nevertheless,  the  simple  and  naked  truth.  That  excess 
oi  folly,  and  that  supreme  impiety  and  degradation  are  among 
the  fundamental  dogmas  of  Rome.  The  inf alible  pope  assures 
^he  world  that  there  is  no  possible  salvation  for  any  one  who 
does  not  sincerely  believe  what  he  teaches  in  this  matter. 

But  the  pope  who  had  so  graciously  relieved  the  Canadian 
monks  from  their  vows  of  obedience  and  poverty,  had  been 
inflexible  in    reference    to  their  vows  of   celibacy.     From    this 


l8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

there  was  no  relief. 

The  honest  desires  of  the  good  monk  to  live  according  to  the 
laws  of  God,  with  a  wife  whom  heaven  might  have  given  him, 
had  become  an  impossibility — the  pope  vetoed  it. 

The  unfortunate  monk  was  bound  to  believe  that  he  would 
be  forever  damned  if  he  dared  to  accept  as  a  gospel  truth  the 
Word  of  God  which  says : — 

Propter  fornicationem  antem,  unusquisque  uxorem  suam 
habeat,  unaquaque  virum  suum  habeat.  (Vulgate  Bible  of 
Rome.)  Nevertheless  to  avoid  fornication  let  every  man  have 
his  own  wife,  and  let  every  woman  have  her  own  husband." 
(i  Cor.,  vii.:  2).  That  shining  light  which  the  Word  contains 
and  which  gives  life  to  man,  was  entirely  shut  out  from  brother 
Mark.  He  was  not  allowed  to  know  that  God  himself  had  said, 
"It  is  not  good  that  man  should  be  alone,  I  will  make  him  an 
help-meet  for  him,"  (Gen.  2:  18).  Brother  Mark  was  endowed 
with  such  a  loving  heart  !  He  could  not  be  known  without 
being  loved;  and  he  must  have  suffered  much  in  that  celibacy 
which  his  faith  in  the  pope  imposed  upon  him. 

Far  away  from  the  regions  of  light,  truth  and  life,  that  soul, 
tied  to  the  feet  of  the  implacable  modern  Divinity,  which  the 
Romanists  worship  under  the  name  of  Sovereign  Pontiff,  was 
trying  in  vain  to  annihilate  and  destroy  the  instincts  and  affections 
which  God  himself  had  implanted  in  him. 

One  day,  as  I  was  amusing  myself,  with  a  few  other  young 
friends,  near  the  house  of  brother  MarK;,  suddenly  we  saw 
something  covered  with  blood  thrown  from  the  window,  and 
falling  at  a  short  distance  from  us.  At  the  same  instant  we 
heard  loud  cries,  evidently  coming  from  the  monk's  house:  "  O 
my  God!     Have  mercy  on  me!     Save  me!     I  am  lost!" 

The  sister  of  brother  Mark  rushed  out  of  doors  and  cried  to 
some  men  who  were  passing  by:  "Come  to  our  help!  My  poor 
brother  is  dying!  For  God's  sake  make  haste,  he  is  losing  all 
his  blood !  "' 

I  ran  to  the  door,  but  the  lady  shut  it  abruptly  and  turned 
me  out,  saying,  "  we  do  not  want  children  here." 

I  had  a  sincere    affection   for  the  good  brother.       He  had 


MY    FIRST    SCHOOL-DAYS    AT    ST.    THOMAS,    KTC.  I9 

invariably  been  so  kind  to  me  !  I  insisted  and  respectfully 
requested  to  be  allowed  to  enter.  Though  young  and  weak,  it 
seemed  that  my  friendly  feelings  towards  the  suffering  brother 
would  add  to  my  strength,  and  enable  me  to  be  of  some  service. 
But  my  request  was  sternly  rejected,  and  I  had  to  go  back  to 
the  street  among  the  crowd  which  was  fast  gathering.  Tlie 
singular  mystery  in  which  they  were  trying  to  wrap  the  poor 
monk,  filled  me  with  trouble  and  anxiety. 

But  that  trouble  was  soon  changed  into  an  unspeakable 
confusion  when  I  heard  the  convulsive  laughing  of  the  low 
people,  and  the  shameful  jokes  of  the  crowd,  after  the  doctor 
had  told  the  nature  of  the  wound  which  was  causing  the 
unfortunate  man  to  bleed  almost  to  death.  I  was  struck  with 
such  horror  that  I  fled  away;  I  did  not  want  to  know  any  more 
of  that  tradegy.     I  had  already  known  too  much! 

Poor  brother  Mark  had  ceased  to  be  a  man — he  hail  become 
an  eunuch. 

0  cruel  and  Godless  church  of  Rome!  How  many  souls 
hast  thou  deceived  and  tortured!  How  many  hearts  hast  thou 
broken  with  that  celibacy  which  Satan  alone  could  invent  ! 
This  unfortunate  victim  of  a  most  degrading  religion,  did  not, 
however,  die  from  his  rash  action;  he  soon  recovered  his  usual 
health. 

Having,  meanwhile,  ceased  to  visit  him ;  some  months  later 
I  was  fishing  along  the  river  in  a  very  solitary  place.  The  fish 
were  abundant,  and  I  was  completely  absorbed  in  catching  them, 
when,  on  a  sudden,  I  felt  on  my  shoulder  the  gentle  presure  of 
a  hand.     It  was  brother  Mark's. 

1  thought  I  would  faint  through  the  opposite  sentiments  of 
surprise,  of  pain  and  joy,  which  at  the  same  time  crossed  my 
mind. 

With  an  affectionate  and  trembling  voice  he  said  to  me,  ''My 
dear  child,  why  do  you  not  come  to  see  me  any  more? " 

I  did  not  dare  to  look  at  him  after  he  had  addressed  me  these 
words.  I  liked  him  on  account  of  his  acts  of  kindness  to  me. 
But  the  fatal  hour  when,  in  the  street  before  the  door,  I  had 
suffered  so  much  on  his    account — that   fatal    hour  was    on    my 


aO  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

heart  as  a  mountain  which  I   could  not  put  away — I  could  not 
answer  him. 

He  then  asked  me  again  with  the  tone  of  a  criminal  who  sues 
for  mercy;  "  Why  is  it  my  dear  child,  that  you  do  not  come  any 
longer  to  see  me?     You  know  that  I  love  you." 

"  Dear  brother  Mark,"  I  answered  "I  will  never  forget  your 
kindness  to  me.  I  will  forever  be  grateful  to  you ;  I  wish  that 
it  w^ould  be  in  my  power  to  continue,  as  formerly,  to  go  and  see 
you.  But  I  cannot,  and  you  ought  to  know  the  reason  why  I 
cannot." 

I  had  pronounced  these  words  with  down-cast  eyes.  I  was 
a  child,  with  the  timidity  and  happy  ignorance  of  a  child.  But 
the  action  of  that  unfortunate  man  had  struck  me  with  such  a 
horror  that  I  could  not  entertain  the  idea  of  visiting  him  any 
more. 

He  spent  two  or  three  minutes  without  saying  a  word,  and 
without  moving.  But  I  heard  his  sobs  and  his  cries,  and  his 
cries  were  those  of  dispair  and  anguish,  the  like  of  which  I  have 
never  heard  since. 

I  could  not  contain  myself  any  longer,  I  was  suffocating  with 
suppressed  emotion,  and  I  would  have  fallen  insensible  to  the 
ground  if  two  streams  of  tears  had  not  burst  from  my  eyes. 
Those  tears  did  me  good — they  did  him  good  also — they  told 
him  that  I  was  still  his  friend. 

He  took  me  in  his  arms  and  pressed  me  to  his  bosom — his 
tears  were  mixed  with  mine.  But  I  could  not  speak — the 
emotions  of  my  heart  were  too  much  for  my  age.  I  sat  on  a 
damp  and  cold  stone,  in  order  not  to  faint.  He  fell  on  his  knees 
by  my  side. 

Ah!  if  I  were  a  painter  I  would  make  a  most  striking  tableau 
of  that  scene.  His  eyes,  swollen  and  red  w^ith  weeping,  were 
raised  to  heaven,  his  hand  lifted  up  in  the  attitude  of  supplication; 
he  was  crying  out  with  an  accent  which  seemed  as  though  it 
would  break  my  heart. 

"  Mon  Dieu!     Mon  Dieu  que  je  suis  malheureux." 

My  God!     My  God!  what  a  wretched  man  I  am! 
****  *  ***#♦ 


MY    FIRST    SCHOOL-DAYS    AT    ST.  THOMAS,    ETC.  j.  t 

«  The  twenty-five  years  that  I  have  been  a  priest  of  Rome, 
have  revealed  to  me  the  fact  that  the  cries  of  desolation  I  heard 
that  day,  were  but  the  echo  of  the  cries  of  desolation  which  go 
out  from  almost  every  nunnery,  every  parsonage  and  every 
house  where  human  beings  are  bound  by  the  ties  of  the  Romish 
Celibacy. 

God  knows  that  I  am  a  faithful  witness  of  what  my  eyes 
have  seen  and  my  ears  have  heard,  when  I  say  to  the  multitudes 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  has  bewitched  with  her  enchant- 
ments. Wherever  there  are  nuns,  monks  and  priests  who  live  in 
forced  violation  of  the  ways  which  God  has  appointed  for  man 
to  walk  in,  there  are  torrents  of  tears,  there  are  desolated  hearts, 
there  are  cries  of  anguish  and  despair  which  say  in  the  words  of 
brother  Mark:  ♦ 

"Oh!  que  je  suis  malheureux!" 

Oh!  how  miserable  and  wretched  I  am! 


Chapter   III. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  CHILDBEN 

NO  words  can  express  to  those  who  have  never  had  any 
experience  in  the  matter,  the  consternation,  anxiety  and 
shame  of  a  poor  Romish  child,  when  he  hears,  for  the  first  time, 
his  priest  saying  from  the  pulpit,  in  a  grave  and  solemn  tone, 
"This  week,  you  will  send  your  children  »to  confession.  Make 
them  understand  that  this  action  is  one  of  the  most  important  of 
their  lives,  that  for  every  one  of  them,  it  will  decide  their  eternal 
happiness  or  misery.  Fathers  and  mothers,  if,  through  your 
fault,  or  his  own,  your  child  is  guilty  of  a  bad  confession — if  he 
conceals  his  sins  and  commences  lying  to  the  priest,  who  holds 
the  place  of  God  himself,  this  sin  is  often  irreparable.  The  devil 
will  take  possession  of  his  heart:  he  will  become  accustomed  to 
lie  to  his  father  confessor,  or  rather  to  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  he 
is  a  representative.  His  life  will  be  a  series  of  sacrileges;  his 
death  and  eternity  those  of  the  reprobate.  Teach  him,  therefore, 
to  examine  thoroughly  his  actions,  words  and  thoughts,  in  order 
to  confess  without  disguise." 

I  was  in  the  church  of  St.  Thomas  when  those  words  fell 
upon  me  like  a  thunderbolt. 

I  had  often  heard  my  mother  say,  when  at  home,  and  my 
aunt,  since  I  had  come  to  St.  Thomas,  that  upon  the  first  con- 
fession depended  my  eternal  happiness  or  misery.  That  week 
was,  therefore,  to  decide  about  my  eternity. 

Pale  and  dismayed,  I  left  the  church,  and  returned  to  the 
house  of  ray  relatives.  I  took  my  place  at  the  table,  but  could 
not  eat,  so  much  was  I  troubled.  I  went  to  my  room  for  the 
purpose  of  commencing  my  examination  of  conscience  and  to 
try  to  recall  my  sinful  actions,  words,  and  thoughts.      Although 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME.  23 

scarcely  over  ten  years  of  age,  this  task  was  really  overwhelming 
for  me.  I  knelt  down  to  pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary  for  help;  but 
I  was  so  much  taken  up  with  the  fear  of  forgetting  something, 
and  of  making  a  bad  confession,  that  I  muttered  my  prayers 
without  the  least  attention  to  what  I  said.  It  became  still  worse 
when  I  commenced  counting  my  sins.  My  memory  became 
confused,  my  head  grew  dizzy;  mv  heart  beat  with  a  rapidity 
which  exhausted  me,  and  my  brow  was  covered  with  perspiration. 
After  a  considerable  length  of  time  spent  in  these  painful  efforts, 
I  felt  bordering  on  despair,  from  the  fear  that  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  remember  everything.  The  night  following  was 
almost  a  sleepless  one;  and  when  sleep  did  come,  it  could 
scarcely  be  called  a  sleep,  but  a  suffocating  delirium.  In  a 
frightful  dream,  I  felt  as  if  I  had  been  cast  into  hell,  for  not 
having  confessed  all  my  sins  to  the  priest.  In  the  morning,  I 
awoke,  fatigued  and  prostrated  bv  the  piiantoms  of  that  terrible 
night.  In  similar  troubles  of  mind  were  passed  three  days 
which  preceded  my  first  confession.  I  had  constantly  before 
me  the  countenance  of  that  stern  priest  who  had  never  siniled 
upon  me.  He  was  present  in  my  thoughts  during  the  day,  and 
in  my  dreams  during  the  night,  as  the  minister  of  an  angry  God, 
justly  irritated  against  me  on  account  of  my  sins.  Forgiviness 
had  indeed  been  promised  to  me,  on  condition  of  a  good 
confession ;  but  my  place  had  also  been  shown  to  me  in  hell,  if 
my  confession  was  not  as  near  perfection  as  possible.  Now,  mv 
troubled  conscience  told  me  that  there  were  ninety-nine  chances 
against  one,  that  my  confession  would  be  bad,  whether  by  my 
own  fault  I  forgot  some  sins,  or  I  was  without  that  contrition  of 
which  I  had  heard  so  much,  but  the  nature  and  effects  of  which 
were  a  perfect  chaos  to  mv  mind. 

Thus  it  was  that  the  cruel  and  perfidious  Church  of  Rome  took 
away  from  mv  young  heart  the  good  and  merciful  Jesus,  whose 
love  and  compassion  had  caused  me  to  shed  tears  of  joy  when  I 
was  beside  my  mother.  The  Saviour  whom  that  church  made 
.lie  to  worship,  through  fear,  was  not  the  Saviour  who  called  little 
children  unto  Him,  to  blesss  them  and  take  them  in  His  arms. 
Her  impious  hands  Avere  soon  to  torture  and  defile  my  childish 


24  KIKTV     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OK    ROME. 

heart,  and  place  me  at  the  feet  of  a  pale  and  severe  looking  man — 
worthy  representative  of  a  pitiless  God.  I  was  made  to  tremble 
with  terror  at  the  footstool  of  an  implacible  divinity,  while  the 
gospel  asked  of  me  only  tears  of  love  and  joy,  shed  at  the  feet 
of  the  incomparable  Friend  of  sinners! 

At  length  came  the  day  of  confession;  or  rather  of  judgment 
and  condemnation.     I  presented  myself  to  the  priest. 

Mr.  Loranger  was  no  longer  priest  of  St.  Thomas.  He  had 
been  succeeded  by  Mr.  Beaubien,  who  did  not  favor  our  school 
any  more  than  his  predecessor.  He  had  even  taken  upon  him- 
self to  preach  a  sermon  against  the  heretical  school,  by  which  we 
had  been  excessively  wounded.  His  want  of  love  for  us, 
however,  I  must  say,  was  fully  reciprocated. 

Mr.  Beaubien  had,  then,  the  defect  of  lisping  and  stammering. 
This  we  often  turned  into  ridicule,  and  one  of  my  favorite  amuse- 
ments was  to  imitate  him,  which  brought  bursts  of  laughter  from 
us  all. 

It  had_  been  necessary  for  me  to  examine  myself  upon  the 
number  of  tiirles  I  had  mocked  him.  This  circumstance  was 
not  calculated  to  make  my  confession  easier,  or  more  agreeable. 

At  last  the  dreaded  moment  came.  I  knelt  at  the  side  of  my 
confessor.  My  whole  frame  trembled.  I  repeated  the  prayer 
preparatory  to  confession,  scarcely  knowing  what  I  said  so 
much  was  I  troubled  with  fear. 

By  the  instructions  which  had  been  given  us  before  confession, 
we  had  been  made  to  believe  that  the  priest  was  the  true  repre- 
sentative— yea,  almost  the  personification  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
consequence  was,  that  I  believed  my  greatest  sin  had  been  that 
of  mocking  the  priest.  Having  always  been  told  that  it  was 
best  to  confess  the  greatest  sin  first,  I  commenced  thus:  "Father 
I  accuse  myself  of  having  mocked  a  priest." 

Scarcely  had  I  uttered  these  words,  "mocked  a  priest,"  when 
this  pretended  representative  of  the  humble  Saviour,  turning 
towards  me,  and  looking  in  my  face  in  order  to  know  me  better, 
asked  abruptly,  "What  priest  did  you  mock,  my  boy  ?"  I  would 
rather  have  chosen  to  cut  out  my  tongue  than  to  tell  him  to  his 
face  who  it  was.      I  therefore  kept  silent  for  a  while.       But  my 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    CHILDREN.  25 

silence  made  him  very  nervous  nnd  almost  angry.  With  a 
haughty  tone  of  voice  he  said,  "What  priest  did  you  take  the 
liberty  of  thus  mocking?" 

I  saw  that  I  had  to  answer.  Happily  his  haughtiness  had 
made  me  firmer  and  bolder.  I  said  "  Sir,  you  are  the  priest 
whom  I  mocked." 

"  But  how  many  times  did  you  take  upon  you  to  mock  mc, 
my  boy?" 

"  I  tried  to  find  out,"  I  answered,  "  but  never  could." 

"You  must  tell  me  how  many  times;  for  to  mock  one's  own 
priest  is  a  great  sin." 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  you  the  number  of  times," 
answeretl  I. 

"  Well,  my  child,  I  will  help  your  memory  by  asking  you 
questions.  Tell  me  the  truth.  Do  you  think  you  have  mocked 
me  ten  times?" 

"  A  great  many  times  more,  sir." 

"  Fifty  times?" 

"  Many  more  still." 

"A  hundred  times?"  ^ 

"  Say  five  hundred  times  and  perhaps  more,"  answered  I. 

"  Why,  my  boy,  do  you  spend  all  vour  time  in  mocking  me?" 

"Not  all;  but  unfortunately  1  do  it  very  often." 

"  Well  may  you  say  unfortunately ;  for  so  to  mock  your 
priest,  who  holds  the  place  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  a  great 
misfortune,  and  a  great  sin  •for  you.  But  tell  me,  my  little  boy, 
what  reason  have  you  for  mocking  me  thus?" 

In  my  examinations  of  conscience  I  had  not  foreseen  that  I 
should  be  obliged  to  give  the  reasons  for  mocking  the  priest; 
and  I  was  really  thunderstruck  by  his  questions.  I  dared  not 
answer,  and  I  remained  for  a  long  time  dumb,  from  the  shame 
that  overpowered  me.  But  with  a  harrassing  perseverance  the 
priest  insisted  on  my  telling  why  I  had  mocked  him;  telling 
me  that  I  should  be  damned  if  I  did  not  tell  the  whole  truth. 
So  I  decided  to  speak,  and  said,  "  I  mocked  you  for  several 
thing." 

"  What  made  you  first  mock  me?"    continued  the  priest. 


26  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  I  laughed  at  you  because  you  lisped.  Among  the  pupils  of 
our  school,  it  often  happens  that  wc  imitate  your  preaching  to 
excite  laughter." 

"  Have  you  often  done  that?  " 

"  Almost  every  day,  especially  in  our  holidays,  and  since  you 
preached  against  us." 

"  For  vv^hat  other  reasons  did  you  laugh  at  me,  my  little  boy?" 

For  a  long  time  I  was  silent.  Every  time  I  opened  my  mouth 
to  speak  courage  failed  me.  However,  the  priest  continuing  to 
urge  me,  I  said  at  last,  "  It  is  rumored  in  town  that  you  love 
girls;  that  you  visit  the  Misses  Richards  every  evening,  and  this 
often  makes  us  laugh." 

The  poor  priest  was  evidently  overwhelmed  by  my  answer, 
and  ceased  questioning  me  on  this  subject.  Changing  the  con- 
versation, he  said : 

"  What  are  your  other  sins?  " 

I  began  to  confess  them  in  the  order  in  whice  they  came  to 
my  memory.  But  the  feeling  of  shame  which  overpowered  me 
in  repeating  all  my  sins  to  this  man  was  a  thousand  times  greater 
than  thaUof  having  offended  God.  In  reality  this  feeling  of 
human  shame  which  absorbed  my  thought — nay,  my  whole 
being — left  no  room  for  any  religious  feeling  at  all. 

When  I  had  confessed  all  the  sins  I  could  remember,  the 
priest  began  to  ask  me  the  strangest  questions  on  matters  about 
which  my  pen  must  be  silent.  I  replied,  "  Father,  I  do  not 
understand  what  you  ask  me." 

"  I  question  you  on  the  sixth  commandment  (seventh  in  the 
Bible).  Confess  all.  You  will  go  to  hell,  if  through  your 
fault  you  omit  anything." 

Thereupon  he  dragged  my  thoughts  to  regions  which,  thank 
God  had  hitherto  been  unknown  to  me. 

I  answered  him :  "  I  do  not  understand  you,"  or  "  I  have 
never  done  these  things." 

Then,  skilfully  shifting  to  some  secondary  matter,  he  would 
soon  slyly  and  cunningly  come  back  to  his  favorite  subject, 
namely,  sins  of  licentiousness. 

His  questions  were  so  unclean  that  I  blushed,  and  felt  sick 


CONFESSION    OF    CHILDREN. 


37 


with  disgust  and  shame.  More  than  once  I  had  been,  to  my 
regret,  in  the  company  of  bad  boys;  but  not  one  of  them  has 
offended  my  moral  nature  so  much  as  this  priest  had  done.  Not 
one  of  them  had  ever  approached  the  shadow  of  the  things  from 
which  that  man  tore  the  veil,  and  which  he  placed  before  the 
eye  of  my  soul.  In  vain  did  I  tell  him  that  I  was  not  guilty  of 
such  things;  that  I  did  not  even  understand  what  he  asked  me; 
he  would  not  let  me  off.  Like  the  vulture  bent  upon  tearing 
the  poor  bird  that  falls  into  his  claws,  that  cruel  priest  seemed 
determined  to  defile  and  ruin  my  heart. 

At  last  he  asked  me  a  question  in  a  form  of  expression  so  bad 
that  I  was  really  pained.  I  felt  as  if  I  had  received  a  shock 
from  an  electric  battery ;  a  feeling  of  horror  made  me  shudder. 
I  was  so  filled  with  indignation  that,  speaking  loud  enough  to  be 
heard  by  many,  I  told  him:  "Sir,  I  am  very  wicked;  I  have 
seen,  heard  and  done  many  things  which  I  regret;  but  I  never 
was  guilty  of  what  you  mention  to  me.  My  ears  have  never 
heard  anything  so  wicked  as  what  they*  have  heard  from  your 
lips.  Please  do  not  ask  me  any  more  of  those  questions;  do  not 
teach  me  any  more  evil  than  I  already  know." 

The  remainder  of  my  confession  was  short.  The  firmness 
of  my  Voice  had  evidently  frightened  the  priest,  and  made  him 
blush.  He  stopped  short  and  began  to  give  me  some  good 
advice,  which  might  have  been  useful  to  me  if  the  deep  wounds 
which  his  questions  had  inflicted  upon  my  soul  had  not  so 
absorbed  my  thoughts  as  to  prevent  me  from  giving  attention  to 
what  he  said. 

He  gave  me  a  short  penance  and  dismissed  me. 

I  left  the  confessional  irritated  and  confused.  From  the 
shame  of  what  I  had  just  heard  from  the  mouth  of  that  priest  I 
dared  not  lift  my  eyes  from  the  ground.  I  went  into  a  retired 
corner  of  the  church  to  do  my  penance;  that  is,  to  recite  the 
prayers  he  had  indicated  to  me.  I  remained  for  a  long  time  in 
church.  I  had  need  of  a  calm  after  the  terrible  trial  through 
which  I  had  just  passed.  But  vainly  I  sought  for  rest.  The 
shameful  questions  which  had  been  asked  me,  the  new  world  of 
Tiiquity  into  which  I  had  been  introduced,  the  impure  phantoms 


aS  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

by  which  my  childish  heart  had  been  defiled,  confused  and 
troubled  my  mind  so  strangely  that  I  began  to  weep  bitterly. 

Why  those  tears?  Why  that  desolation?  I  wept  over  my 
sins?  Alas!  I  confess  it  with  shame,  my  sins  did  not  call  forth 
those  tears.  And  yet  how  many  sins  had  I  already  committed, 
for  which  Jesus  shed  his  precious  blood.  But  I  confess  my  sins 
were  not  the  cause  of  my  desolation.  I  was  rather  thinking  of 
my  mother,  who  had  taken  such  good  care  of  me,  and  who  had 
so  well  succeeded  in  keeping  away  from  my  thoughts  those 
impure  forms  of  sin,  the  thoughts  of  which  had  just  now  defiled 
my  heart.  I  said  to  myself,  Ah !  if  my  mother  had  heard  those 
questions;  if  she  could  see  the  evil  thoughts  which  overwhelm 
me  at  this  moment — if  she  knew  to  what  school  she  sent  me 
when  she  advised  me  in  her  last  letter  to  go  to  confession,  how 
her  tears  would  mingle  with  mine!  It  seemed  to  me  that  my 
mother  would  love  me  no  more — that  she  would  see  written 
upon  my  brow  the  pollution  with  which  that  priest  had  pro- 
faned my  soul.  • 

Perhaps  the  feeling  of  pride  was  what  made  me  weep.  Or 
perhaps  I  wept  because  of  a  remnant  of  that  feeling  of  original 
Jignity  whose  traces  had  still  been  left  in  me.  I  felt  so  down- 
cast by  the  disappoirttment  of  being  removed  farther  from  the 
Saviour  by  that  confessional  which  had  promised  to  bring  me 
nearer  to  Him.  God  only  knows  what  was  the  depth  of  my 
sorrow  at  feeling  myself  more  defiled  and  more  guilty  after  than 
before  my  confession. 

I  left  the  church  only  when  forced  to  do  so  by  the  shades  of 
night,  and  came  to  my  uncle's  house  vs^ith  that  feeling  of  uneasi- 
ness caused  by  the  consciousness  of  having  done  a  bad  action, 
and  by  the  fear  of  being  discovered. 

Though  this  uncle,  as  well  as  most  of  the  principal  citizens  of 
the  village  of  St.  Thomas,  had  the  name  of  being  a  Roman 
Catholic,  yet  he  did  not  believe  a  word  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Roman  Church.  He  laughed  at  the  priests,  their  masses,  their 
purgatory,  and  especially  their  confession.  He  did  not  conceal 
that  when  young,  he  had  been  scandalized  by  the  words  and 
actions  of  a  priest  in  the  confessional.     He  spoke  to  me  jestingly. 


THE    CONFESSION    OF    CHILDREN.  2^ 

This  increased  my  trouble  and  my  grief.  "  Now,"  said  He  "you 
will  be  a  good  boy.  But  if  you  have  heard  as  many  new  things 
as  I  did  the  first  time  I  went  to  confess,  you  are  a  very  learned 
boy ;"  and  he  burst  into  laughter. 

I  blushed  and  remained  silent.  My  aunt,  who  was  a  devoted 
Roman  Catholic,  said  to  me,  "  Your  heart  is  relieved,  is  it  not, 
since  you  confessed  all  your  sins?"  I  gave  her  an  evasive 
answer,  but  I  could  not  conceal  the  sadness  that  overcame  me. 
I  thought  I  was  the  only  one  from  whom  the  priest  had  asked 
those  poluting  questions.  But  great  was  my  surprise,  on  the 
following  day,  when  going  to  school  I  learned  that  my  fellow 
pupils  had  not  been  happier  than  I  had  been.  The  only  differ- 
ence was,  that  instead  of  being  grieved,  they  laughed  at  it.  "Did 
the  priest  ask  you  such  and  such  questions.^"  they  would  demand 
laughing  boisterously.  I  refused  to  reply,  and  said,  "Are  you 
not  ashamed  to  speak  of  these  things?" 

"Ah!  ah!  how  very  scrupulous  you  are,"  continued  they. 
"  If  it  is  not  a  sin  for  the  priest  to  speak  to  us  on  these  matters, 
how  can  it  be  a  sin  for  us  ?"  I  stopped,  confounded,  not  know- 
ing what  to  say. 

I  soon  perceived  that  even  the  young  school  girls  had  not 
been  less  polluted  and  scandalized  by  the  questions  of  the  priest 
than  the  boys.  Although  keeping  at  a  distance,  such  as  to 
prevent  us  from  hearing  all  they  said,  I  could  understand  enough 
to  convince  me  that  they  had  been  asked  about  the  same  questions. 
Some  of  them  appeared  indignant,  while  others  laughed  heartily. 

I  should  be  misunderstood  were  it  supposed  that  I  mean  to 
convey  the  idea  that  this  priest  was  more  to  blame  than  others, 
or  that  he  did  more  than  fulfil  the  duties  of  his  ministry  in  asking 
these  questions.  Such,  however,  was  my  opinion  at  the  time, 
and  I  detested  that  man  with  all  my  heart  until  I  knew  better. 
I  had  been  unjust  towards  him,  for  this  priest  had  only  done  his 
duty.  He  was  only  obeying  the  Pope  and  his  theologians.  His 
being  a  priest  of  Rome  was,  therefore,  less  his  crime  than  his 
misfortune.  He  was,  as  I  have  been  myself,  bound  hand  and 
foot  at  the  feet  of  the  greatest  enemy  that  the  holiness  and  truth 
of  God  have  ever  had  on  earth — the  Pope. 


30  FIFTY    YEAKS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  misfortune  of  Mr.  Baubien,  like  that  of  all  the  priests 
of  Rome,  was  that  of  having  bound  himself  by  terrible  oaths 
not  to  think  for  himself,  or  to  use  the  light  of  his  own  reason. 

Many  Roman  Catholics,  even  many  Protestants,  refuse  to 
believe  this.  It  is,  notwithstanding,  a  sad  truth.  The  priest  of 
Rome  is  an  automaton  — a  machine  which  acts,  thinks  and  speaks 
in  matters  of  morals  and  of  faith,  only  according  to  the  order  and 
the  will  of  the  Pope  and  his  theologians. 

Had  Mr.  Beaubien  been  left  to  himself,  he  was  naturally  too 
much  of  a  gentleman  to  ask  such  questions.  But  no  doubt  he 
had  read  Liguori,  Dens,  Debreyne,  authors  approved  by  the 
Pope,  and  he  was  obliged  to  take  darkness  for  light,  and  vice 
for  virtue. 


Chapter  IV. 

TKE  SHEPHERD  WHIPPED  BY  HIS  SHEEP. 

SHORTLY  after  the  trial  of  auricular  confession,  my  young 
friend,  Louis  Cazeault,  accosletl  me  on  a  beautiful  morning 
and  said,  "Do  you  know  what  happened  last  night .••" 

"No,"  I  answered.     "What  was  the  wonder?" 

"  You  know  that  our  priest  spends  almost  all  his  evenings 
at  Mr.  Richards'  house.  Everybody  thinks  that  he  goes  there 
for  the  sake  of  the  two  daughters.  Well,  in  order  to  cure  him 
of  that  diseiise,  my  uncle,  Dr.  Tache,  and  six  others,  masked, 
whipped  him  without  mercy  as  he  was  coming  back  at  eleven 
o'clock  at  night.  It  is  already  known  bv  every  one  in  the 
village,  and  they  split  their  sides  with  laughing." 

My  first  feeling  on  hearing  that  news,  was  one  of  jov.  Ever 
since  my  first  confession  I  felt  angry  every  time  I  thought  of 
that  priest.  His  questions  had  so  wounded  me  that  I  could  not 
forgive  him.  I  had  enough  of  self-control,  however,  to  conceal 
my  pleasure  and  I  answered  my  friend: 

"  You  are  telling  me  a  wicked  story;  I  can't  believe  a  word 
of  it." 

"  Well,"  said  young  Cazeault,  "come  at  eight  o'clock  this 
evening  to  my  uncle's.  A  secret  meeting  is  to  take  place  then. 
No  doubt  they  will  speak  of  the  pill  given  to  the  priest  last  night. 
We  shall  place  ourselves  in  our  little  room  as  usual  and  shall 
hear  everything,  our  presence  not  being  suspected.  You  may 
be  sure  that  it  will  be  interesting." 

"  I  will  go,"  I  answered,  "  but  I  do  not  believe  a  word  of 
that  story." 

I  went  to  school  at  the  usual  hour.  Most  of  the  pupils  had 
preceeded  me.     Divided   into  groups  of  eight  or  ten,  they  were 


32  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

engaged  in  a  most  lively  conversation.  Bursts  of  convulsive 
laughter  were  heard  from  every  corner.  I  could  very  w^ell  see 
that  something  uncommon  had  taken  place  in  the  village. 

I  approached  several  of  these  groups,  and  all  received  me 
with  the  question: 

"  Do  you  know  that  the  priest  was  whipped  last  night  as  he 
was  coming  from  the  Misses  Richards'?" 

"  That  is  a  story  invented  for  fun,"  said  I. 

"  You  were  not  there  to  see  him,  were  you?  You  therefore 
know  nothing  about  it;  for  if  anybody  had  whipped  the  priest 
he  would  not  surely  boast  of  it." 

"  But  we  heard  his  screams,"  answered  many  voices. 

"What!  was  he  then  screaming  out?"   I  asked. 

"He  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  'Help,  help!  Murder!'  '* 

"  But  you  were  surely  mistaken  about  the  voice,"  said  I 
"  It  was  not  the  priest  who  shouted,  it  was  somebody  else.  I 
could  never  believe  that  anybody  would  whip  a  priest  in  such  a 
crowded  village." 

"  But"  said  several,  "we  ran  to  his  help  and  we  recognized 
the  priest's  voice.     He  is  the  only  one  who  lisps  in  the  village." 

"  And  we  saw  him  with  our  own  eyes,"  said  several. 

The  school  bell  put  an  end  to  this  conversation.  As  soon  as 
school  was  out  I  returned  to  the  house  of  my  relatives,  not 
wishing  to  learn  any  more  about  this  matter.  Although  I  did 
not  like  this  priest,  yet  T  was  much  mortified  by  some  remarks 
which  the  older  pupils  made  about  him. 

But  it  was  difficult  not  to  hear  any  more.  On  my  arrival 
home  I  found  my  uncle  and  aunt  engaged  in  a  very  warm 
debate  on  the  subject.  My  uncle  wished  to  conceal  the  fact 
that  he  was  among  those  who  had  whipped  him.  But  he  gave 
the  details  so  precisely,  he  was  so  merry  over  the  adventure, 
that  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  had  a  hand  in  the  plot.  My  aunt 
was  indignant,  and  used  the  most  energetic  expressions  to  show 
her  disapprobation. 

That  bitter  debate  annoyed  me  so  that  I  did  not  stay  long  to 
hear  it  all.     I  withdrew  to  my  study. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  day  I  changed  my  resolution 


THE    SHEPHEKD    WHIPPED    BY    HIS    SHEEP.  33 

many  times  abouf  my  going  to  the  secret  meeting  in  the  evening. 
At  one  moment  I  would  decide  firmly  not  to  go.  My  conscience 
told  me  that,  as  usual,  things  would  be  uttered  which  it  was  not 
good  for  me  to  hear.  I  had  refused  to  go  to  the  two  last  meet- 
ings, and  a  silent  voice,  as  it  were,  told  me  I  had  done  well. 
Then  a  moment  after  I  was  tormented  by  the  desire  to  know 
precisely  what  had  taken  place  the  evening  before.  The  fla<^e!- 
lation  of  a  priest  in  the  midst  of  a  large  village  was  a  fact  too 
worthy  of  note  to  fail  to  excite  the  curiosity  of  a  child.  Besides, 
my  aversion  to  the  priest,  though  I  concealed  it  as  well  as  I 
could,  made  me  wish  to  know  whether  everything  was  true  on 
the  subject  of  the  chastisement.  But  in  the  struggle  between 
good  and  evil  which  took  place  in  my  mind  during  that  day,  the 
evil  was  finally  to  triumjjh.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  before  the 
meeting  my  friend  came  to  me  and  said: 

"  Make  haste,  the  members  of  the  association  are  coming." 

At  this  call  all  my  good  resolutions  vanished.  I  hushed  the 
voice  of  my  conscience,  and  a  few  minutes  later  I  was  placed  in 
an  angle  of  that  little  room,  where  for  more  than  two  hours  I 
learned  many  strange  and  scandalous  things  about  the  lives  of 
tlie  p  iests  of  Canada. 

Dr.  Tache  presided.  He  opened  the  meeting  in  a  low  tone 
of  voice.  At  the  beginning  of  his  discourse  I  had  some  ditficulty 
to  understand  what  he  said.  He  spoke  as  one  who  feared 
to  be  overheard  when  disclosing  a  secret  to  a  friend.  But  after 
a  few  preliminary  sentences  he  forgot  the  rule  of  prudence 
which  he  had  imposed  upon  himself,  and  spoke  with  energy  and 
power. 

Mr.  Etienne  Tache  was  naturally  eloquent.  He  seemed  to 
speak  on  no  question  except  under  the  influence  of  the  deepest 
conviction  of  its  truth.  His  speech  was  passionate,  and  the  tone 
of  his  voice  clear  and  agreeable.  His  short  and  cutting  sentences 
did  not  reach  the  ear  only;  they  penetrated  even  the  secret  folds 
of  the  soul.     He  spoke  in  substance  as  follows: 

"  Gentlemen: — I  am  happy  to  see  you  here  more  numerously 
than  ever.  The  grave  events  of  last  night  have,  no  doubt, 
decided  manv  of   vou   to  attend  debates  which  some   besran  to 


34  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

forsake,  but  the  importance  of  which,  it  seems  to  me,  increases 
day  by  day. 

"  The  question  debated  in  our  last  meeting — '  The  Priests ' — 
is  one  of  Hfe  and  death,  not  only  for  our  young  and  beautiful 
Canada,  but  in  a  moral  point  of  view  it  is  a  question  of  life  and 
death  for  our  families,  and  for  every  one  of  us  in  particular. 

"There  is,  I  know,  only  one  opinion  among  us  on  the  subject 
of  priests;  and  I  am  glad  that  this  opinion  is  not  only  that  of  all 
educated  men  in  Canada,  but  also  of  learned  France;  nay,  of  the 
whole  world.  The  reign  of  the  priest  is  the  reign  of  ignorance, 
of  corruption,  and  of  the  most  barefaced  immorality,  under  the 
mask  of  the  most  refined  hypocrisy.  The  reign  of  the  priest  is 
the  death  of  our  schools;  it  is  the  degradation  of  our  wives,  the 
prostitution  of  our  daughters;  it  is  the  reign  of  tyranny — the  loss 
of  libertv. 

"  We  have  only  one  good  school,  I  will  not  say  in  St.  Thoma8^ 
but  in  all  our  county.  This  school  in  our  midst  is  a  great  honor 
to  our  village.  Now  see  the  energy  with  which  all  the  priests 
who  come  here  work  for  the  closing  of  that  school.  They  use 
every  means  to  destroy  that  focus  of  light  which  we  have  started 
with  so  much  difficulty,  and  which  we  support  by  so  many 
sacrifices. 

"  With  the  priest  of  Rome  our  children  do  not  belong  to  us  ; 
he  is  their  master.  Let  me  explain.  The  priest  honors  us  with 
the  belief  that  the  bodies,  the  flesh  and  bones  of  our  children,  are 
ours,  and  that  our  duty  in  consequence  is  to  clothe  and  feed  them. 
But  the  nobler  and  more  sacred  part,  namely,  the  intellect,  the 
heart,  the  soul,  the  priest  claims  as  his  own  patrimony,  his  own 
proporty.  The  priest  has  the  audacity  to  tell  us  that  to  him 
alone  it  belongs  to  enlighten  those  intelligences,  to  form  those 
hearts,  to  fashion  those  souls  as  it  may  best  suit  him.  He  has  the 
impudence  to  tell  us  that  we  are  too  silly  or  perverse  to  know 
our  duties  in  this  respect.  We  have  not  the  right  of  choosing 
our  school  teachers.  We  have  not  the  right  to  send  a  single  ray 
of  light  into  those  intellects,  or  to  give  to  those  souls  who  hunger 
and  tnirst  after  truth  a  single  crumb  of  that  food  prepared  with, 
so  much  wisdom  and  success  by  enlightened  men  of   all  ages. 


THE    SHEPHERD    WHIPPED    BY    HIS    SHEEP.  55 

"  By  the  confessional  the  priests  poison  the  springs  of  life  in 
our  children.  They  initiate  them  into  such  mysteries  of  iniquity 
as  would  terrify  old  galley  slaves.  By  their  questions  they 
reveal  to  them  secrets  of  a  corruption  such  as  carries  its  germs  of 
death  into  the  very  marrow  of  their  bones,  and  that  from  thi- 
earliest  years  of  their  infancy.  Before  I  was  fifteen  years  old  I 
had  learned  more  real  blackguardism  from  the  mouth  of  my 
confessor  than  I  have  learned  ever  since  in  my  studies  and  in  my 
life  as  a  physician  for  twenty  years. 

"A  few  days  ago  I  questioned  my  little  nephew,  Louis 
Cazeault,  upon  what  he  had  learned  in  his  confession.  He 
answered  me  ingenuously,  and  repeated  things  to  me  which  I 
would  be  ashamed  to  utter  in  your  presence,  and  which  you, 
fathers  of  families,  could  not  listen  to  without  blushing.  And 
just  think,  that  not  only  of  little  boys  are  those  questions  asked, 
but  also  of  our  dear  little  girls.  Are  we  not  the  most  degraded 
of  men  if  we  do  not  set  ourselves  to  work  in  order  to  break  the 
iron  yoke  under  which  the  priest  keeps  our  dear  country,  and  by 
means  of  which  he  keeps  us,  with  our  wives  and  children,  at  his 
feet  like  vile  slaves! 

"  While  speaking  to  you  of  the  deleterious  effect  of  the 
confessional  upon  our  children,  shall  I  forget  its  effect  upon  our 
wives  and  upon  ourselves?  Need  I  tell  you  that,  for  most 
women,  the  confessional  is  a  rendezvous  of  coquetry  and  of  love? 
Do  you  not  feel  as  I  do  myself,  that  by  means  of  the  confessional 
the  priest  is  more  the  master  of  the  hearts  of  our  wives  than 
ourselves?  Is  not  the  priest  the  private  and  \  ublic  confidant  of 
our  wives?  Do  not  our  wives  go  invariably  to  the  feet  of  the 
priest,  opening  to  him  what  is  most  sacred  and  intimate  in  the 
secrets  of  our  lives  as  husbands  and  as  fathers?  The  husband 
belongs  no  more  to  his  wife  as  her  guide  through  the  dark  and 
difficult  paths  of  life:  it  is  the  priest!  We  are  no  more  their 
friends  and  natural  advisers.  Their  anxieties  and  tlieir  cares  they 
do  not  confide  to  us.  Thev  do  not  expect  from  us  the  remedies 
for  the  miseries  of  this  life.  Towards  the  priest  they  tutn  their 
thoughts  and  desires.  He  has  their  entire  and  exclusive  confi- 
dence.    In  a  word,  it  is  the  priest  who  is  the  real  husband  of  our 


36  FIFTY    YEAUS     IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

wives!     It  is  he  who  ha=   the  possession  of  their  respect  and  of 
their  hearts  to  a  degree  to  which  no  one  of  us  need  ever  aspire! 

"Were  the  priest  ar,  angel,  were  he  not  made  of  flesh  and 
bones  just  as  we  are,  w^re  not  his  organization  absolutely  the 
?;ame  as  our  own,  then  might  we  be  indifferent  to  what  might 
take  place  between  hin:.  and  our  wives,  whom  he  has  at  his  feet, 
m  his  hands — even  more,  in  his  heart.  But  what  does  my 
experience  tell  me,  no^  only  as  a  physician,  but  also  as  a  citizen 
of  St.  Thomas?  What  does  yours  tell  you?  Our  experience 
tellg  us  that  the  priest^  instead  of  being  stronger,  is  weaker  than 
we  generally  are  w;th  respect  to  women.  His  sham  vows  of 
perfect  chastity,  far  from  rendering  him  more  invulnerable  to 
the  arrows  of  Cupid,  expose  him  to  be  made  more  easily  the 
victim  of  that  god,  so  small  in  form,  but  so  dreadful  a  giant  by 
the  irresistible  power  of  his  weapons  and  the  extent  of  his 
conquests. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  of  the  last  four  priests  who  came  to 
St.  Thomas,  have  not  three  seduced  many  of  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  our  most  respected  families?  And  what  security 
have  we  that  the  priest  who  is  now  with  us  does  not  walk  in  the 
same  path?  Is  not  the  whole  parish  filled  with  indignation  at 
the  long  nightly  visits  made  by  him  to  two  girls  whose  dissolute 
morals  are  a  secret  to  nobody  ?  And  when  the  priest  does  not 
respect  himself,  would  we  not  be  silly  in  continuing  to  give  him 
that  respect  of  which  he  himself  knows  he  is  unworthy? 

"At  our  last  meeting  the  opinions  were  divided  at  the 
beginning  of  the  discussion.  Many  thought  it  would  be  well  to 
speak  to  the  bishop  about  the  scandal  caused  by  those  nightly 
visits.  But  the  majority  judged  that  such  steps  would  be  useless, 
since  the  bishop  would  do  one  of  two  things,  namely,  he  would 
either  pay  no  attention  to  our  just  complaints,  as  has  often  been 
the  case,  or  he  would  remove  this  priest,  filling  his  place  with 
one  who  would  do  no  better.  That  majority,  which  became  a 
unanimit}-,  acceded  to  my  thought  of  taking  justice  into  our  own 
hands.  The  priest  is  our  servant.  We  pay  him  a  large  tithe. 
We  have  therefore  claims  upon  him.  He  has  abused  us,  and 
does  so  everv  day  by  his  public  neglect  of  the  most  elementary 


THE    SHEPHERD     WHIPPED    BY    HIS    SHEEP.  ^-J 

laws  of  morality.  In  visiting  CA'ery  night  that  houst  »vho.se 
degradation  is  known  to  everybody,  he  gives  to  y>  ,uth  an 
example  of  perversity  the  effects  of  which  no  one  can  estimate. 

"  It  had  been  unanimously  decided  that  he  should  be  whipped. 
Without  mv  telling  you  by  whom  it  was  done,  you  mav  be 
assured  that  Mr.  Beaubien's  flagellation  of  last  night  will  never 
be  forgotten  by  him  ! 

"  Heaven  grant  that  this  brotherly  correction  be  a  lesson  to 
teach  all  the  priests  of  Canada  that  their  golden  reign  is  over, 
that  the  eyes  of  the  people  are  opened,  and  that  their  domination 
is  drawing  to  an  end!" 

This  discourse  was  listened  to  with  deep  silence,  and  Dr, 
Tache  saw  by  the  applause  that  followed  that  his  speech  had 
been  the  expression  of  everyone. 

Next  followed  a  gentleman  named  Dubord,  who  in  substance 
spoke  as  follows : 

"Mr.  President: — I  was  not  among  those  who  gave  the 
priest  the  expression  of  public  feeling  with  the  energetic  tongue 
of  the  whip.  I  wish  I  had  been,  however;  I  would  heartily 
have  co-operated  in  giving  that  lesson  to  the  priests  of  Canada. 
Let  me  give  my  reason. 

"My  daughter,  who  is  twelve  years  old,  went  to  confession 
as  did  the  others  a  few  weeks  ago.  It  was  against  my  will.  I 
know  by  my  own  experience  that  of  all  actions  confession  is  the 
most  degrading  in  a  person's  life.  I  can  imagine  nothing  so 
well  calculated  to  destroy  for  ever  one's  self-respect  as  the 
modern  invention  of  the  confessional.  Now,  what  is  a  person 
without  self-respect — especially  a  woman.-*  Without  this  all  is 
lost  to  her  forever. 

"In  the  confessional  everything  is  corruption  of  the  lowest 
grade. 

"  In  the  confessional,  a  girl's  thoughts  are  polluted,  her 
tongue  is  polluted,  her  heart  is  polluted — yes,  and  forever  pol- 
luted! Do  I  need  to  tail  you  this?  You  know  it  as  well  as  I 
do.  Though  you  are  now  all  too  intelligent  to  degrade  your- 
selves at  the  feet  of  a  priest,  though  it  is  long  since  you  have 
been  guilty  of  that  meanness,  not  one  of  you  have  forgotten  the 


38  FIFTY    YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

lessons  of  corruption  received,  when  young,  in  the  confessional. 
Those  lessons  were  engraved  on  your  memory,  your  thoughts, 
your  hearts,  and  your  souls  like  the  scar  left  by  the  red-hot  iron 
upon  the  brow  of  the  slave,  to  remain  a  perpetual  witness  of  his 
shame  and  servitude.  The  confessional  is  a  place  where  one 
gets  accustomed  to  hear,  and  repeat  without  a  scruple,  things 
which  would  cause  even  a  prostitute  to  blush! 

"  Why  are  Roman  Catholic  nations  inferior  to  nations 
belonging  to  Protestantism?  Only  in  the  confessional  can  the 
solution  of  that  problem  be  found.  And  why  are  Roman 
Catholic  nations  degraded  in  proportion  to  their  submission  to 
the  priest.?  It  is  because  the  oftener  the  individuals  composing 
those  nations  go  to  confession  the  more  rapidly  they  sink  in  the 
scale  of  intelligence  and  morality.  A  terrible  example  of  this 
I  had  in  my  own  house. 

"  As  I  said  a  moment  ago,  I  was  against  my  daughter  going 
to  confession ;  but  her  poor  mother,  who  is  under  the  control  of 
the  priest,  earnestly  wanted  her  to  go.  Not  to  have  a  disagree' 
able  scene  in  my  house,  I  had  to  yield  to  the  tears  of  my  wife. 

"  On  the  day  following  that  of  her  confession  they  believed 
I  was  absent;  but  I  was  in  my  office,  with  the  door  sufficiently 
open  to  allow  me  to  hear  what  was  said.  My  wife  and  daughter 
had  the  following  conversation  : 

" '  What  makes  you  so  thoughtful  and  sad,  my  dear  Lucy, 
since  you  went  to  confession.?  It  seems  to  me  you  should  feel 
happier  since  you  had  the  privilege  of  confessing  your  sins.' 

"  Lucy  made  no  answer. 

"  After  a  silence  of  two  or  three  minntes  her  mother  said: 

"  '  Why  do  you  weep,  dear  child  ?     Are  you  ill  ? ' 

"  Still  no  answer  from  the  child. 

"You  may  well  suppose  that  I  was  all  attention.  I  had  my 
suspicions  about  the  dreadful  ordeal  which  had  taken  place.  Mj 
heart  throbbed  with  uneasiness  and  anger. 

"  After  a  short  time  my  wife  spoke  to  her  child  with  suffi- 
cient firmness  to  force  her  to  answer.  In  a  trembling  voice  and 
half  suppressed  with  sobs  my  dear  little  daughter  answered: 

♦"Ah!  mamma,  if  you  knew  what  the  priest  asked  me,  and 


THE    SHEPIIEKU    WHIPPED    BY    HIS    SHEEP.  39 

what  he  said  to  me   in   the  confessional,  you  would  be  as  sad   as 
I  am.' 

"'  But  what  did  he  say  to  you?  He  is  a  holy  man.  You 
surely  did  not  understand  him  if  you  think  he  said  anything  to 
pain  you.' 

"'  Dear  mother,"  as  she  threw  herself  into  her  mother's  arms^ 
*do  not  ask  me  to  confess  what  that  priest  said!  He  told  to  me 
things  so  shameful  that  I  cannot  repeat  them.  But  that  which 
pains  me  most  is  the  impossibility  of  banishing  from  my 
thoughts  the  hateful  things  which  he  has  taught  me.  His 
impure  words  are  like  the  leeches  put  upon  the  chest  of  my 
friend  Louise — they  could  not  be  removed  without  tearing  th« 
flesh.  What  must  have  been  his  opinion  of  me  to  ask  such 
questions! ' " 

"  My  child  said  no  more,  and  began  to  sob  again. 

"After  a  short  silence  my  wife  rejoined; 

'"I'll  go  to  the  priest.  I'll  tell  him  to  beware  how  Ive 
speaks  in  the  confessional.  I  have  noticed  myself  that  he  goes 
too  far  with  his  questions.  I,  however,  thought  that  he  was 
more  prudent  with  children.  After  the  lesson  that  I'll  give  him 
be  sure  that  you  will  have  only  to  tell  your  sins,  and  that  you 
will  be  no  more  troubled  by  his  endless  questions.  I  ask  of 
you,  however,  never  to  speak  of  this  to  anybody,  especiallv 
ne\er  let  your  poor  father  know  anything  about  it;  for  he  has 
little  enough  religion  already,  and  this  would  leave  him  without 
any  at  all.'" 

"  I  could  contain  myself  no  longer.  I  rose  and  abruptly 
entered  the  parlor.  My  daughter  threw  herself,  weeping,  into 
my  arms.  My  wife  screamed  with  terror,  and  almost  fell  into  a 
swoon.     I  said  to  my  child : 

"  If  you  love  me,  put  your  hand  on  my  heart  and  promise 
me  that  you'll  never  go  to  confession  again.  Fear  God,  my 
child;  walk  in  His  presence,  for  His  eye  seeth  you  everywhere. 
Remember  that  day  and  night  He  is  ready  to  forgive  us.  Never 
place  yourself  again  at  the  feet  of  a  priest  to  be  defiled  and 
deg'-aded  by  him! 

"  This  my  daughter  promised  me. 


4©  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  When  my  wife  had  recovered  from  her  surprise  I  said  to 
her: 

"  Madam,  for  a  long  time  the  priest  has  been  everything  and 
your  husband  nothing  to  you.  There  is  a  hidden  and  terrible 
power  that  governs  your  thoughts  and  affections  as  it  governs 
your  deeds — it  is  the  power  of  the  priest.  This  you  have  often 
denied ;  but  providence  has  decided  to-day  that  this  power  should 
be  forever  broken  for  you  and  for  me.  I  want  to  be  the  ruler 
in  my  own  house;  and  from  this  moment  the  power  of  the  priest 
over  you  must  cease,  unless  you  prefer  to  leave  my  house 
forever.  The  priest  has  reigned  here  too  long!  But  now  that 
I  know  he  has  stained  and  defiled  the  soul  of  my  daughter,  his 
empire  must  fall  !  Whenever  you  go  and  take  your  heart  and 
secrets  to  the  feet  of  the  priest,  be  so  kind  as  not  to  come  back 
to  the  same  house  with  me." 

Three  other  discourses  followed  that  of  Mr.  Dubord,  all  of 
which  were  pregnant  with  details  and  facts  going  to  prove  that 
the  confessional  was  the  principal  cause  of  the  deplorable 
demoralization  of  St.  Thomas. 

If,  in  addition  to  all  that,  I  could  have  mentioned  before  that 
association  what  I  already  knew  of  the  corrupting  influences  of 
that  institution  given  to  the  world  by  centuries  of  darkness, 
certainly  the  determination  of  its  members  to  make  use  of  every 
means  to  abolish  its  usasre  would  have  been  strengthened. 


Chapter  V. 

PRTEST,    PUBQATOBY,   AND    THE   POOB    WTDOW'S   OOW. 

THE  day  following  that  of  the  meeting  at  which  Mr.  Tache 
had  given  his  reasons  for  boasting  that  he  had  whipped  the 
priest,  I  wrote  to  my  mother:  "  For  God's  sake,  come  for  me;  I 
can  stay  here  no  longer.  If  you  knew  what  my  eyes  have  seen 
and  my  ears  have  heard  for  some  time  past,  you  would  not  delay 
your  coming  a  single  day." 

Indeed,  such  was  the  impression  left  upon  me  by  that  flagel- 
lation, and  by  the  speeches  which  I  had  heard,  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  crossing  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  I  would  have  started 
for  Murray  Bay  on  the  day  after  the  secret  meeting  at  which  I 
had  heard  things  that  so  terribly  frightened  me.  How  I 
regretted  the  happy  and  peaceful  days  spent  with  mv  mother  in 
reading  the  beautiful  chapters  of  the  Bible,  so  well  chosen  by 
her  to  instruct  and  interest  me!  What  a  difference  there  was 
between  our  conversations  after  these  readings,  and  the  conver- 
sations I  heard  at  St.  Thomas! 

Happily  my  parents'  desire  to  see  me  again  was  as  great  a» 
mine  to  go  back  to  them.  So  that  a  few  weeks  later  my  mother 
came  for  me.  She  pressed  me  to  her  heart,  and  brought  mc 
back  to  the  arms  of  my.  father. 

I  arrived  at  home  on  the  17th  of  July,  182 1,  and  spent  the 
afternoon  and  evening  till  late  by  my  father's  side.  With  what 
pleasure  did  he  see  me  working  difficult  problems  in  algebra, 
and  even  in  geometry!  for  under  my  teacher,  Mr.  Jones,  I  had 
really  made  rapid  progress  in  those  branches.  More  than  once 
I  noticed  tears  of  joy  in  my  father's  eyes  when,  taking  my  slate, 
he  saw  that  my  calculations  were  correct.  He  also  examined  mc 
in    grammar.      "  What   an   admirable    teacher   this    Mr.  Jones 

4« 


42  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

must   be,"  he  would    say,  "  to  have  advanced  a  child  so  much  in 
the  short  space  of  fourteen  months!" 

How  sweet  to  me,,  but  how  short,  were  those  hours  of  happi- 
ness passed  between  my  good  mother  and  my  father!  We  had 
family  worship.  I  read  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Luke,  the 
return  of  the  prodigal  son.  My  mother  then  sang  a  hymn  of 
joy  and  gratitude,  and  I  went  to  bed  with  my  heart  full  of 
happiness  to  take  the  sweetest  sleep  of  my  life.  But,  O  God! 
what  an  awful  awakening  thou  hadst  prepared  for  me! 

At  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  heart-rending  screams 
fell  upon  my  ear.     I  recognized  my  mother's  voice. 

"What  is  the  matter,  dear  mother?" 

"Oh,  my  dear  child,  you  have  no  more  a  father!  He  is 
dead ! "  ' 

In  saving  these  words  she  lost  consciousness  and  fell  on  the 
floor! 

While  a  friend  who  had  passed  the  night  with  us  gave  her 
proper  care,  I  hastened  to  my  father's  bed.  I  pressed  him  to 
my  heart,  I  kissed  him,  I  covered  him  with  my  tears,  I  moved 
his  head,  I  pressed  his  hands,  I  tried  to  lift  him  up  on  his 
pillow;  I  could  not  believe  that  he  was  dead!  It  seemed  to  me 
that  even  if  dead  he  would  come  back  to  life — that  God  could 
not  thus  take  my  father  away  from  me  at  the  very  moment 
when  I  had  come  back  to  him  after  so  long  an  absence!  I 
knelt  to  pray  to  God  for  the  life  of  my  father.  But  my  tears 
and  cries  were  useless.  He  was  dead !  He  was  already  cold 
as  ice! 

Two  days  after  he  was  buried.  My  mother  was  so  over- 
whelmed with  grief  that  she  could  not  follow  the  funei'al 
procession.  I  remained  with  her  as  her  only  earthly  support. 
Poor  mother!  How  many  tears  thou  hast  shed!  What  sobs 
came  from  thine  afflicted  heart  in  those  days  of  supreme  grief  I 

Though  I  was  then  very  young,  I  could  understand  the 
greatness  of  our  loss,  and  I  mingled  my  tears  with  those  of  my 
mother. 

What  pen  can  portray  what  takes  place  in  the  heart  of  a 
',\  oman   when    God    takes   suddenly    her   husband  away   in    the 


THE    PRIEST,    PURGATORY,    ETC. 


43 


k 


prime  of  his  life,  and  leaves  her  alone,  plunged  in  misery,  with 
three  small  children,  two  of  whom  are  even  too  young  to  know 
their  loss!  How  long  are  the  hours  of  the  day  for  the  poor 
widow  who  is  left  alone,  and  without  means,  among  strangers! 
How  painful  the  sleepless  night  to  the  heart  which  has  lost 
everything!  How  empty  a  house  is  left  by  the  eternal  absence 
of  him  who  was  its  master,  support,  and  father!  Every  object 
in  the  house  and  every  step  she  takes  remind  her  of  her  loss 
and  sinks  the  sword  deeper  which  pierces  her  heart.  Oh,  how 
bitter  are  the  tears  which  flow  from  her  eyes  when  her  youngest 
child,  who  as  yet  does  not  understand  the  mystery  of  death, 
throws  himself  into  her  arms  and  says:  "  Mamma,  where  is 
papa?     Why  does  he  not  come  back?     1  am  lonely!" 

My  poor  mother  passed  through  those  heart-rending  trials. 
I  heard  her  sobs  during  the  long  hours  of  the  day,  and  also 
during  the  longer  hours  of  the  night.  Many  times  I  have  seen 
her  fall  upon  her  knees  to  implore  God  to  be  merciful  to  her  and 
to  her  three  unhappy  orphans.  I  could  do  nothing  then  to 
comfort  her,  bu:  love  her,  pray  and  weep  with  her! 

Only  a  few  days  had  elapsed  after  the  burial  of  my  father 
when  I  saw  Mr.  Courtois,  the  parish  priest,  coming  to  our  house 
(he  who  had  tried  to  take  away  our  Bible  from  us).  He  had 
the  reputation  of  being  rich,  and  as  we  were  poor  and  unhappy 
since  my  father's  death,  my  first  thought  was  that  he  had  come 
to  comfort  and  to  help  us.  I  could  see  that  my  mother  had  the 
same  hopes.  She  welcomed  him  as  an  angel  from  heaven. 
The  least  gleam  of  hope  is  so  sweet  to  one  who  is  unhappy! 

From  his  very  first  words,  however,  I  couid  see  that  our 
hopes  were  not  to  be  realized.  He  tried  to  be  sympathetic,  and 
even  said  something  about  the  confidence  that  we  should  have 
in  God,  especially  in  times  of  trial;  but  his  words  were  cold 
«nd  dry. 

Turning  to  me,  he  said: 

"  Do  you  continue  to  read  the  Bible,  my  little  boy?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  I,  with  a  voice  trembling  with  anxiety, 
for  I  feared  that  he  would  make  another  effort  to  take  away 
that  treasure,  and  I  had  no  longer  a  father  to  defend  it. 


44  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMH. 

Then  addressing  my  mother,  he  said: 

"  Madam,  I  told  vou  that  it  was  not  right  for  you  or  your 
child  to  read  that  book." 

Mv  mother  cast  down  her  eyes,  and  answered  only  by  the 
tears  which  ran  down  her  cheeks. 

That  question  was  followed  by  a  long  silence,  and  the  priest 
then  continued: 

"  Madam,  there  is  something  due  for  the  prayers  which  have 
been  ^^ung,  and  the  services  which  you  requested  to  be  offered 
for  the  repose  of  your  husband's  soul.  I  will  be  very  much 
obliged  to  vou  if  you  pay  me  that  little  debt." 

"  Mr.  Courtois,"  answered  my  mother,  "my  husband  left  me 
nothing  but  debts.  I  have  only  the  work  of  my  own  hands  to 
procure  a  living  for  my  three  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  is 
before  vou.  For  these  little  orphans'  sake,  if  not  for  mine,  do 
not  take  from  us  the  little  that  is  left." 

"  But,  madam,  you  do  not  reflect.  Your  husband  died 
suddenly  and  without  anv  preparation ;  he  is  therefore  in  the 
flames  of  purgatory.  If  you  want  him  to  be  delivered,  you 
must  necessarily  unite  your  personal  sacrifices  to  the  prayers  of 
the  Church  and  the  masses  which  we  offer." 

"As  I  said,  my  husband  has  left  me  absolutely  without 
means,  and  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  ^ou  any  money," 
replied  my  mother. 

"  But,  madam,  your  husband  was  for  a  long  time  the  only 
notary  of  Mai  Bav.  He  surely  must  have  made  much  money. 
I  can  scarcely  think  that  he  has  left  you  without  any  means  to 
help  him  now  that  his  desolation  and  sufferings  are  far  greater 
than  yours." 

"  My  husband  did,  indeed,  coin  much  money,  but  he  spent 
still  more.  Thanks  to  God,  we  have  not  been  in  want  while  he 
lived.  But  lately  he  got  this  house  built,  and  what  is  still  due 
on  it  makes  me  fear  that  I  will  lose  it.  He  also  bought  a  piece 
of  land  not  long  ago,  only  half  of  which  is  paid,  and  I  will, 
therefore,  probably  not  be  able  to  keep  it.  Hence  I  may  soon, 
with  mv  poor  orphans,  be  deprived  of  everything  that  is  left  us. 
In  the  meantime  I  hope,  sir,  that  you  are  not  a  man  to  take  awa^r 
from  us  our  last  oiece  of  bread." 


THE    PKIEST,    PURGATORY,    ETC.  ^J 

'« But,  madam,  the  masses  offered  for  the  rest  of  your  hu»- 
band's  soul  must  be  paid,"  answered  the  priest. 

My  mother  covered  her  face  with  her  handkerciiief  and 
wept. 

As  for  me,  I  did  not  mingle  my  tears  with  hers  this  time. 
My  feelings  were  not  those  of  grief,  but  of  anger  and  unspeak- 
able horror.  My  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  face  of  that  man  who 
tortured  my  mother's  heart.  I  looked  with  tearless  eyes  upon 
the  man  who  added  to  my  poor  mother's  anguish,  and  made  her 
weep  more  bitterly  than  ever.  My  hands  were  clenched,  as  if 
ready  to  strike.  All  my  muscles  trembled ;  my  teeth  chattered 
as  if  from  intense  cold.  My  greatest  sorrow  was  my  weakness 
in  the  presence  of  that  big  man,  and  my  not  being  able  to  send 
him  away  from  our  house,  and  driving  him  far  away  from  my 
motiier. 

I  felt  inclined  to  say  to  him:  "Are  you  not  ashamed,  you 
who  are  so  rich,  to  come  and  take  away  the  last  piece  of  bread 
from  our  mouths?"  But  my  physical  and  moral  strength  were 
not  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  task  before  me,  and  I  was  filled 
with  regret  and  disappointment. 

After  a  long  silence,  my  mother  raised  her  eyes,  reddened 
with  tears,  on  the  priest,  and  said : 

"  Sir,  you  see  that  cow  in  the  meadow,  not  far  from  our 
house?  Her  milk  and  the  butter  made  from  it  form  the  princi- 
pal part  of  my  children's  food.  I  hope  you  will  not  take  her 
away  from  us.  If,  however,  such  a  sacrifice  must  be  made  to 
deliver  my  poor  husband's  soul  from  purgatory,  take  her  as 
payment  of  the  masses  to  be  offered  to  extinguish  those  devour- 
ing flames." 

The  priest  instantly  arose,  saying,  "  Very  well,  madam,"  and 
went  out. 

Our  eyes  anxiously  followed  him ;  but  instead  of  walking 
towards  the  little  gate  which  was  in  front  of  the  house,  he 
directed  his  steps  towards  the  meadow,  and  drove  the  cow  before 
him  in  the  direction  of  his  home. 

At  I  hat  sight  I  screamed  with  despair:  "  O,  my  mother!  he 
ib  takinir  our  cow  awavl     What  will  become  of  us?" 


^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Lord  Nairn  had  given  us  that  splendid  cow  when  it  was  thre* 
months  old.  Her  mother  had  been  brought  from  Scotland,  and 
belonged  to  one  of  the  best  breeds  of  that  country.  I  fed  her 
■with  my  own  hands,  and  had  often  shared  m}'  bread  with  her. 
I  loved  her  as  a  child  always  loves  an  animal  which  he  has 
brought  up  himself.  She  seemed  to  understand  and  love  me 
also.  From  whatever  distance  she  could  see  me,  she  would  run 
to  me  to  receive  my  caresses,  and  whatever  else  I  mi^ht  have  to 
give  her.  My  mother  herself  milked  her;  and  her  rich  milk 
was  such  delicious  and  substantial  food  for  us.  We  all  felt  so 
happy,  at  breakfast  and  supper,  each  with  a  cupful  of  that  pure 
and  refreshing  milk! 

My  mother  also  cried  out  with  grief  as  she  saw  the  priest 
taking  away  the  only  means  which  heaven  had  left  her  to  feed 
her  children. 

Throwing  myself  into  her  arms,  I  asked  her:  "Why  have 
you  given  away  our  cow?  What  will  become  of  us?  We 
shall  surely  die  of  hunger." 

"  Dear  child,"  she  answered,  "  I  did  not  think  the  priest 
would  be  so  cruel  as  to  take  away  the  last  resource  which  God 
had  left  us.  Ah!  if  I  had  believed  him  to  be  so  unmerciful  I 
w^ould  never  have  spoken  to  him  as  I  did.  As  you  say,  my 
dear  child,  what  will  become  of  us?  But  have  you  not  often 
read  to  me  in  your  Bible  that  God  is  the  Father  of  the  widow 
and  the  orphan?  We  shall  pray  to  that  God  who  is  willing  to 
be  your  father  and  mine.  He  will  listen  to  us,  and  see  our 
tears.  Let  us  kneel  down  and  ask  of  Him  to  be  merciful  to 
us,  and  to  give  us  back  the  support  of  which  the  priest  has 
deprived  us." 

We  both  knelt  down.  She  took  my  right  hand  with  her 
left,  and,  lifting  the  other  hand  towards  heaven,  she  offered  a 
prayer  to  the  God  of  mercies  for  her  poor  children  such  as  I 
have  never  since  heard.  Her  words  were  often  choked  by  her 
sobs.  But  when  she  could  not  speak  with  her  voice,  she  spoke 
with  her  burning  looks  raised  to  heaven,  and  with  her  uplifted 
hand.  I  also  prayed  to  God  with  her,  and  repeated  her  words, 
which  were  broken  by  my  sobs. 


THK    PRIEST,    PURGATORY,    ETC.  47 

When  her  prayer  was  ended  she  remained  for  a  long  time 
pale  and  trembling.  Cold  sweat  was  flowing  on  her  face,  and 
she  fell  on  the  floor.  I  thought  she  was  going  to  die.  I  ran 
for  cold  water,  which  I  gave  her,  saying:  "Dear  mother!  O,  do 
not  leave  me  alone  upon  earth!"  After  drinking  a  few  drops 
she  felt  better,  and  taking  my  hand,  she  put  it  to  her  trembling 
lips;  then  drawing  me  near  her,  and  pressing  me  to  her  bosom, 
she  said:  "  Dear  child,  if  ever  you  become  a  priest,  I  ask  of  you 
never  to  be  so  hard-hearted  towards  poor  ividoivs  as  are  the 
priests  oj  to-day?^  While  she  said  these  words,  I  felt  her 
burning  tears  falling  upon  my  cheek. 

The  memory  of  these  tears  has  never  left  me.  I  felt  them 
constantly  during  the  twenty-five  years  I  spent  in  preaching  the 
inconceivable  superstitions  of  Rome. 

I  was  not  better,  naturally,  than  many  of  the  other  priests. 
I  believed,  as  they  did,  the  impious  fables  of  purgatory ;  and 
as  well  as  they  (I  confess  it  to  my  shame),  if  I  refused  to  take, 
or  if  I  gave  back  the  money  of  the  poor,  I  accepted  the  money 
which  the  rich  gave  me  for  the  masses  I  said  to  extinguish  the 
flames  of  that  fabulous  place.  But  the  remembrance  of  my 
mother's  words  and  tears  has  kept  me  from  being  so  cruel  and 
unmerciful  towards  the  poor  widows  as  Romish  priests  are,  for 
the  most  part,  obliged  to  be. 

When  my  heart,  depraved  by  the  false  and  impious  doctrines 
of  Rome,  was  tempted  to  take  money  from  widows  and  orphajis, 
under  pretence  of  my  long  prayers^  I  then  heard  the  voice  of 
my  mother,  from  the  depth  of  her  sepulchre,  saying:  "  My  dear 
child,  do  not  be  cruel  towards  poor  widows  and  orphans,  as  are 
the  priests  of  to-day."  If,  during  the  days  of  my  priesthood  at 
Quebec,  at  Beauport  and  Kamouraska,  I  have  given  almost  all 
that  I  had  to  feed  and  clothe  the  poor,  especially  the  widows 
and  orphans,  it  was  not  owing  to  my  being  better  than  others, 
but  it  was  because  my  mother  had  spoken  to  me  with  words 
never  to  be  forgotten.  The  Lord,  I  believe,  had  put  into  my 
mother's  mouth  those  words,  so  simple  but  so  full  of  eloquence 
and  beauty,  as  one  of  His  great  mercies  towards  me.  Those 
tears   the    hand    of    Rome    lias   never    been   able    to  wip)e  off; 


48  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

those  words  of  my   mother   the  sophisms  of  Popery  could  not 
make  me  forget. 

How  long,  O  Lord,  shall  that  insolent  enemy  of  the  gospel, 
the  Church  of  Rome,  be  permitted  to  fatten  herself  upon  the 
tears  of  the  widow  and  of  the  orphan  by  means  of  that  cruel 
and  impious  invention  of  paganism — purgatory?  Wilt  thou  not 
be  merciful  unto  so  many  nations  which  are  still  the  victims  of 
that  great  imposture?  Oh,  do  remove  the  veil  which  covers  the 
eyes  of  the  priests  and  people  of  Rome,  as  thou  hast  removed  it 
from  mine!  Make  them  to  understand  that  their  hopes  of 
purification  must  not  rest  on  these  fabulous  fires,  but  only  on  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb  shed  on  Calvary  to  save  the  world. 


Chapter  VI. 

FESTIVITIES  IN  A  PAKSONAOE. 

GOr^  had  heard  the  poor  widow's  prayer.  A  few  days  after 
the  priest  had  taken  our  cow  she  received  a  letter  from 
each  of  her  two  sisters,  Genevieve  and  Catherine. 

The  former,  who  was  married  to  Etienne  Eschenbach,  of 
St.  Thomas,  told  her  to  sell  all  she  had  and  come,  with  her 
children,  to  live  with  her. 

"  We  have  no  family,"  she  said,  "  and  God  has  g^ven  us  the 
good  things  of  this  life  in  abundance.  We  shall  be  happy  to 
share  them  with  you  and  your  children." 

The  latter,  married  in  Kamouraska  to  the  Hon.  Amable 
Dionne,  wrote:  "We  have  learned  the  sad  news  of  your  hus- 
band's death.  We  have  lately  lost  our  only  son.  We  wish  to 
fill  the  vacant  place  with  Charles,  your  eldest.  Send  him  to  us. 
We  shall  bring  him  up  as  our  own  child,  and  before  long  he 
will  be  your  support,  In  the  meantime,  sell  by  auction  all  yon 
have,  and  go  to  St.  Thomas  with  your  two  younger  children. 
There  Genevieve  and  myself  will  supply  your  wants." 

In  a  few  days  all  our  furniture  was  sold.  Unfortunately, 
though  I  had  carefully  concealed  my  cherished  Bible,  it  dis- 
appeared. I  could  never  discover  what  became  of  it.  Had 
mother  herself,  frightened  by  the  threats  of  the  priest,  relin- 
quished that  treasure?  or  had  some  of  our  relatives,  believing  it 
to  be  their  duty,  destroyed  it.''  I  do  not  know.  I  deeply  felt 
that  loss,  which  was  then  irreparable  to  me. 

On  the  following  day,  in  the  midst  of  bitter  tears  and  sobs,  I 
bade  farewell  to  my  poor  mother  and  young  brothers.  They 
went  to  St.  Thomas  on  board  a  schooner,  and  I  crossed  in  a 
sloop  to  Kamouraska. 

4* 


5©  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

My  uncle  and  aunt  Dionne  welcomed  me  with  every  mark 
of  the  most  sincere  affection.  Having  soon  made  known  to 
them  that  I  wished  to  become  a  priest,  I  began  to  study  Latin 
under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Mr.  Morin,  vicar  of  Kamouraska. 
That  priest  was  esteemed  to  be  a  learned  man.  He  was  about 
forty  or  fifty  years  old,  and  had  been  priest  of  a  parish  in  the 
district  of  Montreal.  But,  as  is  the  case  with  the  majority  of 
priests,  his  vows  of  celibacy  had  not  proved  a  sufficient  guarantee 
against  the  charms  of  one  of  his  beautiful  parishioners.  This 
had  caused  a  great  scandal.  He  consequently  lost  his  position, 
and  the  bishop  had  sent  him  to  Kamouraska,  where  his  past 
conduct  was  not  so  generally  known.  He  was  very  good  to  me, 
and  I  soon  loved  him  with  sincere  affection. 

One  day,  about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1822,  he  called  me 
aside  and  said : 

"  Mr.  Varin  (the  parish  priest)  is  in  the  habit  of  giving  a 
great  festival  on  his  birthday.  Now,  the  principal  citizens  of 
the  village  wish  on  that  occasion  to  present  him  with  a  bouquet. 
I  am  a  pointed  to  write  an  address,  and  to  choose  some  one  to 
deliver  it  before  the  priest.  You  are  the  one  whom  I  have 
chosen.     What  do  you  think  of  it?" 

"  But  I  am  very  young,"  I  replied. 

"  Your  youth  will  only  give  more  interest  to  what  we  wish 
to  say  and  do,"  said  the  priest. 

"  Well,  I  have  no  objection  to  do  so,  provided  the  piece  be 
'j!Ot  too  long,  and  that  I  have  it  sufficiently  soon  to  learn  it  well.** 

It  was  already  prepared.  The  time  of  delivering  it  soon 
came.  The  best  society  of  Kamouraska,  composed  of  about 
fifteen  gentlemen  and  as  many  ladies,  were  assembled  in  the 
beautiful  parlors  of  the  parsonage.  Mr.  Varin  was  in  their 
midst.  Suddenly  Squire  Paschal  Tache,  the  seigneur  of  the 
parish,  and  his  lady  entered  the  room,  holding  me  by  each  hand, 
and  placed  me  in  the  midst  of  the  guests.  My  head  was 
crowned  with  flowers,  for  I  was  to  represent  the  angel  of  the 
parish,  whom  the  people  had  chosen  to  give  to  their  pastor  the 
expression  of  public  admiration  and  gratitude.  When  the 
address  was    finished,  I   presented    to  the   priest    the    beautiful 


FESTIVITIES    IN     A     PARSONAGE.  51 

bouquet  of  symbolical  flowers  prepared  by  the  ladies  for  the 
occasion. 

Mr.  Varin  was  a  small  but  well-built  man.  His  thin  lips 
were  ever  ready  to  smile  graciously.  The  remarkable  whiteness 
of  his  skin  was  still  heightened  by  the  rose  color  of  his  cheeks. 
Intelligence  and  goodness  beamed  from  his  expressive  black 
eyes.  Nothing  could  be  more  amiable  and  gracious  than  his 
conversation  during  the  first  quarter  of  an  hour  passed  in  his 
company.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  these  little  fete>,  ami 
the  charm  of  his  manners  could  not  be  surpassed  as  tiie  ho^t  of 
the  evening. 

He  was  moved  to  tears  before  hearing  half  of  the  address, 
and  the  eyes  of  many  were  moistened  when  the  pastor,  with  a 
voice  trembling  and  full  of  emotion,  expressed  his  joy  and  grati- 
tude at  being  so  highly  appreciated  by  his  parishioners. 

As  soon  as  the  happy  pastor  had  expressed  his  thanks,  tlie 
ladies  sang  two  or  three  beautiful  songs.  The  door  of  the 
dining-room  was  then  opened,  and  we  could  see  a  long  table 
laden  with  the  most  delicious  meats  aiid  wines  that  Canada  could 
afford. 

I  had  never  before  been  present  at  a  priest's  dinner.  The 
honorable  position  given  me  at  that  little  fete  permitted  me  to 
see  it  in  all  its  details,  and  nothing  could  equal  the  curiosity  with 
which  I  sought  to  hear  and  see  all  that  was  said  and  done  by  the 
joyous  guests. 

Besides  Mr.  Varin  and  his  vicar  there  were  three  other 
priests,  who  were  artistically  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
beautiful  ladies  of  the  company.  The  ladies,  after  honoring  us 
with  their  presence  for  an  hour  or  so,  left  the  table  and  retired 
to  the  drawing-room.  Scarcely  had  the  last  lady  disappeared 
when  Mr.  Varin  rose  and  said: 

"Gentlemen,  let  us  drink  to  the  health  of  these  amiable 
ladies^  whose  presence  has  thrown  so  many  charms  over  the  first 
part  of  our  little  fete." 

Following  the  example  of  Mr.  Varin,  each  guest  filled  and 
emptied  his  long  wine-glass  in  honor  of  the  ladies. 

Squire  Tache  then  proposed  "  The  health  of  the  most  vener- 


52  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    7 HK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

able  and  beloved  priest  of  Canada,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Varin."  Again 
the  glasses  were  filled  and  emptied,  except  mine;  for  I  had  been 
placed  at  the  side  of  my  uncle  Dionne,  vv^ho,  sternly  looking  at 
me  as  soon  as  I  had  emptied  my  first  glass,  said :  "  If  you  drink 
another  I  will  send  you  from  the  table.  A  little  boy  like  you 
should  not  drink,  but  only  touch  the  glass  with  his  lips." 

It  would  have  been  diflScult  to  count  the  healths  which  were 
drank  after  the  ladies  had  left  us.  After  each  health  a  song  or 
a  story  was  called  for,  several  of  which  were  followed  by 
apphiuse,  shouts  of  joy,  and  convulsive  laughter. 

When  my  turn  to  propose  a  health  came  I  wished  to  be 
excused,  but  they  would  not  exempt  me.  So  I  had  to  say  about 
whose  health  I  was  most  interested.  I  rose  upon  my  two  short 
legs,  and  turning  to  Mr.  Varin,  I  said,  "  Let  us  drink  to  the 
health  of  our  Holy  Father,  the  Pope." 

Nobody  had  yet  thought  of  our  Holy  Father,  the  Pope,  and  the 
name,  mentioned  under  such  circumstances  by  a  child,  appeared 
so  droll  to  the  priests  and  their  merry  guests  that  they  burst  into 
laughter,  stamped  their  feet  and  shouted,  "Bravo!  bravo!  To 
the  health  of  the  Pope!"  Everyone  stood  up,  and  at  the  invi- 
tation of  Mr.  Varin,  the  glasses  were  filled  and  emptied  as  usual. 

So  many  healths  could  not  be  drunk  without  their  natural 
effect — intoxication.  The  first  that  was  overcome  was  a  priest, 
Noel  by  name.  He  was  a  tall  man,  and  a  great  drinker.  I  had 
noticed  more  than  once,  that  instead  of  taking  his  wine-glass  he 
drank  from  a  large  tumbler.  The  first  symptoms  of  his  intoxi- 
cation, instead  of  drawing  sympathy  from  his  friends,  only 
increased  their  noisy  bursts  of  laughter.  He  endeavored  to  take 
a  bottle  to  fill  his  glass,  but  his  hand  shook,  and  the  bottle, 
falling  on  the  floor,  was  broken  to  pieces.  Wishing  to  keep  up 
his  merriment  he  began  to  sing  a  Bacchic  song,  but  could  not 
finish.  He  dropped  his  head  on  the  table,  quite  overcome,  and 
trying  to  rise,  he  fell  heavily  upon  his  cliair.  While  all  this 
took  place  the  other  priests  and  all  the  guests  looked  at  him, 
laughing  loudly.  At  last,  making  a  desperate  effort,  he  rose, 
but  after  taking  two  or  three  steps,  fell  headlong  on  the  floor. 
His   two   neighbors  went  to  help   him,  but  they   were  not  in  a 


FESTIVITIES    IN    A    PARSONAGE.  )3 

condition  to  help  him.  Twice  they  rolled  with  him  under  the 
table.  At  length  another,  less  affected  by  the  fumes  of  wine, 
took  him  by  the  feet  and  dragged  him  into  an  adjoining  room, 
where  they  left  him. 

This  first  scene  seemed  strange  enough  to  me,  for  I  had 
never  before  seen  a  priest  intoxicated.  But  what  astonished  me 
most  was  the  laughter  of  the  other  priests  over  that  spectacle. 
Another  scene,  however,  soon  followed  which  made  me  sadder. 
My  young  companion  and  friend,  Achilles  Tache,  had  not  been 
warned,  as  I  had,  only  to  touch  the  wine  with  his  lips.  More 
than  once  he  had  emptied  his  glass.  He  also  rolled  upon  the 
floor  before  the  eyes  of  his  father,  who  was  too  full  of  wine  to  help 
him.  He  cried  aloud,  "  I  am  choking!  "  1  tried  to  lift  him  up, 
but  I  was  not  strong  enough.  I  ran  for  bis  mother.  She  came, 
accompanied  by  another  lad}-,  but  the  vicar  had  carried  him  into 
another  room,  where  he  fell  asleep  after  having  thrown  off  th* 
wine  he  had  taken. 

Poor  Achilles!  he  was  learning,  in  the  house  of  his  own 
priest,  to  take  the  first  step  of  that  life  of  debauchery  and 
drunkenness  which  twelve  or  fifteen  years  later  was  to  rob  him 
of  his  manor,  take  from  him  his  wife  and  children,  and  to 
make  him  fall  a  victim  to  the  bloody  hand  of  a  murderer  upon 
the  solitary  shores  of  Kamouraska  ! 

This  first  and  sad  experience  which  I  made  of  the  real  and 
intimate  life  of  the  Roman  Catholic  priest  was  so  deeply 
engraved  on  my  memory  that  I  still  remember  with  shame  the 
bacchic  song  which  that  priest  Morin  had  taught  me,  and  which 
I  «ang  on  that  occasion.     It  commenced  with  these  Latin  words: 

Ego  in  arte  Bacchi, 

Multum  profeei 

Decies  pintum  vini 
Hodie  bibi. 

I  ^o  remember  one  sung  by  Mr.  Varin.     Here  it  is: 

Savez-vous  pourquoi,  mes  amis,  (Ins) 
Nous  sommes  tous  si  rejouis?  (*»*) 

Amis  n'endoutez  pas, 

C'est  qu'un  repas 
N'est  bon. 


54  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Qu'  apprete  sans  faSon, 
Mangeons  a  la  gamelle. 
Vive  le  son,  vive  le  son, 
Mangeons  a  la  gamelle, 
Vive  le  son  du  flacon! 

WTien  the  priests  and  their  friends  had  sung,  laughed  and 
drank  for  more  than  an  hour,  Mr.  Varin  rose  and  said:  "The 
ladies  must  not  be  left  alone  all  the  evening.  Will  not  our  joy 
and  happiness  be  doubled  if  they  are  pleased  to  share  them 
with  us?" 

This  proposition  was  received  with  applause,  and  we  passed 
into  the  drawing-room,  where  the  ladies  awaited  us. 

Several  pieces  of  music,  well  executed,  gave  new  life  to  this 
part  of  the  entertainment.  This  resource,  however,  was  soon 
exhausted.  Besides,  some  of  the  ladies  could  well  see  that  their 
husbands  were  half  drunk,  and  they  felt  ashamed.  Madam 
Tache  could  not  conceal  the  grief  she  felt,  caused  by  what  had 
happened  to  her  dear  Achilles.  Had  she  some  presentiment,  as 
many  persons  have,  of  the  tears  which  she  was  to  shed  one  day 
on  his  account?  Was  the  vision  of  a  mutilated  and  bloody 
corpse — the  corpse  of  her  own  drunken  son  fallen  dead,  under 
the  blow  of  an  assassin's  dagger,  before  her  eyes? 

Mr.  Varin  feared  nothing  more  than  an  interruption  in  those 
hours  of  lively  pleasure,  of  which  his  life  was  full,  and  which 
took  place  in  his  parsonage. 

"  Well,  well,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  let  us  entertain  no  dark 
thoughts  on  this  evening,  the  happiest  of  my  life!  Let  us  play 
blind  man's  buff." 

"  Let  us  play  blind  man's  buff!"  was  repeated  by  everybody. 

On  hearing  this  noise,  the  gentlemen  who  were  half  asleep 
by  the  fumes  of  wine  seemed  to  awaken  as  if  from  a  long 
dream.  Young  gentlemen  clapped  their  hands;  ladies,  young 
and  old,  congratulated  one  another  on  the  happy  idea. 

"But  whose  eyes  shall  be  covered  first?"  asked  the  priest. 

*'  Yours,  Mr.  Varin,"  cried  all  the  ladies.  "We  look  to  you 
for  the  good  example,  and  we  shall  follow  it." 

"  The   power   and    unanimity    of  the  jury    by    which  I  am 


FESTI\'1T1ES    IN     A    PARSONAGE.  55 

condemned  cannot  be  resisted.  I  feel  that  there  is  no  appeal.  I 
must  submit." 

Immediately  one  of  the  ladies  placed  her  nicely  perfumed 
handkerchief  over  the  eyes  of  her  priest,  took  him  by  the  hand, 
led  him  to  an  angle  of  the  room,  and  having  pushed  him  gently 
with  her  delicate  hand,  said:  "Mr.  Bliiulman!  Let  everyone 
flee!     Woe  to  him  who  is  caught  I" 

There  is  nothing  more  curious  and  comical  than  to  see  a  man 
walk  when  he  is  under  the  influence  of  wine,  especially  if  he 
wishes  nobody  to  notice  it.  How  stiff  and  straight  he  keeps  his 
legs!  How  learned  and  complicated,  in  order  to  keep  his 
equilibrium,  are  his  motions  to  right  and  left!  Such  was  the 
position  of  priest  Varin.  He  was  not  very  drunk.  Though  he 
had  taken  a  large  quantity  of  wine,  he  did  not  fall.  He  carried 
with  wonderful  courage  the  weight  with  which  he  was  laden* 
The  wine  which  he  had  drank  would  have  intoxicated  three 
ordinary  men;  but  such  was  his  capacity  for  drinking,  that  he 
could  still  walk  without  falling.  However,  his  condition  was 
sadly  betrayed  by  each  step  he  took  and  by  each  word  he  spoke. 
Nothing,  therefore,  was  more  comical  than  the  first  steps  of  the 
poor  priest  in  his  efforts  to  lay  hold  of  somebody  in  order  to  pass 
his  band  to  him.  He  would  take  one  forward  and  two  backward 
steps,  and  would  then  stagger  to  the  right  and  to  the  left. 
Everybody  laughed  to  tears.  One  after  another  they  would  all 
either  pinch  him  or  touch  him  gently  on  his  hand,  arm  or 
shoulder,  and  passing  rapidly  off  would  exclaim,  "Run  away!" 
The  priest  went  to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left,  threw  his  arms 
suddenly  now  here  and  then  there.  His  legs  evidently  bent 
under  their  burden ;  he  panted,  perspired,  coughed,  and  everyone 
began  to  fear  that  the  trial  might  be  carried  too  far,  and  beyond 
propriety.  But  suddenly,  by  a  happy  turn  he  caught  the  arm  of 
a  lady  who  in  teasing  him  had  come  too  near.  In  vain  the  lady 
tries  to  escape.  She  struggles,  turns  round,  but  the  priest's  hand 
holds  her  firmly. 

While  holding  his  victim  with  his  right  hand  he  wishes  to 
touch  her  head  with  his  left,  in  order  to  know  and  name  the 
pretty  bird  he  had  caught.     But  at  that  moment   his  legs  gave 


56  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

way.  He  falls,  and  drags  with  him  his  beautiful  parishioner. 
She  turns  upon  him  in  order  to  escape,  but  he  soon  turns  on 
her  in  order  to  hold  her  better ! 

All  this,  though  the  affair  of  a  moment,  was  long  enough  to 
caUse  the  ladies  to  blush  and  cover  their  faces.  Never  in  all  my 
life  did  I  see  anything  so  shameful  as  that  scene.  This  ended 
the  game.  Everyone  felt  ashamed.  I  make  a  mistake  when  I 
say  everyone^  because  the  men  were  almost  all  too  intoxicated  to 
blush.  The  priests  also  were  either  too  drunk  or  too  much 
accustomed  to  such  scenes  to  be  ashamed. 

On  the  following  day  every  one  of  those  priests  celebrated 
mass,  and  ate  what  they  called  the  body  and  blood,  the  soul  and 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  just  as  if  they  had  spent  the  previous 
evening  in  prayer  and  meditation  on  the  laws  of  God!  He, 
Mr.  Varin,  was  the  arch-priest  of  the  important  part  of  the 
diocese  of  Quebec  from  La  Riviere  Quelle  to  Gaspe. 

Thus,  O  perfidious  Church  of  Rome,  thou  deceivest  the 
nations  who  follow  thee,  and  ruinest  even  the  priests  whom  thou 
makest  thy  slaves. 


I 


Chapter    VII. 

PBEPABATION    FOR    THE    FIRST   COMMtTNION-INITIATION 
TO    IDOLATRY. 

NOTHING  can  exccc-d  tlic  cart*  with  which  Roman  Catholic 
priests  prepare  cKIdren  for  their  first  communion.  Two 
and  three  months  are  set  apart  every  year  for  that  purpose.  All 
that  time  the  children  between  ten  and  twelve  vcars  of  age  are 
oblijjjed  to  go  to  church  almost  every  day,  not  only  to  learn  by 
heart  their  catechism,  but  to  hear  the  explanations  of  all  its 
teachincrs. 

The  priest  who  instructed  us  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Morin,  whom 
I  have  already  mentionetl.  He  was  exceedingly  kind  to  children* 
and  we  res  )ected  and  loved  him  sincerely.  His  instructions  to 
us  were  somewhat  long;  but  we  liked  to  hear  him,  for  he  always 
had  some  new  and  interesting  stories  to  give  us. 

The  catechism  taught  a.s  a  prepaiation  for  our  first  com- 
munion was  the  foundation  of  the  idolatries  and  superstitions 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  gives  as  the  religion  of  Christ.  It 
is  by  means  of  that  catechetical  instruction  that  she  obtains  for 
the  Pope  and  his  representatives  that  profound  respect,  I  might 
say  adoration,  which  is  the  secret  of  her  power  and  influence. 
With  this  catechism  Rome  corrupts  the  most  sacred  truths  of 
the  gospel.  It  is  there  that  Jesus  is  removed  from  the  hearts 
for  which  he  paid  so  great  a  price,  and  that  Mary  is  put  in  his 
place.  But  the  great  iniquity  of  substituting  Mary  for  Jesus  is 
so  skillfully  concealed,  it  is  given  with  colors  so  poetic  and 
beautiful,  and  so  well  adapted  to  captivate  human  nature, 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  poor  child  to  escape  the 
snare. 

One  day   the  priest  said  to  me,  "  Stand  up,  my  child,  in  ordt  r 

S7 


5S  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

to  answer   the  many   important   questions   which  I  have   to  ask 
you." 

I  stood  up. 

"  My  child,"  he  said,  "  when  you  had  been  guilty  of  some 
fault  at  home,  who  was  the  first  to  punish  you — your  father,  or 
your  mother  ?  " 

After  a  few  moments  hesitation  I  answered,  "  My  father." 

"  You  have  answered  correctly,  my  child,"  said  the  priest. 
"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  father  is  almost  always  more  impatient 
with  his  children,  and  more  ready  to  punish  them,  than  the 
mother." 

"  Now,  my  child,  tell  us  Svho  punished  you  most  severely — 
your  father  or  your  mother?  " 

"  My  father,"  I  said,  without  hesitation. 

"  Still  true,  my  child.  The  superior  goodness  of  a  kind 
mother  is  perceived  even  in  the  act  of  correction.  Her  blows 
are  lighter  than  those  of  the  father.  Further,  when  you  had 
deserved  to  be  chastised,  did  not  one  sometimes  come  between 
you  and  your  father's  rod,  taking  it  away  from  him  and  pacify- 
ing him : " 

"Yes,"  I  said;  "mother  did  that  very  often,  and  saved  me 
from  severe  punishment  more  than  once." 

"  That  is  so,  my  child,  not  only  for  you,  but  for  all  your 
companions  here.  Have  not  your  good  mothers,  my  children, 
often  saved  you  from  your  fathers'  corrections  even  when  you 
deserved  it?     Answer  me." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  they  all  answered. 

"  One  question  more.  When  your  father  was  coming  to 
whip  you,  did  you  not  throw  yourself  into  the  arms  of  some  one 
to  escape  ? " 

"Yes,  sir;  when  guilty  of  something,  more  than  once,  I 
threw  myself  into  my  mother's  arms  as  soon  as  I  saw  my  father 
coming  to  whip  me.  She  begged  pardon  for  me,  and  pleaded 
so  well  that  I  often  escaped  punishment." 

'  "  You  have  answered  well,"  said  the  priest.     Then  turning 
to  the  children,  he  continued: 

"You   have  a  Father  and  a  Mother  in  heaven,  dear  children. 


PREPARATION    FOR    THE    FIRST    COMMUNION.  59 

Your  father  is  Jesus,  and  your  mother  is  Mary.  Do  not  forget 
that  a  mother's  heart  is  always  more  tender  and  more  prone  to 
mercy  than  that  of  a  father. 

*'  Often  you  oflfend  your  Father  by  your  sins;  you  make  Him 
angry  against  you.  vVhat  takes  place  in  heaven  then?  Your 
Father  in  heaven  takes  His  rod  to  punish  you.  He  threatens  to 
crush  you  down  with  His  roaring  thunder;  He  opens  the  gates 
of  hell  to  cast  you  into  it,  and  you  would  have  been  damned 
long  ago  had  it  not  been  for  the  loving  Mother  whom  you  have 
in  heaven,  who  has  disarmed  your  angry  and  irritated  Father. 
When  Jesus  would  punish  you  as  you  deserve,  the  good  Virgin 
Mary  hastens  to  Him  and  pacifies  Him.  She  places  herself 
between  Him  and  you,  and  prevents  Him.  from  smiting  you- 
She  speaks  in  your  favor,  she  asks  for  your  pardon  and  she 
obtains  it. 

'•  Also,  as  young  Chiniquy  has  told  you,  he  often  threw  him- 
self into  the  ai-ms  of  his  mother  to  escape  punishment.  She 
took  his  part,  and  pleaded  so  well  that  his  father  yielded  and 
put  away  the  rod.  Thus,  my  children,  when  your  conscience 
tells  you  that  you  are  guilty,  that  Jesus  is  angry  against  you  and 
that  you  have  good  reason  to  fear  hell,  hasten  to  Maiy!  Throw 
yourselves  into  the  arms  of  that  good  mother;  have  recourse  to 
her  sovereign  power  over  Jesus,  and  be  assured  that  you  will  be 
saved  through  her  I" 

It  is  thus  that  the  Pope  and  the  priests  of  Rome  have 
entirely  disfigured  and  changed  the  holy  religion  of  the  gospel! 
In  the  Church  of  Rome  it  is  not  Jesus,  but  Mary,  who  repre- 
sents the  infinite  love  and  mercy  of  God  for  the  sinner.  The 
sinner  is  not  advised  or  directed  to  place  his  hope  in  Jesus,  but 
in  Mary,  for  his  escape  from  deserved  chastisement!  It  is  not 
Jesus,  but  Mary,  who  saves  the  sinner!  Jesus  is  always  bent  on 
punishing  sinners;  Mary  is  always  merciful  to  them! 

The  Church  of  Rome  has  thus  fallen  into  idolatry:  she 
rather  trusts  in  Mary  than  in  Jesus.  She  constantly  invites 
sinners  to  turn  their  thoughts,  their  hopes,  their  affections,  not  to 
Jesus,  but  to  Mary ! 

By  means  of  that   impious  doctrine  Rome  deceives  the  intel- 


6o  FIFTY    TEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

lects,  seduces  the  hearts,  and  destroys  the  souls  of  the  young 
forever.  Under  the  pretext  of  honoring  the  Virgin  Mary,  she 
insults  her  by  outraging  and  misrepresenting  her  adorable  Son. 
Rome  has  brought  back  the  idolatry  of  old  paganism  under 
a  new  name.  She  has  replaced  upon  her  altars  the  Jupiter 
Tonans  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  only  she  places  upon  his 
shoulders  the  mantle  and  she  writes  on  the  forehead  of  her  idol 
the  name  of  Jesus,  in  order  the  better  to  deceive  the  world ! 


Chapter  VIII. 

THB    FIBST    COMMTJNION. 

FOR  the  Roman  Catholic  child,  how  beautiful  and  yet  how 
sad  is  the  day  of  his  first  communion!  How  many  joys 
and  anxieties  by  turn  rise  in  his  soul  when  for  the  first  time  he 
is  about  to  eat  what  he  has  been  taught  to  believe  to  be  his  God! 
How  many  efforts  he  has  to  make,  in  order  to  destro}'  the  mani- 
fest teachings  of  his  own  rational  faculties!  I  confess  with  deep 
regret  that  I  had  almost  destroyed  my  reason,  in  order  to  prepare 
myself  for  my  first  communion.  Yes,  I  was  almost  exhausted 
when  the  day  came  that  I  had  to  eat  what  the  priest  had  assured 
us  was  the  true  body,  the  true  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ.  I  was  about  to  eat  him,  not  in  a  symbolical  or  com- 
memorative, but  in  a  literal  way.  I  was  to  eat  his  flesh,  his 
bones,  his  hands,  his  feet,  his  head,  his  whole  body!  I  had  to 
believe  this  or  be  cast  forever  into  hell,  while,  all  the  time,  my 
eyes,  my  hands,  my  mouth,  my  tongue,  my  reason  told  me  that 
what  I  was  eating  wras  only  bread! 

Has  there  ever  been,  or  will  there  ever  be,  a  priest  or  a 
layman  to  believe  what  the  Church  of  Rome  teaches  on  this 
dreadful  mystery  of  the  Real  Presence?  Shall  I  say  that  I 
believed  in  the  real  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  communion? 
I  believed  in  it  as  all  those  who  are  good  Roman  Catholics 
believe.  I  believed  as  a  perfect  idiot  or  a  corpse  believes. 
Whatever  is  essential  to  a  reasonable  act  of  faith  had  been 
destroyed  in  me  on  that  point,  as  it  is  destroyed  in  every  priest 
and  layman  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  My  reason  as  well  as  my 
external  senses  had  been,  as  much  as  possible,  sacrificed  at  the 
feet  of  that  terrible  modern  god,  the  Pope!  I  had  been  guiltv 
of  the  incredibly  foolish  act,  of  which  all  good  Roman  Catholics 


62  FIFTY    YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

are  guilty — I  had  said  to  my  intellectual  faculties,  and  to  all  my 
senses,  "Hush,  you  are  liars!  I  had  believed  to  this  day  that 
you  had  been  given  to  me  by  God  in  order  to  enable  me  to  walk 
in  the  dark  paths  of  life,  but,  behold!  the  holy  Pope  teaches  me 
that  you  are  only  instruments  of  the  devil  to  deceive  me!" 

What  is  a  man  who  resigns  his  intellectual  liberty,  and  who 
cares  not  to  believe  in  the  testimony  of  his  senses?  Is  he  not 
acting  the  part  of  one  who  has  no  gift  or  power  of  intelligence? 
A  good  Roman  Catholic  must  reach  that  point!  That  was  my 
own  condition  on  the  day  of  my  first  communion. 

When  Jesus  said,  "  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  unto  them 
they  had  not  had  sin;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sins: 
if  I  had  not  done  among  them  the  works  that  none  other  man 
did,  they  had  not  had  sin;  but  now  have  they  both  seen  and 
hated  both  me  and  my  Father"  (John  xv.  22-24),  he  showed 
that  the  sin  of  the  Jews  consisted  in  not  having  believed  in  what 
their  eyes  had  seen  and  their  ears  had  heard.  But  behold,  the 
Pope  says  to  Roman  Catholics  that  they  must  not  believe  in 
what  their  hands  undoubtedly  handle  and  their  eyes  most  clearly 
see!  The  Pope  sets  aside  the  testimony  most  approved  by 
Tesus.  The  very  witnesses  invoked  by  the  son  of  God  are 
ignominiously  turned  out  of  court  by  the  Pope  as  false 
witnesses! 

As  the  moment  of  taking  the  communion  drew  near,  two 
feelings  were  at  war  in  my  mind,  each  struggling  for  victory^ 
I  rejoiced  in  the  thought  that  I  would  soon  have  full  possession 
of  Jesus  Christ,  but  at  the  same  time  I  was  troubled  and 
humbled  by  the  absurdity  which  I  had  to  believe  before  receiv- 
ing that  sacrament.  Though  scarcely  twelve  years  old,  I  had 
sufficiently  accustomed  myself  to  reflect  on  the  profound  dark- 
ness which  covered  that  dogma.  I  had  been  also  greatly  in  the 
habit  of  trusting  my  eyes,  and  I  thought  that  I  could  easily 
distinguish  between  a  small  piece  of  bread  and  a  full-grown 
man! 

Besides,  I  extremely  abhorred  the  idea  of  eating  human  flesh 
and  drinking  human  blood,  even  when  they  assured  me  that 
they  were  the  flesh  and  blood   of   Jesus   Christ   himself.     But 


THE    FIRST    COMMUNION.  63 

what  troubled  me  most  was  the  idea  of  that  God,  who  was 
represented  to  me  as  being  so  great,  so  glorious,  so  holy,  being 
eaten  by  me  like  a  piece  of  common  bread!  Terrible  then  was 
the  struggle  in  my  young  heart,  where  joy  and  dread,  trust  and 
fear,  faith  and  unbelief  by  turns  had  the  upper  hand. 

While  that  secret  struggle,  known  only  to  God  and  to 
myself,  was  going  on,  I  had  often  to  wipe  off  the  cold  perspira- 
tion which  came  on  my  brow.  With  all  the  strength  of  mv 
soul  I  prayed  to  God  and  the  Holy  Virgin  to  be  merciful  unto 
me,  to  help,  and  give  me  sufficient  strength  and  light  to  pass 
over  these  hours  of  anguish. 

The  Church  of  Rome  is  evidently  the  most  skillful  liiunan 
machine  the  world  has  ever  seen.  Those  who  guide  her  in  the 
dark  paths  which  she  follows  are  »>ften  men  of  deep  thought. 
They  understand  how  ditticult  it  would  be  to  get  calm,  honest 
and  thinking  minds  to  receive  that  monstrous  dogma  of  tiie  real 
corporal  presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  communion.  They  well 
foresaw  the  struggle  which  would  take  place  even  in  the  minds 
of  children  at  the  supreme  moment  when  they  would  have  to 
sacrifice  their  reason  on  the  altar  of  Rome.  In  order  to  prevent 
those  struggles,  always  so  dangerous  to  the  Church,  nothing  has 
been  neglected  to  distract  the  mind  and  draw  the  attention  to 
other  subjects  than  that  of  the  communion  itself. 

First,  at  the  request  of  the  parish  priest,  helped  by  the  vanity 
of  the  parents  themselves,  the  children  are  dressed  as  elegantly 
as  possible.  The  young  communicant  is  clothed  in  every  way 
best  calculated  to  flatter  his  own  vanity  also.  The  church 
building  is  pompously  decorated.  The  charms  of  choice  vocal 
and  instrumental  music  form  a  part  of  the  fete.  The  most 
odorous  incense  burns  around  the  altar  and  ascenils  in  a  sweet- 
smelling  cloud  towards  heaven.  The  whole  parish  is  invited, 
and  people  come  from  everv  direction  to  enjoy  a  most  beautiful 
spectacle.  Priests  from  the  neighboring  churches  are  called,  in 
order  to  add  to  the  solemnity  of  the  day.  The  officiating  priest 
is  dressed  in  the  most  costly  attire.  This  is  the  day  on  which 
silver  and  gold  altar-cloths  are  displayed  before  the  eyes  of  the 
wondering   spectators.      Often  a  lighted    wax    taper   is   placed  in 


64  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  hand  of  each  young  communicant,  which  itself  would  be 
sufficient  10  draw  his  whole  attention;  for  a  single  false  motion 
would  be  enough  to  set  fire  to  the  clothes  of  his  neighbor,  or 
his  own,  a  misfortune  w^hich  has  happened  more  than  once  in 
my  presence. 

Now,  in  the  midst  of  that  new  and  wonderful  spectacle;  of 
singing  Latin  psaIr>T=i,  not  a  word  of  which  he  understands;  in 
view  of  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  which  glitter  everyw^here 
before  his  dazzled  eyes;  busy  with  the  holding  of  the  lighted 
taper,  which  keeps  him  constantly  in  fear  of  being  burned  alive, 
can  the  young  communicant  think  for  a  moment  of  what  he  is 
about  to  do  ? 

Poor  child!  his  mind,  ears,  eyes,  nostrils  are  so  much  taken 
up  with  those  new,  striking  and  wonderful  things  that,  while 
his  imagination  is  wandering  from  one  object  to  another,  the 
moment  of  communion  arrives,  without  leaving  him  time  to 
think  of  what  he  is  about  to  do!  He  opens  his  mouth,  and  the 
priest  puts  upon  his  tongue  a  flat  thin  cake  of  unleavened  bread, 
which  either  firmly  sticks  to  his  palate  or  otherwise  melts  in  his 
mouth,  soon  to  go  down  into  his  stomach  just  like  the  food  he 
takes  three  times  a  day ! 

The  first  feeling  of  the  child,  then,  is  that  of  surprise  at  the 
thought  that  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  upholder  of 
the  universe,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  could  so  easily  piiss  down 
his  throat! 

Now,  follow  those  children  to  their  homes  after  that  great 
and  monstrous  comedy.  .See  their  gait!  Listen  to  their  conver- 
sation and  their  bursts  of  laughter!  Study  their  manners,  their 
coming  in,  their  going  out,  their  glances  of  satisfaction  on  their 
fine  clothes,  and  the  vanity  which  they  manifest  in  return  for 
the  congratulations  they  receive  on  their  fine  dresses.  Notice 
the  lightness  of  their  actions  and  conversation  immediately  after 
their  communion,  and  tell  me  if  you  find  anything  indicating 
that  they  believed  in  the  terrible  dogma  they  have  been  taught! 

No,  they  have  not  believed  in  it,  neither  will  they  ever  do  so 
with  the  firmness  of  faith  which  is  accompanied  by  intelligence. 
The  poor  child   thinks    he  believes,  and   he  sincerely   tries  to  do 


TliE    MR  ST     COMMUNION.  65 

SO.  He  believes  in  it  as  much  as  it  is  possible  to  believe  in  a 
most  monstrous  and  ridiculous  story,  opposed  to  the  simplest 
notions  of  truth  and  common  sense.  He  believes  as  Roman 
Catholics  believe.  He  believes  as  an  idiot  believes  1 1  He 
believes  as  a  corpse  believes! 

That  first  communion  has  made  of  him,  for  the  rest  of  his 
life,  a  real  machine  in  the  hands  of  the  Pope.  It  is  the  first  but 
most  powerful  link  of  that  long  chain  of  slavery  which  the 
priest  and  the  Church  pass  around  his  neck.  The  Pope  holds 
the  end  of  that  chain,  and  with  it  he  will  make  his  victim  go 
right  or  left  at  his  pleasure,  in  the  same  way  that  we  govern  the 
lower  animals.  If  those  children  have  made  a  good  first  com- 
munion they  will  be  submissive  to  the  Pope,  according  to  the 
energetic  word  of  Loyola.  They  will  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff  of  Rome  just  what  the  stick  is  in  the  hand  of 
the  traveller — they  will   have  no  will,  no  thought  of  their  own! 

And  if  God  does  not  work  a  miracle  to  bring  them  out  from 
the  bondage  which  is  a  thousand  times  worse  than  the  Egyptian, 
they  will  remain  in  that  state  during  the  rest  of  their  lives. 

My  soul  has  known  the  weight  of  those  chains.  It  has  felt 
the  ignominy  of  that  slaverv!  But  the  great  Conqueror  of  souls 
has  cast  down  a  merciful  eye  upon  me.  He  has  broken  my 
chains,  and  with  His  holy  Word  He  has  made  me  free. 

May  His  name  be  forever  blessed ! 


Chapter  IX. 


XBrrELLEOTTTAL     EDT70ATIOIT     IN     THE      SOKAN     OATHOLIO 

COLLEGE. 


I  FINISHED,  at  the  College  of  Nicolet,  in  the  month  of 
August,  1829,  my  classical  course  of  study  which  I  had 
begun  in  1822.  I  could  easily  have  learned  in  three  or  four 
years  what  was  taught  in  those  seven  years. 

It  took  us  three  years  to  study  Latin  grammar,  when 
twelve  months  would  have  sufficed  for  all  we  learned  of  it.  It 
is  true  that  during  that  time  we  were  taught  some  of  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  French  grammar,  with  the  elements  of  arithmetic 
and  geography.  But  all  this  was  so  superficial,  that  our  teachers 
often  seemed  more  desirous  to  pass  away  our  time  than  to  en- 
large our  understandings. 

I  can  say  the  same  thing  about  the  Belles  Lettres  and  of 
rhetoric,  which  we  studied  two  years.  A  year  of  earnest  study 
would  have  sufficed  to  learn  what  was  taught  us  during  these 
twentv-four  months.  As  for  the  two  years  devoted  to  the  study 
of  logic,  and  of  the  subjects  classed  under  the  name  of  philo- 
sophy, it  would  not  have  been  too  long  a  time  if  those  questions 
of  philosophy  had  been  honestly  given  us.  But  the  student  in 
the  college  of  the  Church  of  Rome  is  condemned  to  the 
torments  of  Tantalus.  He  has  indeed  the  refreshing  writers  of 
Science  put  to  his  lips,  but  he  is  constantly  prevented  from 
tasting  them.  To  enlarge  and  seriously  cultivate  the  intelli- 
gence in  a  Roman  Catholic  college  is  a  thing  absolutely  out  of 
the  question.  More  than  that,  all  the  efforts  of  the  principals 
in  their  colleges  and  convents  tend  to  prove  to  the  pupil  that  his 
intelligence  is  his  greatest  and  most  dangerous  enemy — that  it  is 
like    an    untamable    animal,  which  must  constantly  be  kept  in 


JNTKLLE^TUAL    EUUCA'IION,    ETC. 

chaitis.  Every  clay  the  scholar  is  told  that  his  reason  was  not 
given  him  that  he  might  be  guided  bv  it,  but  only  that  he  may 
knovv^  the  hand  of  the  man  bv  whom  he  must  be  guided.  And 
that  hand  is  none  other  than  the  Pope's.  All  the  resources  of 
language,  all  the  most  ingenious  sophisms,  all  the  passages  of 
both  the  Fathers  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  bearing  on  this 
question  are  arranged  and  perverted  with  inconceivable  art  to 
demonstrate  to  the  pupil  that  his  reason  has  no  power  to  teach 
him  anything  else  than  that  it  must  be  subjected  to  the  Supicmc 
PontifTof  Rome,  who  is  the  only  foundation  of  truth  and  light 
given  by  God  to  guide  the  intelligence  and  to  enlighten  and 
save  the  world. 

Rome,  in  her  colleges  and  convents,  brings  up,  or  raises  up, 
the  youth  from  their  earliest  years;  but  to  what  height  does  she 
permit  the  young  man  or  woman  to  be  raised  ?  Never  higher 
than  the  feet  of  the  Pope!  !  As  soon  as  his  intelligence,  guided 
by  the  Jesuit,  has  ascended  to  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  it  must 
remain  there,  prostrate  itself  and  fall  asleep. 

The  Pope!  That  is  the  great  object  towards  which  all  the 
intelligence  of  the  Roman  Catholics  must  be  converged.  It  is 
the  sun  of  the  world,  the  foundation  and  the  only  support  of 
Christian  knowledge  and  civilization. 

What  a  privilege  it  is  to  be  lazv,  stupid  and  sluggish  in  a 
college  of  Rome!  How  soon  such  an  one  gets  to  the* summit  of 
science,  and  becomes  master  of  all  knowledge!  One  needs  only 
to  kiss  the  feet  of  the  Pope,  and  fall  into  a  perfect  slumber 
there.  The  Pope  thinks  for  him!  It  is  he  (the  Popej  who 
will  tell  him  what  he  can  and  should  think,  and  what  he  can 
and  should  believe! 

I  had  arrived  at  that  degree  of  perfection  at  the  end  of  my 
studies,  and  J.  B.  Barthe,  Esq.,M.  P.  P.,  being  editor  of  one  of  the 
principal  papers  of  Montreal  in  1S44,  could  write  in  his  paper  when 
my  "  Mantial  of  Temperance"  was  published:  "  Mr.  Chiniquy 
has  crowned  his  apostleship  of  temperance  by  that  work,  with 
that  ardent  and  holy  ambition  of  character  of  which  he  gave  us 
so  many  tokens  in  his  collegiate  life,  where  we  have  been  so 
many  years  the  witness  of  his  piety  when    he  was  the  model  of 


68  FIFT\      ITEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMK. 

his  fellow  students,  who  had  called  him  the  Louis  de  Gonzague 
of  Nicolet." 

These  words  of  the  Montreal  member  of  Parliament 
mean  only  that,  wishing  to  be  saved  as  St.  Louis  de  Gonzague, 
I  had  blindly  tied  myself  to  the  feet  of  my  superiors.  I  had,  as 
much  as  possible,  extinguished  all  the  enlightenments  of  my 
own  mind  to  follow  the  reason  and  the  will  of  my  superiors. 
These  compliments  mean  that  I  was  walking  like  a  blind  man 
whom  his  guide  holds  by  the  hand. 

Though  my  intelligence  often  revolted  against  the  fables 
with  which  I  was  nurtured,  I  yet  forced  myself  to  accept  them 
as  gospel  truths;  and  though  I  often  rebelled  against  the  ridicu- 
lous sophisms  which  were  babbled  to  me  as  the  only  principles 
of  truth  and  Christian  philosophy,  yet  as  often  did  I  impose 
silence  on  mv  reason,  and  force  it  to  submit  to  the  falsehoods 
which  I  was  obliged  to  take  for  God's  truth!  But,  as  I  have 
just  confessed  it,  notwithstanding  my  good  will  to  submit  to  my 
superiors,  there  were  times  of  terrible  struggle  in  my  soul,  when 
all  the  powers  of  my  mind  seemed  to  revolt  againt  the  degrada- 
ing  fetters  which  I  was  forced  to  forge  for  myself. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  day  when,  in  the  following  terms,  I 
expressed  to  my  Professor  in  Philosophy,  the  Rev.  Charles 
Harper,  doubts  which  I  had  conceived  concerning  the  absolute 
necessity  of  the  inferior  to  submit  his  reason  to  his  superior. 
"  When  I  shall  have  completely  bound  myself  to  obey  my 
superior,  if  he  abuses  his  authority  over  me  to  deceive  me  by 
false  doctrines,  or  if  he  commands  me  to  do  things  which  I 
consider  wrong  and  dishonest,  shall  I  not  be  lost  if  I  obey  him?" 

He  answered:  "You  will  never  have  to  give  an  account  to 
God  for  the  actions  that  you  do  by  the  order  of  your  legitimate 
superiors.  If  they  were  to  deceive  you,  being  themselves  de- 
ceived, they  alone  would  be  responsible  for  the  error  vv^hich 
you  would  have  committed.  Your  sin  would  not  be  imputed  to 
you  as  long  as  you  follow  the  golden  rule  which  is  the  base  of 
all  Christian  philosophy  and  perfection — humility  and  obedience !" 

Little  satisfied  with  that  answer,  when  the  lesson  was  over  I 
expressed    mv  reluctance  to  accept  such  principles    to   several  of 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION_^    ETC.  69 

my  fellow  students.  Among  them  was  Joseph  Turcot,  who 
died  some  years  ago  when,  I  think,  he  was  Minister  of  Public 
Works  in  Canada.  He  answered  me:  "The  more  I  study  what 
they  call  their  principles  of  Christian  philosophy  and  logic,  the 
more  1  think  that  they  intend  to  make  asses  of  every  one  of  us ! 

On  the  following  day  I  opened  my  heart  to  the  venerable 
man  who  was  our  principal — the  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon.  I  used  to 
venerate  him  as  a  saint  and  love  him  as  a  father.  ,  I  frankly 
told  him  that  I  felt  very  reluctant  in  submitting  myself  to  the 
crude  principles  which  seemed  to  lead  us  into  the  most  abject 
slavery,  the  slavery  of  our  reason  and  intelligence.  I  wrote 
down  his  answer,  which  I  give  •here: 

"  My  dear  Chiniquy,  how  did  Adam  and  Kvc  lose  theniNelves 
in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  and  how  did  they  bring  upon  us  all  the 
deluge  of  evils  by  which  we  are  overwhelmed?  Is  it  not 
because  they  raised  their  miserable  reason  above  that  of  God? 
They  had  the  promise  of  eternal  life  if  they  had  submitted  their 
reason  to  that  of  their  Supreme  Master.  They  were  lost  on 
account  of  their  rebelling  against  the  authority,  the  reason  of 
God.  Thus  it  is  to-day.  All  the  evils,  the  errors,  the  crimes 
by  which  the  world  is  overflooded  come  from  the  same  revolt  of 
the  human  will  and  reason  against  the  will  and  reason  of  God. 
God  reigns  yet  over  a  part  of  the  world,  the  world  of  the  elect, 
through  the  Pope,  who  controls  the  teachings  of  our  infallible 
and  holy  Church.  In  submitting  ourselves  to  God,  who  speaks 
to  us  through  the  Pope,  we  are  saved.  We  walk  in  the  paths 
of  truth  and  holiness.  But  we  would  err,  and  infallibly  perish, 
as  soon  as  we  put  our  reason  above  that  of  our  superior,  the 
Pope,  speaking  to  us  in  person,  or  through  some  of  our  superiors 
who  have  received  from  him  the  authority  to  guide  us." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  if  my  reason  tells  me  that  the  Pope,  or  some 
of  those  other  superiors  who  are  put  by  him  over  me,  are  mis- 
taken, and  that  they  command  me  something  wrong,  would  I 
not  be  guilty  before  God  if  I  obey  them  ? '' 

"You  suppose  a  thing  utterly  impossible,"  answered  Mr. 
Leprohon,  "  for  the  Pope  and  the  bishops  who  are  united  to  lum 
have  the  promise   of    never   failing  in   the   faith.      They  cannot 


'J'.)  liKlV     VKAKb    IX    TI[E    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

leatl  you  into  any  errors,  nor  command  you  anything  against  the 
law  of  God.  But  supposing  for  a  moment  that  they  would 
commit  any  error,  and  that  they  would  compel  you  to  helieve  or 
do  something  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  the  gospel,  God 
would  not  ask  of  you  any  account  of  an  error  committed  when 
you  are  obeying  your  legitimate  superior." 

I  had  to  content  myself  with  that  answer,  which  I  put  down 
word  for  word  in  my  note  book.  But  in  spite  of  my  respectful 
silence,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon  saw  that  I  was  yet  uneasy  and 
sad.  In  order  to  convince  me  of  the  orthodoxy  of  his  doctrines, 
he  instantly  put  into  my  hands  the  two  works  of  De  Maistre, 
"■  Le  Pape "  and  "  Les  Soirees  "de  St.  Petersburg,"  where  I 
found  the  same  doctrines  supported.  My  superior  was  honest 
in  his  convictions.  He  sincerely  believed  in  the  sound  philo- 
sophy and  Christianity  of  his  principles,  for  he  found  them 
in  these  books  approved  by  the  "  infallible  Popes." 

I  will  mention  another  occurrence  to  show  the  inconceivable 
intellectual  degradation  to  which  we  had  been  dragged  at  the 
tnd  of  seven  vears  of  collegiate  studies.  About  the  year  1829 
the  curate  of  St.  Anne  de  la  Parade  wrote  to  our  principal. 
Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon,  to  ask  the  assistance  of  the  prayers  of  all 
the  students  of  the  College  of  Nicolet  in  order  to  obtain  the 
discontinuance  of  the  following  calamity  :  "  For  more  than  three 
weeks  one  of  the  most  respectable  farmers  was  in  danger  of  losing 
all  his  horses  from  the  effects  of  a  sorcery!  From  morning  to 
night,  and  during  most  of  the  night,  repeated  blows  of  whips 
and  sticks  were  heard  falling  upon  these  poor  horses,  which 
were  trembling,  foaming  and  struggling!  We  can  see  nothing! 
The  hand  of  the  wizard  remains  invisible.  Pray  for  us,  that 
we  may  discover  the  monster,  and  that  he  may  be  punished  as 
he  deserves." 

Such  were  the  contents  of  the  priest's  letter;  and  as  my 
superior  sincerely  believed  in  that  fable,  I  also  believed  it,  as 
well  as  the  students  of  the  college  who  had  a  trzie  piety.  On 
that  shore  of  abject  and  degrading  superstitions  I  had  to  land 
after  sailing  seven  years  in  the  bark  called  a  college  of  the 
Church  of  Rome! 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION,    ETC.  7  I 

The  intellectual  part  of  the  studies  in  a  college  of  Rome, 
and  it  is  the  same  in  a  convent,  is  therefore  entirely  worthless. 
Worse  than  that,  the  intelligence  is  dwarfed  under  the  chains  by 
which  it  is  bound.  If  the  intelligence  does  sometimes  advance, 
it  is  in  spite  of  the  fetters  placed  upon  it;  it  is  only  like  some 
few  noble  ships  which,  through  the  extraordinary  skill  of  their 
pilots,  go  ahead  against  wind  and  tide. 

I  know  that  the  priests  of  Rome  can  show  a  certain  number 
of  intelligent  men  in  every  branch  of  science  who  have  studied 
in  their  colleges.  But  these  remarkable  men  had  from  the 
beginning  secretly  broken  for  themselves  the  chains  with  which 
their  superiors  had  tried  to  bind  them.  For  peace  sake  they 
had  outwardly  followed  the  rules  of  the  house,  but  they  had 
secretly  trampled  under  the  feet  of  their  noble  souls  the  ignoble 
fetters  which  had  been  prepared  for  their  understanding.  True 
children  of  God  and  light,  they  had  found  the  secret  of  remain- 
ing free  even  when  in  the  dark  cells  of  a  dungeon! 

Give  me  the  names  of  the  remarkable  and  intelligent  men 
who  have  studied  in  a  college  of  Rome,  and  liavc  become  real 
lights  in  the  firmament  of  science,  and  I  will  prove  that  nine- 
tenths  of  them  have  been  persecuted,  excommunicated,  tortured, 
some  even  put  to  death  for  having  dared  to  think  for  them- 
selves. 

Galileo  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  he  is  surely  one  of  the 
greatest  men  whom  science  claims  as  her  most  gifted  sons.  But 
was  he  not  sent  to  a  dungeon  ?  Was  he  not  publicly  flogged  by 
the  hands  of  the  executioner?  Had  he  not  to  ask  pardon  from 
God  and  man  for  having  dared  to  think  diflferently  from  the 
Pope  about  the  motion  of  the  earth  around  the  sun! 

Copernicus  was  surely  one  of  the  greatest  lights  of  his  time, 
but  was  he  not  censured  and  excommunicated  for  his  admirable 
scientific  discoveries? 

France  does  not  know  any  greater  genius  airiong  her  most 
gifted  sons  than  Pascal.  He  was  a  Catholic.  But  he  lived  and 
died  excommunicated. 

The  Church  of  Rome  boasts  of  Bossuet,  the  Bishop  of 
Meaux,  as  one  of  the  greatest  men  she  ever  had.     Yes;  but  has 


72  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

not  Veuillot,  the  editor  of  the  Univers^  who  knows  his  man 
well,  confessed  and  declared  before  the  whole  world  that 
Bossuet  was  a  disguised  Protestant? 

Where  can  we  find  a  more  amiable  or  learned  writer  than 
Montalembert,  who  has  so  faithfully  and  bravely  fought  the 
battle  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  France  during  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century?  But  has  he  not  publicly  declared  on  his 
death-bed  that  that  Church  was  an  apostate  and  idolatrous 
Church  from  the  day  that  she  proclaimed  the  dogma  of  the 
Infallibility  of  the  Pope?  Has  he  not  virtually  died  an  excom- 
municated man  for  having  said  with  his  last  breath  that  the 
Pope  was  nothing  else  than  a  false  god? 

Those  pupils  of  Roman  Catholic  colleges  of  whom  some- 
times the  priests  so  imprudently  boast,  have  gone  out  from  the 
hands  of  their  Jesuit  teachers  to  proclaim  their  supreme  con- 
tempt for  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  and  Papacy.  They 
have  been  near  enough  to  the  priest  to  know  him.  They  have 
seen  with  their  own  eyes  that  the  priest  of  Rome  is  the  most 
dangerous,  the  most  implacable  enemy  of  intelligence,  progress 
and  liberty;  and  if  their  arm  be  not  paralyzed  by  cowardice, 
selfishness  or  hypocrisy,  those  pupils  of  the  colleges  of  Rome 
will  be  the  first  to  denounce  the  priesthood  of  Rome  and  demol- 
ish her  citadels. 

Voltaire  studied  in  a  Roman  Catholic  college,  and  it  was 
probably  when  at  their  school  that  he  nerved  himself  for  the 
terrible  battle  he  has  fought  against  Rome.  The  Church  will 
never  recover  from  the  blow  which  Voltaire  has  struck  at  her  in 
France. 

Cavour,  in  Italy,  had  studied  in  a  Roman  Catholic  college 
also,  and  under  that  very  roof  it  is  more  than  probable  that  his 
noble  intelligence  had  sworn  to  break  the  ignominious  fetters 
with  which  Rome  had  enslaved  his  fair  country.  The  most 
eloquent  of  the  orators  of  Spain,  Castelar,  studied  in  a  Roman 
Catholic  college;  but  hear  with  what  burning  eloquence  he 
denounces  the  tyranny,  hypocrisy,  selfishness  and  ignorance  of 
the  priests. 

Papineau  studied  under  the  priests   of   Rome  in  their  college 


INTELLECTUAL    EDUCATION,    ETC.  73 

at  Montreal.  From  his  earliest  years  that  Eagle  of  Canada 
could  see  and  know  the  priests  of  Rome  as  thev  are;  he  has 
weighed  them  in  the  balance;  he  has  measured  them;  he  has 
fathomed  tlie  dark  recesses  of  their  anti-social  principles;  he 
has  felt  his  shoulders  wounded  and  bleeding  under  the  igno- 
minious chains  with  which  they  dragged  our  dear  Canada  in  the 
mire  for  nearly  two  centuries.  Papineau  was  a  pupil  of  the 
priests;  and  I  have  heard  several  priests  boasting  of  that  as  a 
glorious  thing.  But  the  echoes  of  Canada  are  still  repeating  the 
thundering  words  with  which  Papineau  denounced  the  priests  as 
the  most  deadly  enemies  of  the  education  and  liberty  of  Canada! 
He  was  one  of  the  first  men  of  Canachi  to  understand  that  there 
was  no  progress,  no  liberty  possible  for  our  beloved  country  so 
long  as  the  priests  would  have  the  education  of  our  people  in 
their  hands.  The  whole  lifeof  Papineau  was  a  struggle  to  wrest 
Canada  from  their  grasp.  Everyone  knows  how  he  constantly 
branded  them,  without  pity,  during  his  life,  and  the  whole  world 
has  been  the  witness  of  the  supreme  contempt  with  which  he 
has  refused  their  services,  and  turned  them  out  at  the  solemn 
hour  of  his  death! 

When,  in  1792,  France  wanted  to  be  free,  she  understood 
rhat  the  priests  of  Rome  were  the  greatest  enemies  of  her  liber- 
ties. She  turned  them  out  from  her  soil  or  hung  them  to  her 
gibbets.  If  to-day  that  noble  country  of  our  ancestors  is  stum- 
bling and  struggling  in  her  tears  and  her  blood — if  she  has  fallen 
at  the  feet  of  her  enemies — if  her  valiant  arm  has  been  paralyzed, 
her  sword  broken  and  her  strong  heart  saddened  above  measure, 
is  it  not  because  she  had  most  imprudently  put  herself  again  un- 
der the  yoke  of  Rome? 

Canada's  children  will  continue  to  flee  from  the  country  of 
their  birth  so  long  as  the  priest  of  Rome  holds  the  influence 
which  is  blasting  everything  that  falls  within  his  grasp,  on  this 
continent  as  well  as  in  Europe;  and  the  United  States  will  soon 
see  their  most  sacred  institutions  fall,  one  after  the  other,  if  the 
Americans  continue  to  send  their  sons  and  daughters  to  the 
Jesuit  colleges  and  nunneries. 

When,  in    the   warmest   days   of  summer,   you    see  a   large 


74  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMB. 

swamp  of  stagnant  and  putrid  water,  you  are  sure  that  deadly 
miasma  will  spread  around,  that  diseases  of  the  most  malignant 
character,  poverty,  sufferings  of  every  kind,  and  death  will  soon 
devastate  the  unfortunate  country;  so,  when  you  see  Roman 
Catholic  colleges  and  nunneries  raising  their  haughty  steeples 
over  some  commanding  hills  or  in  the  midst  of  some  beautiful 
valleys,  you  may  confidently  expect  that  the  self-respect  and  the 
manly  virtues  of  the  people  will  soon  disappear — intelligence, 
progress,  prosperity  will  soon  wane  away,  to  be  replaced  by  su- 
perstition, idleness,  drunkenness.  Sabbath-breaking,  ignorance, 
poverty  and  degradation  of  every  kind.  The  colleges  and 
nunneries  are  the  high  citadels  from  which  the  Pope  darts  his 
surest  missiles  against  the  rights  and  liberties  of  nations.  The 
colleges  and  nunneries  are  the  arsenals  where  the  most  deadly 
weapons  are  night  and  day  prepared  to  fight  and  destroy  the 
soldiers  of  liberty  all  over  the  world. 

The  colleges  and  nunneries  of  the  priests  are  the  secret  places 
where  the  enemies  of  progress,  equality  and  liberty  are  holding 
their  councils  and  fomenting  that  great  conspiracy,  the  object  of 
which  is  to  enslave  the  world  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope. 

The  colleges  and  nunneries  of  Rome  are  the  schools  where 
the  rising  generations  are  taught  that  it  is  an  impiety  to  follow 
the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience,  hear  the  voice  of  their  in- 
telligence, read  the  Word  of  God,  and  worship  their  Creator 
according  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  the  gospel. 

It  is  in  the  colleges  and  nunneries  of  Rome  that  men  learn 
that  they  are  created  to  obey  the  Pope  in  everything — that  the 
Bible  must  be  burnt,  and  that  liberty  must  be  destroyed  at  any 
cost  all  over  the  world. 


Chapter  X. 

MORAL      AKI)      BBZiiaiOnS    INSTRUCTION'    IN      THB      ROKAV 
CATHOLIC     COLLSOES. 

IN  order  to  understand  what  kind  of  moral  education  student* 
in  Roman  Catholie  colleges  receive,  one  must  only  be  told 
that  from  bej^inning  to  the  end  they  are  surrounded  by  an 
atmosphere  in  which  nothing  but  Paganism  is  breathed.  The 
models  of  eloquence  which  we  learned  by  heart  were  almost 
exclusively  taken  from  Pagan  literature.  In  the  same  manner 
Pagan  models  of  wisdom,  of  honor,  of  chastity  were  offered  to 
our  admiration.  Our  minds  were  constantly  fixed  on  tlie  master- 
pieces which  Paganism  has  left.  The  doors  of  our  understand- 
ing were  left  open  only  to  receive  the  ravs  of  light  which 
Paganism  has  shed  on  the  world.  Homer,  Socrates,  Lycurgus, 
Virgil,  Horace,  Cicero,  Tacitus,  Caesar,  Xenophon,  Demosthenes 
Alexander,  Lucretia,  Rcgulus,  Brutus,  Jupiter,  Venus,  Minerva, 
Mars,  Diana,  etc.,  etc.,  crowded  each  other  in  our  thoughts,  to 
occupy  them  and  be  their  models,  examples  and  masters  for 
ever. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  same  Pagan  writers,  orators  and 
heroes  are  studied,  read  and  admired  in  Protestant  colleges.  But 
there  the  infallible  antidote,  the  Bible,  is  given  to  the  students. 
Just  as  nothing  remains  of  the  darkness  of  night  after  the 
splendid  morning  sun  has  arisen  on  the  horizon,  so  nothing  of 
the  fallacies,  superstitions  and  sophisms  of  Paganism  can  trouble 
or  obscure  the  mind  on  which  that  light  from  heaven,  the  Word 
of  God, comes  everyday  with  its  millions  of  shining  rays.  How 
insignificant  is  the  poetry  of  Homer  when  compared  with  the 
sublime  songs  of  Moses!  How  pale  is  the  eloquence  of  Demos- 
thenes,  Cicero,   Virgil,   etc.,   when     read   after    Job,  David    or 

7S 


76  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Solomon!  How  quickly  tumble  down  the  theories  which  thos4 
haughty  heathens  of  old  wanted  to  raise  over  the  intelligence  of 
men  when  the  thundering  voice  from  Sinai  is  heard;  when  the 
incomparable  songs  of  David,  Solomon,  Isaiah  or  Jeremiah  are 
ravishing  the  soul  which  is  listening  to  their  celestial  strains! 
It  is  a  fact  that  Pagan  eloquence  and  philosophy  can  be  but 
very  tasteless  to  men  accustomed  to  be  fed  with  the  bread  which 
comes  down  from  heaven,  whose  souls  are  filled  with  the 
eloquence  of  God,  and  whose  intelligence  is  fed  with  the  phlio- 
sophy  of  heaven. 

But,  alas!  for  me  and  my  fellow-students  in  the  college  of 
Rome!  No  sun  ever  appeared  on  the  horizon  to  dispel  the 
night  in  which  our  intelligence  was  wrapped.  The  dark  clouds 
with  which  Paganism  had  surrounded  us  were  suffocating  us, 
and  no  breath  from  heaven  was  allowed  to  come  and  dispel 
them.  Moses,  with  his  incomparable  legislation,  David  and 
Solomon  with  their  divine  poems, Job  with  his  celestial  philo- 
sophy, Jeremiah,  Isaiah  and  Daniel  with  their  sublime  songs, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  with  his  soul-saving  gospel,  as  well  as  his 
apostles  Peter,  John,  Jude,  James  and  Paul — these  were  all  put 
on  the  Index!!  They  had  not  the  liberty  to  speak  to  us,  and  we 
were  forbidden,  absolutely  forbidden,  to  read  and  hear  them! 

It  is  true  that  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  an  offset  to  that,  gave 
us  her  principles,  precepts,  fables  and  legends  that  we  might  be 
attached  to  her,  and  that  she  might  remain  the  mistress  of  our 
hearts.  But  these  doctrines,  practices,  principles  and  fables 
seemed  to  us  so  evidently  borrowed  from  Paganism — they  were 
so  cold,  so  naked,  so  stripped  of  all  true  poetry,  that  if  the  Pa- 
ganism of  the  anciepts  was  not  left  absolute  master  of  our  affec- 
tions, it  still  claimed  a  large  part  of  our  souls.  To  create  in  us  a 
love  for  the  Church  of  Rome,  our  superiors  depended  greatly  on 
the  works  of  Chateaubriand.  The  "  Genie  du  Christianisme" 
was  the  book  of  books  to  dispel  all  our  doubts,  and  attach  us  to 
the  Pope's  religion.  But  this  author,  whose  style  is  sometimes 
really  beautiful,  destroyed,  by  the  weakness  of  his  logic,  the 
Christianity  which  he  wanted  to  build  up.  We  could  easily  see 
that  Chateaubriand  was  not  sincere,  and  his  exaggerations  wer« 


MORAL    ANU    RELIGIOUS      INSTRUCTION,    ETC.  77 

to  many  of  us  a  sure  indication  that  he  did  not  believe  in  wiiat 
he  said.  The  works  of  De  Maistre,  the  most  impudent  history- 
falsificator  of  France,  were  also  put  into  our  hands  as  a  sure 
guide  in  our  philosophical  and  historical  studies.  The  "  Mem- 
oirs du  Conte  Valmont,"  with  some  authors  of  the  same  stamp, 
were  much  relied  on  by  our  superiors  to  prove  to  us  that  the 
dojj^mas,  precepts  and  practices  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion 
were  brought  from  heaven. 

It  was  certainly  our  desire  as  well  as  our  interest  to  believe 
them.  But  how  our  faith  was  shaken,  and  how  we  felt  troubled 
when  Livy,  Tacitus,  Cicero,  Virgil,  Homer,  etc.,  gave  us  the 
evidence  that  the  greater  part  of  these  things  had  their  root  and 
their  origin  in  Paganism. 

For  instance,  our  superiors  had  convinced  us  that  scapulars, 
medals,  holy  water,  etc.,  would  be  of  great  service  to  us  in 
battling  with  the  most  dangerous  temptations,  as  well  as  in 
avoiding  the  mosrt  common  dangers  of  life.  Consequently  we 
all  had  scapulars  and  medals,  which  we  kept  with  the  greatest 
respect,  and  even  kissetl  morning  and  evening  with  affection,  as 
if  they  were  powerful  instruments  of  the  mercy  of  God  to  us. 
How  great,  then,  was  our  confusion  and  disappointment  when 
we  discovered  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  historians  that  tltose 
scapulars  and  medals  and  statuettes  were  nothing  but  a  remnant 
of  Paganism,  and  that  the  worshippers  of  Jupiter,  Minerva, 
Diana  and  Venus  believed  themselves  also  free,  as  we  did,  from 
all  calamity  when  they  carried  them  in  honor  of  these  divinities! 
The  further  we  advanced  in  the  study  of  Pagan  antiquity,  the 
more  we  were  forced  to  believe  that  our  religion,  instead  of 
being  born  at  the  foot  of  Calvary,  was  only  a  pale  and  awkward 
imitation  of  Paganism.  The  modern  Maximus  Pontifex  (the 
Pope  of  Rome),  who,  as  we  were  assured,  was  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  resembled  the  "  Pontifex 
Maximus  "  of  the  great  republic  and  empire  of  pagan  Rome 
as  two  drops  of  water  resemble  each  other.  Had  not  our  Pope 
preserved  not  only  the  name,  but  also  the  attributes,  the  pageantry, 
the  pride,  and  even  the  garb  of  that  high  pagan  priest? 
Was  not  the  worship  of   the   saints   absolutely  the  same  as  the 


78  FIFTY     YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

worship  of  the  demigods  of  olden  time?  Was  not  our  purga- 
tory minutely  described  by  Virgil  ?  Were  not  our  prayers  to 
the  Virgin  and  to  the  saints  repeated,  almost  in  the  same  words, 
by  the  worshippers  who  prostrated  themselves  before  the  images 
of  their  gods,  just  as  we  repeated  them  every  day  before  the 
images  which  adorned  our  churches?  Was  not  our  holy  water 
in  use  among  the  idolaters,  and  for  the  same  purpose  for  which 
it  is  used  among  us? 

We  knew  by  history  the  year  in  which  the  magnificent 
temple  consecrated  to  all  the  gods^  bearing  the  name  of  Pan- 
theon, had  been  built  at  Rome.  We  were  acquainted  with  the 
names  of  several  of  the  sculptors  who  had  carved  the  statues  of 
the  gods  in  that  heathen  temple,  at  whose  feet  the  idolaters 
bowed  respectfully,  and  words  cannot  express  the  shame  we 
felt  on  learning  that  the  Roman  Catholics  of  our  day,  under  the 
very  eyes  and  with  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  still  prostrated 
themselves  before  the  same  idols,  in  the  same  temple,  and 
to  obtain  the  same  favors! 

When  we  asked  each  other  the  question,  "  W^hat  is  the 
difference  between  the  religon  of  heathen  Rome  and  that  of  the 
Rome  of  to-day?"  more  than  one  student  would  answer:  "The 
only  difference  is  in  the  name.  The  idolatrous  temples  are  the 
same:  the  idols  have  not  left  their  places.  To-day,  as  formerly, 
the  same  incense  burns  in  their  honor?  Nations  are  still  pros- 
trated at  their  feet  to  give  them  the  same  homage  and  to  ask  of 
them  the  same  favors;  but  instead  of  calling  this  statue  Jupiter, 
we  call  it  Peter;  and  instead  of  calling  that  one  Minerva  or 
Venus,  it  is  called  St.  Mary.  It  is  the  old  idolatry  coming  to  us 
under  Christian  names." 

I  earnestly  desired  to  be  an  honest  and  sincere  Roman 
Catholic.  These  impressions  and  thoughts  distracted  me  greatly, 
inasmuch  as  I  could  find  nothing  in  reason  to  diminish  their 
force.  Unfortunately,  many  of  the  books  placed  in  our  hands 
by  our  superiors  to  confirm  our  faith,  form  our  moral  character 
and  sustain  our  piety  and  our  confidence  in  the  dogmas  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  had  a  frightful  resemblance  to  the  histories  I 
had  read  of  the  sTods  and  sfoddesses.     The  miracles  attributed  to 


MORAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION,    tTC,  79 

the  Virgin  Mary  often  appeared  to  be  only  a  reproduction  of 
the  tricks  and  deceits  by  which  the  priests  of  Jupiter,  Venus, 
Minerva,  etc.,  used  to  obtain  their  ends  and  grant  the  requests  of 
their  worshippers.  Some  of  those  miracles  of  the  Virgin  Mary 
equalled,  if  they  did  not  surpass,  in  absurdity  and  immorality, 
what  mythology  taught  us  among  the  most  hideous  accounts  of 
the  heathen  gods  and  goddesses. 

I  could  cite  hundreds  of  such  miracles  wliich  shockcil  my 
faith  and  caused  me  to  blush  in  secret  at  the  conclusion  to  which 
I  was  forced  to  come,  in  comparing  the  worship  of  ancient  and 
modern  Rome.  I  will  only  quote  three  of  these  modern 
miracles,  which  are  found  in  one  of  the  books  the  best  approved 
by  the  Pope,  entitled  "The  Glories  of  Mary." 

First  miracle.  "  The  great  favors  bestowed  by  tlie  Holy 
Virgin  upon  a  nun  named  Beatrix,  of  the  Convent  of  Fronte- 
braldo,  show  how  merciful  she  is  to  sinners.  The  fact  is  related 
by  Cesanus,  and  by  Father  Rho.  This  unfortunate  mm,  having 
been  possessed  by  a  criminal  passion  for  a  voung  man,  deter- 
mined to  leave  her  convent  and  eh)pe  with  iiim.  She  was  the 
doorkeeper  of  the  convent,  and  having  placed  the  keys  of  the 
monastery  at  the  feet  of  a  statue  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  she  boldly 
went  out,  then  led  a  life  of  prostitution  during  fifteen  years  in  a 
far  off  place. 

"  One  day,  accidentally  meeting  the  purveyor  of  her  convent, 
and  thinking  she  would  not  be  recognized  by  him,  she  asked 
him  news  of  Sister  Beatrix. 

'* '  I  know  her  well,'  answered  this  man;  'she  is  a  holy  nun, 
and  is  mistress  of  the  novices.' 

"  At  these  words  Beatrix  was  confused;  but  to  understand 
what  it  meant,  she  changed  her  clothing,  and  going  to  the  con- 
vent, inquired  after  Sister  Beatrix. 

"  The  Holy  Virgin  inatantly  appeared  to  her  in  the  form  of 
the  statue  at  whose  feet  she  had  placed  the  keys  at  her  departure. 
The  Divine  Mother  spoke  to  her  in  this  wise:  '  Know,  Beatrix, 
that  in  order  to  preserve  your  honor,  I  have  taken  vour  place 
aid  done  your  dutv  since  you  liave  left  vour  convent.  My 
d.iii;^ht(.i ,    return    to   God  and    be    pt-nitent,    for    ni\     son    is   still 


8o  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

waiting  for  you.  Tiy,  by  the  holiness  of  thy  life,  to  preserve 
the  good  reputation  which  I  have  earned  you.'  Having  thus 
spoken,  the  Holy  Virgin  disappeared.  Beatrix  re-entered  the 
monastery,  donned  her  religious  dress,  and,  grateful  for  the 
mercies  of  Mary,  she  led  the  life  of  a  saint."  ("Glories  of 
Mary,"  chap,  vi.,  sec.  2.) 

Second  miracle.  Rev.  Father  Riercnberg  relates  that  there 
existed  in  a  city  called  Aragona,  a  beautiful  and  noble  girl  by 
the  name  of  Alexandra,  whom  two  young  men  loved  passion- 
ately. One  day,  maddened  by  the  jealousy  each  one  had  of  the 
other,  they  fought  together,  and  both  were  killed.  Their 
parents  were  so  infuriated  at  the  young  girl,  the  author  of  these 
calamities,  that  they  killed  her,  cut  her  head  off,  and  threw  her 
into  a  well.  A  few  days  after  St.  Dominic,  passing  by  the 
place,  was  inspired  to  approach  the  well  and  to  cry  out, 
"Alexandra,  come  here!"  The  head  of  the  deceased  imme- 
diately placed  itself  upon  the  edge  of  the  well,  and  entreated 
St.  Dominic  to  hear  its  confession.  Having  heard  it,  the  !Saint 
gave  her  the  communion  in  the  presence  of  a  great  multitude  of 
people,  and  then  he  commanded  her  to  tell  them  why  she  had 
received  so  great  a  favor. 

She  answered  that  though  she  was  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin 
when  she  was  decapitated,  yet  as  she  had  a  habit  of  reciting  the 
holy  rosary,  the  Virgin  had  preserved  her  life. 

The  head,  full  of  life,  remained  on  the  edge  of  the  well  two 
days  before  the  eyes  of  a  great  many  people,  and  then  the  soul 
went  to  purgatory.  But  fifteen  days  after  this  the  soul  of 
Alexandra  appeared  to  St.  Dominic,  bright  and  beautiful  as  a 
star,  and  told  him  that  one  of  the  surest  means  of  removing  souls 
from  purgatory  was  the  recitation  of  the  rosary  in  their  favor. 
("■Glories  of  Mary,"   chap,  viii.,  sec.  2). 

Third  miracle.  "A  servant  of  Mary  one  day  went  into  one 
of  her  churches  to  pray,  without  telling  her  husband  of  it. 
Owing  to  a  terrible  storm  she  was  prevented  from  returning 
home  that  night.  Harassed  by  the  fear  that  her  husband  would 
be  angry,  she  implored  Mary's  help.  But  on  returning  home 
she    found    her    husband    full    of    kindness.     After    askin^:  her 


MOKAK    AND    RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION,  ETC.  Si 

husband  a  few  questions  on  the  subject,  she  discovered  that 
during  that  very  night  the  Divine  Mother  had  taken  her  form 
any  features  and  had  taken  her  phicc  in  all  the  affairs  of  the 
household!  She  informed  her  husband  of  the  great  miracle,  and 
they  both  became  very  much  devoted  to  the  Holv  \'irgin." 
("Glories  of  Mary:"  Examples  of  Protection,  40.) 

Persons  who  have  never  studied  in  a  Roman  Catholic  college 
will  hardly  believe  that  such  fables  were  told  us  as  an  appeal  for 
us  to  become  Christians.  Hut,  God  knows,  I  tell  the  truth.  Is 
it  not  a  profanation  of  a  holy  word  to  say  that  Christianity  is 
the  religion  taught  the  students  in  Rome's  colleges.' 

After  reading  the  monstrous  metamorphoses  of  the  gods  of 
Olympus,  the  student  feels  a  profound  pity  for  the  nations  who 
have  lived  so  long  in  the  darkness  of  Paganism.  He  cannot 
understand  how  so  many  millions  of  men  were,  for  such  a  long 
time,  deceived  by  such  cruel  fables.  With  jov  his  thoughts  are 
turned  to  the  God  of  Calvary,  there  to  receive  light  and  life. 
He  feels,  as  it  were,  a  burning  desire  to  nourish  himself  with  the 
words  of  life,  fallen  from  the  lips  of  the  "  great  victim."  But 
here  comes  the  priest  of  the  college,  who  places  himself  between 
tlie  student  and  Christ,  and  instead  of  allowing  him  to  be 
nourished  with  the  Bread  of  Life  he  offers  him  fables,  husks 
with  which  to  appease  his  hunger.  Instead  of  allowing  him  to 
slake  his  thirst  from  the  waters  which  flow  from  the  fountains 
of  eternal  life,  he  offers  him  a  corrupt  beverage! 

God  alone  knows  what  I  have  suffered  during  my  studies  to 
find  myself  absolutely  deprived  of  the  privilege  of  eating  this 
bread  of  life — ^His  Holy  Word. 

During  the  last  years  of  my  studies,  my  superiors  often 
confided  to  me  the  charge  of  the  library.  Once  it  happened 
that,  as  the  students  were  taking  a  holiday,  I  remained  alone  in 
the  college,  and  shutting  myself  up  in  the  library,  I  began  to 
examine  all  the  books.  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  discover 
that  the  books  which  were  the  most  proper  to  instruct  us  stood 
on  the  catalogue  of  the  library  marked  among  the  forbidden 
bcKiks.  I  felt  an  inexpressible  shame  on  seeing  with  my  own 
tyes  that  none  but  the  most  indifferent  books  were  placed  In  our 


82  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

hands — that  we  were  permitted  to  read  authors  of  the  third  rank 
only  (if  this  expression  is  suitable  to  such  whose  only  merit 
consisted  in  flattering  the  Popes,  and  in  concealing  or  excusing 
their  crimes).  Several  students  more  advanced  than  myself  had 
already  made  the  observation  to  me,  but  I  did  not  believe  them. 
Self-love  gave  me  the  hope  that  I  was  as  well  educated  as  one 
could  be  at  my  age.  Until  then  I  hae  spurned  the  idea  that, 
with  the  rest  of  the  students,  I  w^as  the  victim  of  an  incredible 
system  of  moral  and  intellectual  blindness. 

Among  the  forbidden  books  of  the  college  I  found  a  splendid 
Bible.  It  seemed  to  be  of  the  same  edition  as  the  one  wrhose 
perusal  had  made  hours  pass  away  so  pleasantly  when  I  was  at 
home  with  my  mother.  I  seized  it  with  the  transports  of  a 
miser  finding  a  lost  treasure.  I  lifted  it  to  my  lips,  and  kissed  it 
respectfully.  I  pressed  it  against  my  heart,  as  one  embraces  a 
friend  from  whom  he  has  long  been  separated.  This  Bible 
brought  back  to  my  memory  the  most  delightful  hours  of  my 
life.     I  read  its  divine  pages  until  the  scholars  returned. 

The  next  day  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon,  our  director,  called  me  to 
his  room  during  the  recreation,  and  said:  "You  seem  to  be 
troubled  and  very  sad  to-day.  I  noticed  that  you  remained 
alone  wiiile  the  other  scholars  were  enjoying  themselves  so  well. 
Have  you  any  cause  of  grief?     or  are  you  sick?" 

I  could  not  sufficiently  express  my  love  and  respect  for  this 
venerable  man.  He  was  at  the  srme  time  my  friend  and  bene- 
factor. For  four  years  he  and  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  had  been 
paying  my  board;  for,  owing  to  a  misunderstanding  between 
myself  and  my  uncle  Dionne,  he  had  ceased  to  maintain  me  at 
college.  By  reading  the  Bible  the  previous  day  I  had  disobeyed 
my  benefactor,  Mr  Leprohon;  for  when  he  entrusted  me  with 
the  care  of  the  library'  he  made  me  promise  not  to  read  the  books 
in  the  forbidden  catalogue. 

It  was  painful  to  me  to  sadden  him  by  acknowledging  that  I 
had  broken  my  word  of  honor,  but  it  pained  me  far  more  to 
deceive  him  by  conceal  ing  the  truth.  I  therefore  answered  him : 
"  Yon  are  right  in  supposing  that  I  am  uneasy  and  sad.  I  confess 
there  is  one  thing  which  perplexes  me  greatly  among  the   rules 


MORAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION,    ETC.  1X3 

that  govern  us.  I  never  dared  to  speak  to  you  about  it;  but  as 
you  wish  to  know  the  cause  of  my  sadness,  I  will  tell  you.  You 
have  placed  in  our  hands,  not  only  to  read,  but  to  learn  by 
heart,  books  which  are,  as  you  know,  partly  inspired  by  hell, 
and  you  forbid  us  to  read  the  only  book  whose  every  word  is 
sent  from  heaven!  You  permit  us  to  read  books  dictated  by 
the  Spirit  of  darkness  ami  sin,  and  you  make  it  a  crime  for  us  to 
read  the  only  book  written  under  the  dictation  of  the  Spirit  of 
light  and  holiness.  This  conduct  on  your  part,  and  on  the  part 
of  all  the  superiors  of  the  college,  disturbs  and  scandalizes  me! 
Shall  I  tell  you,  your  dread  of  the  Bible  shakes  my  faith,  and 
causes  me  to  fear  that  we  are  going  astray  in  our  Church." 

Mr.  Leprohon  answered  me:  "I  have  been  the  director  of 
this  college  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  I  have  never  heard 
from  the  lips  of  any  of  the  students  such  remarks  and  com- 
plaints as  you  are  making  to  me  to-day.  Have  you  no  fear  of 
being  the  victim  of  a  deception  of  the  devil,  in  meddling  with  a 
question  so  strange  and  so  new  for  a  scholar  whose  only  ;um 
should  be  to  obey  his  superiors?  " 

"It  may  be,"  said  I,  "that  I  am  the  tirst  to  speak  to  you  in 
this  manner,  for  it  is  very  probable  that  I  am  the  only  student 
in  this  college  who  has  read  the  Holy  Bible  in  his  youthful  days. 
I  have  already  told  you  there  was  a  Bible  in  my  father's  house, 
which  disappeared  only  after  his  death,  though  I  never  could 
know  what  became  of  it.  I  can  assure  you  that  the  perusal  of 
that  admirable  book  has  done  me  a  good  that  is  still  felt.  It  is, 
therefore,  because  I  know  by  a  personal  experience  that  there  is 
no  book  in  the  world  so  good,  and  so  proper  to  read,  that  I  am 
extremely  grieved,  and  even  scandalized,  by  the  dread  you  have 
of  it.  I  acknowledge  to  you  I  spent  the  afternoon  of  yesterday 
in  the  library  reading  the  Bible.  I  found  things  in  it  which 
made  me  weep  for  joy  and  happiness — things  that  did  more 
good  to  my  soul  and  heart  than  all  you  have  given  me  to  read 
for  six  years.  And  I  am  so  sad  to-day  because  you  approve 
of  me  when  I  read  the  works  of  the  devil,  and  condemn  nie 
when  I  read  the  Word  of  God."  ^ 

My  superior  answered :  "  Since  you  have  read  the  Bible,  you 


84  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

must  know  that  there  are  things  in  it  on  matters  of  such  a 
delicate  nature  that  it  is  improper  for  a  young  man,  and  more  so 
for  a  young  lady,  to  read  them." 

"  I  understand,"  answered  I ;  "  but  these  delicate  matters,  of 
which  you  do  not  want  God  to  speak  a  word  to  us,  you  know 
very  well  that  Satan  speaks  to  us  about  them  day  and  night. 
Now,  when  vSatan  speaks  about  and  attracts  our  thoughts 
towards  an  evil  and  criminal  thing,  it  is  always  in  order  that  we 
may  like  it  and  be  lost.  But  when  the  God  of  Purity  speaks  to 
us  of  evil  things  (of  which  it  is  pretty  much  impossible  for  men 
to  be  ignorant),  He  does  it  that  we  may  hate  and  abhor  them, 
and  lie  gives  us  grace  to  avoid  them.  Well,  then,  since  you 
cannot  prevent  the  devil  from  whispering  to  us  things  so  delicate 
and  dangerous  to  seduce  us,  how  dare  you  hinder  God  from 
speaking  of  the  same  things  to  shield  us  from  their  allurements? 
Besides,  when  my  God  desires  to  speak  to  me  Himself  on  any 
cfuestion  whatever,  where  is  your  right  to  obstruct  His  word  on 
its  way  to  my  lieart  ^  " 

Though  Mr.  Leprohon's  intelligence  was  as  much  wrapped 
up  in  the  darkness  of  the  Church  of  Rome  as  it  could  be,  his 
heart  had  remained  honest  and  true ;  and  while  I  respected  and 
loved  him  as  my  father,  though  differing  from  him  in  opinion, 
I  knew  he  loved  me  as  if  I  had  been  his  own  child.  He  was 
thunderstruck  by  my  answer.  He  turned  pale,  and  I  saw  tears 
about  to  flow  from  his  eyes.  He  sighed  deeply,  and  looked  at 
me  some  time  reflectingly,  without  answering.  At  last  he  said : 
"  My  dear  Chiniquy,  your  answer  and  your  arguments  have  a 
force  that  frightens  me,  and  if  I  had  no  other  but  my  own 
personal  ideas  to  disprove  them,  I  acknowledge  I  do  not  know 
how  I  would  do  it.  But  I  have  something  better  than  my  own 
weak  thoughts.  I  have  the  thoughts  of  the  Church,  and  of 
our  Holy  Father  the  Pope.  They  forbid  us  to  put  the  Bible 
in  the  hands  of  ou7-  students.  This  should  suffice  to  put  an  end 
to  your  troubles.  To  obe}'  his  legitimate  superiors  in  all  things 
and  everywhere,  is  the  rule  a  Christian  scholar  like  you  should 
follow;  and  if  you  have  broken  it  yesterday,  I  hope  it  will  be 
the  last  time  that  the  child  whom  I  love  better  than  myself  will 
cause  me  such  pain." 


MORAL    AND    HKl,K,IOLS    INS  IIUCTJOX,    KTC.  Hz 

On  saying  this  he  threw  his  arms  around  me,  clasped  me  to 
his  heart,  and  bathed  my  face  with  tears,  I  wept  also.  Yes,  I 
wept  abundantly. 

But  God  knoweth,  that  though  the  regret  of  having. grieved 
my  benefactor  and  father  caused  me  to  shed  tears  at  that  moment, 
yet  I  wept  much  more  on  perceiving  that  I  would  no  more  be 
permitted  to  read  Mis  Holy  Word. 

If,  therefore,  I  am  asked  what  moral  and  religious  education 
we  received  at  college,  I  will  ask  in  return.  What  religious  edu- 
cation can  we  receive  in  an  institution  where  seven  years  are 
spent  without  once  being  permitted  to  read  the  Gospel  of  God  ? 
The  gods  of  the  heathen  spoke  to  us  daily  bv  their  apostles  and 
disciples — Homer,  \'irgil,  Pindar,  Horace!  and  the  God  of  the 
Christians  had  not  permission  to  say  a  single  word  to  us  in  that 
college! 

Our  religion,  therefore,  could  he  nothing  hut  Paganism 
disguised  under  a  Christian  name.  Christianity  in  a  college  or 
convent  of  Rome  is  such  a  strange  mixture  of  heathenism  and 
superstition,  both  ridiculous  and  childish,  and  of  shocking  fables, 
that  the  majority  of  those  who  have  not  entirely  smothered  the 
voice  of  reason  cannot  accept  it.  A  few  do,  as  I  did,  all  in  their 
power,  and  succeed  to  a  certain  extent,  in  believing  only  what 
the  superior  tells  them  to  believe.  They  close  their  eyes  and 
permit  themselves  to  be  led  exactly  as  if  they  were  blind,  and  a 
friendly  hand  were  offering  to  guide  them.  But  the  greater 
nnmber  of  students  in  Roman  Catholic  colleges  cannot  accept 
the  bastard  Christianity  which  Rome  presents  to  them.  Of 
course,  during  their  studies  they  follow  its  rules,  for  the  sake  of 
peace;  but  they  have  hardly  left  college  before  they  proceed  to 
join  and  increase  the  ranks  of  the  army  of  skeptics  and  infidels 
which  overruns  France,  Spain,  Italy  and  Canada — which  over- 
runs, in  fact,  all  the  countries  where  Rome  has  the  education  of 
the  people  in  her  hands. 

I  must  say,  though  with  a  sad  heart,  that  moral  and  religious 
education  in  Roman  Catholic  colleges  is  worse  than  void,  for 
from  them  has  been  excluded  the  only  true  standard  of  morals 
and  relierion — The  Word  of  God! 


,  Chapter   XI. 

PBOTBSTAKT    CHXLDKEN  IN  THE    CONVENTS  AND 
NTTNNEBIES   OF  BOME. 

WE  read  in  the  history  of  Paganism  that  parents  were 
often,  in  those  dark  ages,  slaying  their  children  upon 
the  altars  of  their  gods,  to  appease  their  wrath  or  obtain 
their  favors.  But  we  now  see  a  stranger  thing.  It  is  that 
of  Christian  parents  forcing  their  children  into  the  temples 
and  to  the  very  feet  of  the  idols  of  Rome,  under  the  fallacious 
notion  of  having  them  educated!  While  the  Pagan  parent 
destroyed  only  the  temporal  life  of  his  child,  the  Christian 
parent,  for  the  most  part,  destroys  his  eternal  life.  The  Pagan 
was  consistent:  he  believed  in  the  almighty  power  and  holiness 
of  his  gods;  he  sincerely  thought  that  they  ruled  the  world, 
and  that  thev  blessed  both  the  victims  and  those  ■w'ho  offered 
them.  But  where  is  the  consistency  of  the  Protestant  who 
drags  his  child  and  offers  him  as  a  sacrifice  on  the  altars  of  the 
Pope!  Does  he  believe  in  his  holiness  or  in  his  supreme  and 
infallible  power  of  governing  the  intelligence?  Then  why  does 
he  not  go  ana  throw  himself  at  his  feet  and  increase  the  number 
of  his  disciples?  The  Protestants  who  are  guilty  of  this  great 
wrong  are  wont  to  say,  as  an  excuse,  that  the  superiors  of 
colleges  and  convents  have  assured  them  that  their  religious 
convictions  \vould  be  respected,  and  that  nothing  should  be  said 
or  done  to  take  away  or  even  shake  the  religion  of  their 
children. 

Our  first  parents  were  not  more  cruelly  deceived  by  the 
seductive  w^ords  of  the  serpent  than  the  Protestants  are  this  day 
by  the  deceitful  promises  of  the  priests  and  nuns  of  Rome. 

I  had  been  myself   the  witness  of  the  promise  given  by  our 

86 


PROTESTANT    CHILDREN    IN    THE    CONVENTS,    ETC.  87 

superior  to  a  judge  of  the  State  of  New  York,  when,  a  few 
days  later  that  same  superior,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon,  said  to 
me:  "You  know  some  English,  and  this  young  man  know* 
French  enough  to  enable  you  to  understand  each  other.  Try  to 
become  his  friend  and  to  bring  him  over  to  our  holy  religion. 
His  father  is  a  most  influential  man  in  the  United  States,  and 
this,  his  only  son,  is  the  heir  of  an  immense  fortune.  Great 
results  for  the  future  of  the  Church  in  the  neighboring  repubfic 
might  follow  his  conversion." 

I  replied :  "  Have  you  forgotten  the  promise  you  have  made 
to  his  father,  never  to  say  or  do  anything  to  shake  or  take  away 
the  religion  of  that  young  man?  " 

My  superior  smiled  at  my  simplicity,  and  said:  "  When  you 
shall  have  studied  theology  you  will  know  that  Protestantism  is 
not  a  religion,  but  that  it  is  the  negation  of  religion.  Protesting 
cannot  be  the  basis  of  any  doctrine.  Thus,  when  I  promised 
Judge  Pike  that  the  religious  convictions  of  his  child  should  be 
respected,  and  that  I  would  not  do  anything  to  change  his  faith, 
I  did  promise  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world,  since  I  promised 
not  to  meddle  with  a  thing  -which  has  no  existence^ 

Convinced,  or  rather  blinded,  by  the  reason  of  my  superior, 
which  is  the  reasoning  of  every  superior  of  a  college  or  nunnery, 
I  set  myself  to  work  from  that  moment  to  make  a  good  Roman 
Catholic  of  that  young  friend;  and  I  would  probably  have  suc- 
ceeded, had  not  a  serious  illness  forced  him,  a  few  months  after, 
to  go  home,  where  he  died. 

Protestants  who  may  read  these  lines  will,  perhaps,  be 
indignant  against  the  deceit  and  knavery  of  the  Superior  of  the 
College  of  Nicolet.  But  I  will  say  to  those  Protestants,  it  is 
not  on  that  man,  but  on  yourselves,  that  you  must  pour  your 
contempt.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon  was  honest.  He  acted 
conformably  to  principles  which  he  thought  good  and  legitimate, 
and  for  which  lie  would  have  cheerfully  given  the  last  drop  of 
his  blood.  He  sincerely  believed  that  your  Protestantism  is  a 
mere  negation  of  all  religion,  worthy  of  the  contempt  of  every 
true  Christian.  It  was  not  the  prfest  of  Rome  who  was  con- 
temptible, dishonest   and   a   traitor   to   his    principles,  but  it  was 


88  KIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH     OF    ROME. 

the  Protestant  who  was  false  to  his  gospel  and  to  his  own 
conscience  by  having  his  child  educated  by  the  servants  of  the 
Pope.  Moreover,  can  \ve  not  truthfully  say  that  the  Protestant 
"who  wishes  to  have  his  children  bred  and  educated  by  a  Jesuit 
or  a  nun  is  a  man  of  no  religion  P  and  that  nothing  is  more 
ridiculous  than  to  hear  such  a  man  begging  respect  for  his 
religious  principles !  A  man's  ardent  desire  to  have  his  reli- 
gious convictions  respected  is  best  known  by  his  respecting  them 
himself. 

The  Protestant  who  drags  his  children  to  the  feet  of  the 
priests  of  Rome  is  either  a  disguised  ihfidel  or  a  hypocrite.  It 
is  simply  ridiculous  for  such  a  man  to  speak  of  his  religious 
convictions,  or  beg  respect  for  them.  His  very  humble  position 
at  the  feet  of  a  Jesuit  or  a  nun,  begging  respect  for  his  faith,  is  a 
sure  testimonv  that  he  has  none  to  lose.  If  he  had  any  he  would 
not  be  there,  an  himible  and  abject  suppliant.  He  would  take 
care  to  be  where  there  could  be  no  danger  to  his  dear  child's 
immortal  soul. 

When  I  was  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  we  often  spoke  of  the 
necessity  of  making  superhuman  efforts  to  attract  young  Prot- 
estants into  our  colteges  and  nunneries,  as  the  shortest  and  only 
means  of  ruling  the  world  before  long.  And  as  the  mother  has 
in  her  hands,  still  more  than  the  father,  the  destinies  of  the 
familv  and  of  the  world,  we  Avere  determined  to  sacrifice  every- 
thing in  order  to  build  nunneries  all  over  the  land,  where  the 
young  girls,  the  future  mothers  of  our  country,  would  be 
moulded  in  our  hands  and  educated  according  to  our  views. 

Nobodv  can  deny  that  this  is  supreme  wisdom.  Who  will 
not  admire  the  enormous  sacrifices  made  by  Romanists  in  order 
to  surround  the  nunneries  with  so  man}'  attractions  jl.at  it  is 
difficult  to  refuse  them  jDreference  above  all  other  female 
scholastic  establishments?  One  feels  so  well  in  the  shade  of 
these  magnificent  trees  during  the  hot  days  of  summer!  It  is  so 
pleasant  to  live  near  this  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  or  the  rapid 
current  of  that  charming  river,  or  to  have  constantly  before  one's 
eyes  the  sublime  spectacle  of  the  sea!  What  a  sweet  perfume 
the    flf)wers    of    that    parterre    diffuse    around    that    pretty    and 


PROTESTANT    CHILDREN    IN    THE    CONVENTS,    ETC.  89 

peaceful  convent  I  And,  besides,  who  can  withstand  the  almost 
angelic  charms  of  the  Lady  Superior!  How  it  does  one  good 
to  be  in  the  midst  of  those  holy  nuns,  whose  modesty,  affable 
appearance,  and  lovely  smile  present  such  a  beautiful  spectacle, 
that  one  would  think  of  being  at  heaven's  gate  rather  than  in  a 
world  of  desolation  and  sin! 

0  foolish  man!  Thou  art  always  the  same — ever  ready  U> 
be  seduced  by  glittering  appearances — ever  ready  to  suppress 
the  voice  of  thy  conscience  at  the  first  view  of  a  seductive 
object ! 

One  day  I  had  embarked  in  the  boat  of  a  fisherman  on  the 
coast  of  one  of  those  beautiful  islands  which  the  hand  of  God 
has  placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  white  sail,  full-blown  by  the  morning  breeze,  had 
carried  us  nearly  a  mile  from  the  shore.  There  we  dropped  our 
anchor,  and  soon  our  lines,  carried  by  the  current,  offered  the 
deceitful  bait  to  the  fishes.  But  not  one  would  come.  One 
would  have  thought  that  the  sprightlv  inhabitants  of  these 
limpid  waters  had  acted  in  concert  to  despise  us.  In  vain  did 
we  move  our  lines  to  and  fro  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
fishes;  not  one  would  come!  We  were  tired.  We  lamented 
the  prospect  of  losing  our  time,  and  being  laughed  at  by  our 
friends  on  the  shore  who  were  waiting  the  result  of  our  fishing 
to  dine.  Nearly  one  hour  was  spent  in  this  manner,  when  the 
captain  said,  "  Indeed,  I  will  make  the  fishes  come." 

Opening  a  box,  he  took  out  handfuls  of  little  pieces  of  finely- 
cut  fishes,  and  threw  them  broadcast  on  the  water. 

1  was  looking  at  him  with  curiosity,  and  I  received  with  a 
feeling  of  unbelief,  the  promise  of  seeing,  in  a  few  moments, 
more  mackerel  than  I  could  pick  up.  These  particles  of  fish, 
falling  upon  the  water,  scattered  themselves  in  a  thousand 
different  ways.  The  rays  of  the  sun,  sporting  among  these 
numberless  fragments,  and  thousands  of  scales,  gave  them  a 
singular  whiteness  and  brilliancy.  They  appeared  like  a  thou- 
sand diamonds,  full  of  movement  and  life,  that  sported  and 
rolled  themselves,  running  at  each  other,  while  rocking  upon  the 
waves. 


90 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


As  these  innumerable  little  objects  withdrew  from  us  tney 
looked  like  the  milky  way  in  the  firmament.  The  rays  of  the 
sun  continued  to  be  reflected  upon  the  scales  of  the  fishes  in  the 
water,  and  to  transform  them  into  as  many  pearls,  whose  white- 
ness and  splendor  made  an  agreeable  contrast  with  the  deep 
green  color  of  the  sea. 

While  looking  as  that  spectacle,  which  was  so  new  to  me,  I 
felt  my  line  jerked  out  of  my  hands,  and  soon  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  a  magnificent  mackerel  lying  at  my  feet.  My  com- 
panions were  as  fortunate  as  I  was.  The  bait  so  generously 
thrown  away  had  perfectly  succeeded  in  bringing*  us  not  only 
hundreds,  but  thousands  of  fishes,  and  we  caught  as  many  of 
them  as  the  boat  could  carry. 

The  Jesuits  and  the  nuns  are  the  Pope's  cleverest  fishermen, 
and  the  Protestants  are  the  mackerels  caught  upon  their  baited 
hooks.  Never  fisherman  knew  better  to  prepare  the  perfidious 
bait  than  the  nuns  and  Jesuits,  and  never  were  stupid  fishes  more 
easily  caught  than  Protestants  in  general. 

The  priests  of  Rome  themselves  boast  that  more  than  half  of 
the  pupils  of  the  nuns  are  the  children  of  Protestants,  and  that 
seven-tenths  of  those  Protestant  children,  sooner  or  later,  become 
the  firmest  disciples  and  the  true  pillars  of  popery  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  with  that  public  and  undeniable  fact  before  them 
that  the  Jesuits  have  prophesied  that  before  twenty-five  years 
the  pope  will  rule  that  great  republic;  and  if  there  is  not  a 
prompt  change  their  prophecy  will  probabl}^  be  accomplished. 

"  But,"  say  many  Protestants,  "  where  can  we  get  safer  se- 
curities that  the  morals  of  our  girls  will  be  sheltered  than  in 
those  convents  ?  The  faces  of  those  good  nuns,  their  angelic 
smiles,  even  their  lips,  from  which  seems  to  flow  a  perfume 
from  heaven — are  not  these  the  unfailing  signs  that  nothing  will 
taint  the  hearts  of  our  dear  children  when  they  are  under  the 
care  of  those  holy  nuns  ?  " 

Angelic  smiles!  Lips  from  which  flow  a  perfume  from 
heaven!  Expressions  of  peace  and  holiness  of  the  good  nuns! 
Delusive  allurements!  Cruel  deceptions!  Mockery  of  comedy ! 
Ves,  all  these  angelic  smiles,  all    these  expressions  ot  joy   and 


PROTKSTANT    CJIILDREN     IN    THE    CONVENTS,    ETC.  ^1 

happiness,  are  but  aJlurements  to  deceive  honest  but  too  trusting 
men! 

I  believed  myself  for  a.  long  time  that  there  was  something 
true  in  all  the  display  of  peace  and  happiness  which  I  saw  re- 
flected in  the  faces  of  a  good  number  of  nuns.  But  how  soon 
my  delusions  passed  away  when  I  read  with  my  own  eyes,  in  a 
book  of  the  secret  rules  of  the  convent,  that  one  of  their  rules  is 
always^  especially  in  the  presence  of  strangers,  to  have  an  ap- 
jiearance  of  joy  and  happiness,  even  when  the  soul  is  overwhelmed 
with  grief  and  stu'row !  The  motives  given  to  the  nuns  for  thus 
wearing  a  continual  mask,  is  to  secure  the  esteem  and  respect  of 
the  people,  and  tu  win  more  securely  the  young^  ladies  to  the 
convent  I 

All  know  the  sad  end  of  life  of  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
female  comedians  of  the  American  theatre.  She  had  acted  her 
part  in  the  evening  with  a  perfect  success.  She  appeared  so 
handsome  and  so  happy  on  the  stage!  Her  voice  was  such  a 
perfect  lutrmony  ;  her  singing  was  so  merry  and  lively  with  mirth  1 
Two  hours  later  she  was  a  corpse!  She  had  poisoned  herself  on 
leaving  the  tlieatre!  For  some  lime  her  heart  was  broken  with 
grief  which  she  could  not  bear.  

Thus  it  is  with  the  nun  in  her  cell!  forced  to  play  a  sacri- 
legious comedy  to  deceive  the  world  and  to  bring  new  recruits 
to  the  monastery.  And  the  Protestants,  the  disciples  of  the  gos- 
jjel,  the  children  of  light,  suffer  themselves  16  be  deceived  by 
this  impious  comedy. 

The  poor  nun's  heart  is  often  full  of  sorrow,  and  her  soul  is 
drowned  in  a  sea  of  desolation ;  but  she  is  obliged,  under  oath, 
always  to  appear  gay!  Unfortunate  victim  of  the  most  cruel 
deception  that  has  ever  been  invented.  That  poor  daughter  of 
Eve,  deprived  of  all  the  happiness  that  heaven  has  given,  tor- 
tured night  and  day  by  honest  aspirations,  which  she  is  told  are 
unpardonable  sins,  she  has  not  only  to  suppress  in  herself  the  few 
buds  of  happiness  which  God  has  left  in  her  soul,  but  what  is 
more  cruel,  slie  is  forced  to  appear  happy  in  anguish  of  shame 
and  of  deception. 

Ah!    if    Protestants    could    know,  as    I   do,   how    much   tlie 


92  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

hearts  of  those  nuns  bleed,  how  much  those  poor  victims  of  the 
pope  feel  themselves  wounded  to  death,  how  almost  every  one 
of  them  die  at  an  early  age,  broken-hearted,  instead  of  speaking 
of  their  happiness  and  holiness,  they  would  weep  at  their  pro- 
found misery.  Instead  of  helping  Satan  to  build  up  and  main- 
tain those  sad  dungeons  by  giving  both  their  gold  and  their  chil- 
dren, they  would  let  them  crumble  into  dust,  and  thus  checlc  the 
torrents  of  silent  though  bitter  tears  which  those  cells  hide  from 
our  view. 

I  was  traveling  in  1S51  over  the  vast  prairies  of  Illinois  in 
search  of  a  spot  which  would  suit  us  the  best  for  the  colony 
which  I  was  about  to  found.  One  day  my  companions  and  my- 
self found  ourselves  so  wearied  by  the  heat  that  we  resolved  to 
wait  for  the  cool  night  in  the  shade  of  a  few  trees  around  a 
brook.  The  night  was  calm ;  there  were  no  clouds  in  the  sky, 
and  the  moon  was  beautiful.  Like  the  sailor  upon  the  sea,  we 
had  nothing  but  our  compass  to  regulate  our  course  on  those 
beautiful  and  vast  prairies.  But  the  pen  cannot  express  the 
emotions  I  felt  while  looking  at  that  beautiful  sky  and  those 
•^lagnificent  deserts  opened  to  our  view. 

We  often  came  to  sloughs  which  we  thought  deeper  than 
they  really  were,  and  of  which  we  would  keep  the  side  for  fear 
of  drowning  our  horses.  Manj'  a  time  did  I  get  down  from  the 
carriage  and  stop  to  contemplate  the  wonders  which  those  ponds 
presented  to  our  view. 

All  the  splendors  of  the  sky  seemed  brought  down  in  those 
pure  and  limpid  waters.  The  moon  and  the  stars  seemed  to  have 
left  their  places  in  the  firmament  to  bathe  themselves  in  those 
delightful  lakelets.  All  the  purest,  the  most  beautiful  things  of 
the  heavens  seemed  to  come  down  to  hide  themselves  in  those 
tranquil  waters  as  if  in  search  of  more  peace  and  purity. 

A  few  days  later  I  ^vas  retracing  my  steps.  It  was  daytime, 
and  following  the  same  route,  I  was  longing  to  get  to  my  charm- 
ing little  lakes.  But  during  the  interval  the  heat  had  been  gx'eat, 
the  sun  very  hot,  and  my  beautiful  sheets  of  water  had  been 
dried  up.     My  dear  little  lakes  were  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

And  what  did   I   find   instead.^      Innumerable   reptiles,  with 


PKOTESTANT    CHILDREN    IN    THE    CONVENTS,    ETC.  93 

the  most  hideous  forms  and  filthy  colors!  No  brilliant  stars,  nc 
clear  moon  were  there  any  more  to  charm  my  eyes.  There  was 
nothing  left  but  thousands  of  little  toads  and  snakes,  at  the  sight 
of  which  I  was  filled  with  disgust  and  horror! 

Protestants!  when  upon  life's  way  you  are  tempted  to  admire 
the  smiling  lips  and  unstained  faces  of  the  pope's  nuns,  please 
think  of  those  charming  lakes  which  I  saw  on  the  prairies  of 
Illinois,  and  remember  the  innumerable  reptiles  and  toads  which 
swarm  at  the  bottom  of  those  deceitful  waters. 

When,  by  the  light  of  divine  truth,  Protestants  see  behind 
these  perfect  mockeries  by  which  the  nun  conceals  with  so  much 
care  the  hideous  misery  which  devours  her  heart,  they  will  under- 
stand the  folly  of  having  permitted  themselves  to  be  so  easily 
deceived  by  appearances.  Then  they  will  bitterly  weep  for  hav- 
ing sacrificed  to  that  modern  Paganism  the  future  welfare  of 
their  children,  of  their  families  and  of  their  country! 

"  But,''  says  one,  "the  education  is  so  cheap  in  the  nunnery." 
1  answer,  "  The  education  in  convents,  were  it  twice  cheaper 
than  it  is  now,  would  still  cost  twice  more  than  it  is  worth.  It 
is  in  this  circumstance  that  we  can  repeat  and  apply  the  old 
proverb,  'Cheap  things  are  always  too  highly  paid  for.'" 

In  the  first  place,  the  intellectual  education  in  the  nunnery  is 
completely  null.  The  great  object  of  the  pope  and  the  nuns  is 
to  captivate  and  destroy  the  intelligence. 

Tlie  moral  education  is  also  of  no  account;  for  what  kind  of 
morality  can  a  young  girl  receive  from  a  nun  who  believes  that 
she  can  live  as  she  pleases  as  long  as  she  likes  it — that  nothing 
evil  can  come  of  her,  neither  in  this  life  nor  in  the  next,  provided 
only  she  is  devout  to  the  Virgin  Mar\-? 

Let  Protestants  read  the  "  Glories  of  Mary,"  by  St.  Liguori, 
a  book  which  is  in  the  hands  of  every  nun  and  every  priest,  and 
they  will  understand  what  kind  of  morality  is  practiced  and 
taught  inside  the  walls  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Yes,  let  them 
read  the  history  of  that  lady  who  was  so  well  represented  at 
home  by  the  Holy  Virgin  that  her  husband  did  not  perceive  that 
she  had  been  absent,  and  they  will  have  some  idea  of  what  their 
children  mav  learn  in  a  convent. 


Chapter  XII. 

XOMB  AND  EDUCATION- WH?  DOES  THE  OHUSCH  OF  SOUB 
HATE  THE  COMMON  SCHOOLS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  AND 
WANTS  TO  DESTROY  THEMP  WHY  DOES  SHE  OBJECT  TO 
THE  BEADINQ  OF  THE  BIBLE  IN  THE  SCHOOL  P 

THE  word  EDUCATION  is  a  beautiful  word.  It  comes  from 
the  Latin  educare^  which  means  to  raise  up,  to  take  from 
the  lowest  degrees  to  the  highest  spheres  of  knowledge.  The 
object  of  education  is,  then,  to  feed,  expand,  raise,  enlighten  and 
strengthen  the  intelligence. 

We  hear  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  making  use  of  that 
beautiful  word  education  as  often,  if  not  of tener,  than  the  Protest- 
ant. But  that  word  "  education  "  has  a  very  different  meaning 
among  the  followers  of  the  pope  than  among  the  disciples  of  the 
Gospel.  And  that  difference,  which  the  Protestants  ignore,  is 
the  cause  of  the  strange  blunders  they  make  every  time  they  try 
to  legislate  on  that  question,  here,  as  well  as  in  England  or  in 
Canada.  , 

The  meaning  of  the  word  education  among  Protestants  is  as 
far  from  the  meaning  of  that  same  word  among  Roman  Catholics 
as  the  southern  pole  is  from  the  nortl>ern  pole.  When  a  Protest- 
ant speaks  of  education,  that  word  is  used  and  understood  in 
its  true  sense.  When  he  sends  his  little  boy  to  a  Protestant 
school,  he  honestly  desires  that  he  should  he  reared  up  in  the 
spheres  of  knowledge  as  much  as  his  intelligence  will  allow. 
When  that  little  boy  is  going  to  school,  he  soon  feels  that  he 
has  been  raised  up  to  some  extent,  and  he  experiences  a  sincere 
joy,  a  noble  pride,  for  this  new,  though  at  first  very  modest 
raising;  but  he  naturally  understands  that  this  new  and  mod- 
est upheaval    is  onlv  a  stone  to  step   on  and   raise   himself   to  a 

94 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  OC 

higher  degree  of  knowledge,  and  he  quickly  makes  that  second 
step  with  an  unspeakable  pleasure.  When  the  son  of  a  Protest- 
ant has  acquired  a  little  knowledge,  he  wants  to  acquire  more. 
When  he  has  learned  what  this  means,  he  wants  to  know  what 
that  means  also.  Like  the  young  eagle,  he  trims  his  wings  for 
a  higher  flight,  and  turns  his  head  upward  to  go  farther  up  in 
the  atmosphere  of  knowledge.  A  noble  and  mysterious  ambi- 
tion has  suddenly  seized  his  young  soul.  Then  he  begins  to  feel 
something  of  that  unquenchable  thirst  for  knowledge  which  God 
Himself  has  put  in  the  breast  of  every  child  of  Adam;  a  thirst 
of  knowledge,  however,  which  will  never  be  perfectly  realized 
except  in  heaven. 

When  God  created  man  in  His  own  image,  He  endowed  him 
with  an  intelligence  and  moral  faculties  worthy  of  tbe  hiorh,  I 
was  going  to  say  the  divine,  dignity  of  His  own  beloved  chil- 
dren. He  Himself  put  in  us  aspirations  and  instincts  by  which 
we  were  to  be  constantly  longing  after  the  oceans  of  light,  truth 
and  knowledge,  whose  waves  wash  His  eternal  throne.  It  is 
that  thirst  after  more  knowledge,  that  constant  longing  after 
more  light,  which  constitutes  the  difference  between  man  and 
brute.  Man  has  received  from  God  an  intelligence  which 
though  clouded  now  by  sin,  is  to  him  what  the  helm  is  to  the 
noble  ship  which  crosses  the  boundless  ocean;  he  has  a  con- 
science, an  immortal  soul  which  binds  him  to  God,  and  he  feels 
it.  His  destinies  arc  glorious,  they  are  incommensurable,  they 
are  infinite,  and  he  knows  it.  Though  a  dethroned  king,  he 
feels  that  he  is  still  a  king.  The  six  thousand  years  which  have 
passed  over  him  since  his  fall  have  not  yet  effaced  the  kingly 
title  which  God  Himself  wrote  on  his  forehead  when  He  told 
him,  "Multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it"  (Gen. 
i:  28).  With  that  glorious,  that  divine  mission  of  subduing  the 
air  and  the  light,  the  wind  and  the  waves,  the  seas  and  the  earth 
the  roaring  thunder  and  the  flashing  lightning  constantly  before 
his  eyes,  man  marches  to  the  conquest  of  the  world  with  the 
calm  certitude  of  his  power  and  the  glorious  a<;pirations  of  his 
royal  dignity. 

The  object  of  education,  then,  is  to  enable  man  to  fulfill  that 


96  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

kingly  mission  of  ruling,  subduing  the  world,  under  the  eyes  of 
his  Creator.  Let  us  remember  that  it  is  not  from  himself,  nor 
from  any  angel,  but  ft  is  from  God  himself  that  man  has 
received  that  sublime  mission.  Yes,  it  is  God  himself  who  has 
implanted  in  the  bosom  of  humanity  the  knowledge  and  aspira- 
tions of  those  splendid  destinies  which  can  be  attained  only  by 
«  Education." 

What  a  glorious  impulse  is  this  that  seizes  hold  of  the  newly 
awakened  mind,  and  leads  the  young  intelligence  to  rise  higher 
and  pierce  the  clouds  that  hide  from  his  gaze  the  splendors  of 
knowledge  that  lie  concealed  beyond  the  gloom  of  this  nether 
sphere!  That  impulse  is  a  noble  ambition;  it  is  that  part  of 
humanity  that  assimilates  itself  to  the  likeness  of  the  great 
Creator;  that  impulse  which  education  has  for  its  mission  to 
direct  in  its  onward  and  upward  march,  is  one  of  the  most 
precious  gifts  of  God  to  man.  Once  more,  the  glorious  mission 
of  education  is  to  foster  these  thirstings  after  knowledge  and 
lead  man  to  accomplish  his  high  destiny. 

It  ought  to  be  a  duty  with  both  Roman  Catholics  and 
Protestants  to  assist  the  pupil  in  his  flight  toward  the  regions  of 
science  and  learning.  But  is  it  so?  No.  When  you  Pro- 
testants send  your  children  to  school,  you  put  no  fetters  to  their 
intelligence;  chey  rise  with  fluttering  wings  day  after  day. 
Though  their  flight  at  first  is  slow  and  timid,  how  happy  they 
feel  at  every  new  aspect  of  their  intellectual  horizon!  How 
their  hearts  beat  with  an  unspeakable  joy  when  they  begin  to 
hear  voices  of  applause  and  encouragement  from  every  side 
saying  to  them,  "Higher,  higher,  higher!"  When  they  shake 
their  young  wings  to  take  a  still  higher  flight,  who  can  express 
their  joy  wrhen  they  distinctly  hear  again  the  voices  of  a  beloved 
mother,  of  a  dear  father,  of  a  venei-able  pastor,  cheering  them 
and  saying,  "Well  done!     Higher  yet,  my  child,  higher!" 

Raising  themselves  ^vith  more  confidence  on  their  wings, 
they  then  soar  still  higher,  in  the  midst  of  the  unanimous  concert 
of  the  voices  of  their  whole  country  encouraging  them  to  the 
highest  flight.  It  is  then  that  the  y\5^ing  man  feel  his  intellec- 
tual strength  tenfold  multiplied.     He  lifts  himself  on  his  eagle 


ROME    AND    KDUCATIOX,    ETC. 


97 


"wrings,  with  a  renewed  confidence  and  power,  and  soars  up  still 
higher,  with  his  heart  beating  with  a  noble  and  holv  joy.  For 
from  the  south  and  north,  from  the  east  and  the  west,  the  echoes 
bring  to  his  ears  the  voices  of  the  admiring  multitudes — "  Rise 
higher,  higher  yet!" 

He  has  now  reached  what  he  thought,  at  first,  to  be  the 
highest  regions  of  thought  and  knowledge;  but  he  hears  again 
the  same  stimulating  cries  from  below,  encouraging  him  to  a 
still  higher  flight  toward  the  loftiest  dominion  of  knowledge  and 
philosophy,  till  he  enters  the  •regions  where  lies  the  source 
of  all  truth,  and  light  and  life.  For  he  has  also  heard  the  voice 
of  his  God,  speaking  through  His  Son  Jesus  Christ,  crying, 
"Come  unto  me!  Fear  not!  Come  unto  me!  I  am  the  light, 
the  way!  Come  to  this  higher  region  where  the  Father,  with 
the  Son  and  the  Spirit,  reign  in  endless  light!" 

Thus  does  the  Protestant  scholar  making  use  of  his  intelli- 
gence as  the  eagle  of  his  wing,  go  on  from  weakness  unto 
strength,  from  the  timid  flutter  to  the  bold,  confident  flight, 
from  one  degree  to  another  still  higher,  from  one  region  of 
knowledge  to  another  still  higher,  till  he  loses  himself  in  that 
ocean  of  light  and  truth  and  life  which  is  Gixi. 

In  the  Protestant  schools  no  fetters  are  put  on  the  young 
eagle's  wings;  there  is  nothing  to  stop  him  in  his  progress,  oi 
paralyze  his  movements  and  upward  flights.  It  is  the  contrary: 
he  receives  every  kind  of  encouragement  in  his  flight. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  only  truly  great  nations  in  the  world  are 
Protestants!  Thus  it  is  the  truly  po-xerful  nations  in  the  world 
are  Protestants!  Thus  it  is  that  the  only  free  nations  in  the 
world  are  Protestants!  The  Protestant  nations  are  the  only 
ones  that  acquit  themselves  like  men  in  the  arena  of  this  world; 
Protestant  nations  only  march  as  giants  at  the  head  of  the 
civilized  world.  Everywhere  they  are  the  advance  guard  in 
the  ranks  of  progress,  science  and  liberty,  leaving  far  behind  the 
unfortunate  nations  whose  hands  are  tied  by  the  ignominious 
iron  chains  of  Popery. 

After  we  have  seen  ...-ki  Protestant  scholar  raising  himself, 
on    his    eagle    wings,  to    the    highest  spheres    of    intelligence, 


98  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

happiness  and  light,  and  marching  unimpaired  toward  his 
splendid  destinies,  let  us  turn  our  eyes  toward  the  Roman 
Catholic  student,  and  let  us  consider  and  pity  him  in  the  supreme 
degradation  to  which  he  is  subjected. 

That  young  Roman  Catholic  scholar  is  born  with  the  same 
bright  intelligence  as  the  Protestant  one;  he  is  endowed  by  his 
Creator  with  the  same  powers  of  mind  as  his  Protestant  neigh- 
bor; he  has  the  same  impulses,  the  same  noble  aspirations 
implanted  by  the  hand  of  God  in  his  breast.  He  is  sent  to 
school  apparently,  like  the  Puptestant  boy,  to  receive  what  is 
called  "  Education."  He  at  at  first  understands  that  word  in  its 
true  sense;  he  goes  to  school  in  the  hope  of  being  raised^ 
elevated  as  as  high  as  his  intelligence  and  his  personal  efforts  will 
allow.  His  heart  beats  with  joy,  when  at  once  the  first  rays  of 
light  and  knowledge  come  to  him ;  he  feels  a  holy,  a  noble  pride 
at  every  new  step  he  makes  in  his  upward  progress ;  he  longs  to 
learn  more,  he  wants  to  rise  higher;  he  also  takes  up  his  wings, 
like  the  young  eagle,  and  soars  up  higher. 

But  here  begin  the  disappointments  and  tribulations  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  student;  for  he  is  allowed  to  raise  himself — 
yes,  but  when  he  has  raised  himself  high  enough  to  be  on  a 
level  with  the  big  toes  of  the  Pope,  he  hears  piercing,  angry, 
threatening  angry  cries  coming  from  every  side — "Stop!  stop! 
Do  not  raise  yourself  higher  than  the  toes  of  the  Holy  Pope!  . 
.  .  .  Kiss  those  holy  toes,  ....  and  stop  your  upward  flight! 
Remember  that  the  Pope  is  the  only  source  of  science,  knowl- 
edge and  truth!  ....  The  knowledge  of  the  Pope  is  the  ulti- 
mate limit  of  learning  and  light  to  which  humanity  can  attain 
....  You  are  not  allowed  to  know  and  believe  what  his  Holi- 
ness does  not  know  and  believe.  Stop!  stop!  Do  not  go  an 
inch  higher  than  the  intellectual  horizon  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  of  Rome,  in  whom  only  is  the  plenitude  of  the  true 
science  which  will  save  the  world." 

Some  will  perhaps  answer  me  here:  "Has  not  Rome  pro- 
duced great  men  in  every  department  of  science?"  I  answer. 
Yes;  as  I  have  once  done  before.  Rome  can  show  us  a  long 
list  of  names  which   shine  among  the   brightest   lights  of  the 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  9^ 

firmament  of  science  and  philosophy.  She  can  show  us  her 
Copernices,  her  Galileos,  her  Pascals,  her  Bossuets,  her  Lame- 
nais,  etc.,  etc.  But  it  is  at  their  risk  and  peril  that  those  giants 
of  intelligence  have  raised  themselves  into  the  highest  regions  of 
philosophy  and  science.  It  is  in  spite  of  Rome  that  those  eagles 
have  soared  up  above  the  damp  and  obscure  horizon  where  the 
Pope  offers  his  big  toes  to  be  kissed  and  worshipped  as  the  ne 
plus  ultra  of  human  intelligence;  and  they  have  invariably  been 
punished  for  their  boldness. 

On  the  22nd  of  June,  1663,  Galileo  was  obliged  to  fall  on  his 
knees  in  order  to  escape  the  cruel  death  to  which  he  was  to  be 
condemned  by  the  order  of  the  Pope;  and  he  signed  with  his 
own  hand  the  following  retractation:  "I  abjure,  curse  and  de- 
test the  error  and  heresy  of  the  motion  of  the  earth,"  etc.,  etc. 

That  learned  man  had  to  degrade  himself  by  swearing  a 
most  egregious  lie,  namely,  that  the  earth  does  not  move  around 
the  sun.  Thus  it  is  that  the  wings  of  that  giant  eagle  of  Rome 
were  clipped  by  the  scissors  of  the  Pope.  That  mighty  intelli- 
gence was  bruised,  fettered,  and,  as  much  as  it  was  possible  to 
the  Church  of  Rome,  degraded,  silenced  and  killed.  But  God 
would  not  allow  that  such  a  giant  intellect  should  be  entirely 
strangled  by  the  bloody  hands  of  that  implacable  enemy  of  light 
and  truth — the  Pope.  Sufficient  strength  and  life  had  remained 
in  Galileo  to  enable  him  to  say,  when  rising  up,  "  This  will  not 
prevent  the  earth  from  moving!" 

The  infallible  decree  of  the  infallible  Pope,  Urban  VIII., 
against  the  motion  of  the  earth,  is  signed  by  the  Cardinals  Felia, 
Guido,  Desiderio,  Antonio,  Bellingero,  and  Fabricicio.  It  says, 
**In  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  plenitude 
of  which  resides  in  His  vicar,  the  Pope,  that  the  proposition  that 
the  earth  is  not  the  center  of  the  world,  and  that  it  moves  with 
a  diurnal  motion  is  absurd,  philosophically  false,  and  erroneous 
in  faith." 

What  a  glorious  thing  for  the  Pope  of  Rome  to  be  infallible! 
He  infallibly  knows  that  the  earth  does  not  move  around  the 
sun!  And  what  a  blessed  thing  for  the  Roman  Catholics  to  be 
governed  and  taught  by  such  an  infallible  being.      In  conse- 


lOO  FIFTY    YKARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

quence  of  that  infallible  decree,  you  will  admire  the  following 
act  of  humble  submission  of  two  celebrated  Jesuit  astronomers, 
Lesueur  and  Jacquier:  "Newton  assumes  in  his  third  book  the 
hypothesis  of  the  earth  moving  around  the  sun.  The  proposi- 
tion of  that  author  could  not  be  explained,  except  through  the 
same  hypothesis:  we  have,  therefore,  been  forced  to  act  a  char- 
acter not  our  own.  But  ive  declare  our  entire  submission  to  the 
decrees  of  the  Supreme  Pontiffs  of  Rome  against  the  motion  of 
the  earthy      (Newton's  "Principia,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  450.) 

Now,  please  tell  me  if  the  world  has  ever  witnessed  any  deg- 
radation like  that  of  Roman  Catholics?  I  do  not  speak  of  the 
ignorant  and  unlearned,  but  I  speak  of  the  learned — the  intelli- 
gent ones.  There  you  see  Galileo  condemned  to  gaol  because 
he  had  proved  that  the  earth  moved  around  the  sun,  and  to 
avoid  the  cruel  death  on  the  rack  of  the  holy  Inquisition  if  he 
does  not  retract,  he  falls  on  his  knees  and  swears  that  he  w^ill 
never  believe  it — in  the  Aery  moment  that  he  believes  it!  He 
promises,  under  a  solemn  oath,  that  he  will  never  say  it  any  more, 
when  he  is  determined  to  proclaim  it  ?gain  the  very  first  oppor- 
tunity! And  here  you  see  two  other  learned  Jesuits,  who  have 
written  a  very  able  w^ork  to  prove  that  the  earth  moves  around 
the  sun;  but,  trembling  at  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,  which 
are  roaring  on  their  heads  and  threaten  to  kill  them,  they  sub- 
mit to  the  decrees  of  the  Popes  of  Rome  against  the  motion  of 
the  earth.  These  two  learned  Jesuits  tell  a  most  contemptible 
and  ridiculous  lie  to  save  themselves  from  the  implacable  wrath 
of  that  great  light-extinguisher  w^hose  throne  is  in  the  city  of  the 
seven  hills. 

Lamenais,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  who  lived  in  this  very 
century,  was  one  of  the  most  profound  philosophers  and  eloquent 
writers  which  France  has  ever  had.  But  Lamenais  was  publicly 
excommunicated  for  having  raised  himself  high  enough  in  the 
regions  of  Gospel  light  to  see  that  "  libertv  of  conscience"  was 
one  of  the  great  privileges  which  Christ  has  brought  from 
heaven  for  all  the  nations,  and  which  He  has  sealed  with  His 
blood!  No  man  has  ever  raised  himself  higher  in  the  regions 
of  thought  and  philosophy  than   Pascal;  but  the  wings   of  that 


ROME     AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  lOl 

giant  eagle  were  clipped  by  the  Pope.  Pascal  was  an  outcast  in 
the  Church  of  Rome.  He  lived  and  died  an  excommunicated 
man !  Bossuet  is  one  of  the  most  eloquent  orators  \vhich  Rome  has 
given  to  the  world.  But  Veuillot,  the  editor  of  the  Univers 
(the  official  journal  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  of  France) 
assures  us  that  Bossuet  was  a  disguised  Protestant. 

If,  at  any  step  made  by  the  Protestant  through  the  regions 
of  science  and  learning,  he  asks  God  or  man  to  tell  him  how  he 
can  proceed  any  further  without  any  fear  of  falling  into  some 
unknown  and  unsuspected  abyss,  both  God  and  man  tell  him 
what  Christ  said  to  His  apostles — that  he  has  eyes  to  see,  ears 
to  hear,  and  an  intelligence  to  understand;  he  is  reminded  that 
it  is  with  his  own  eyes,  and  not  with  another's  eyes,  he  must 
look;  that  it  is  with  his  own  ears,  and  not  with  another's  ears, 
he  must  hear;  and  that  it  is  with  his  own  intelligence,  and  not 
another's  intelligence,  he  must  understand.  And  when  the 
Protestant  has  made  use  of  his  own  eves  to  see,  and  his  own 
ears  to  hear,  and  his  own  intelligence  to  understand,  he  never- 
theless feels  again  his  feet  uncertain  on  the  trembling  waves  of 
the  mysterious  and  unexplored  regions  of  science  and  learning 
which  spread  before  him  as  a  boundless  ocean,  all  the  echoes  of 
heaven  and  earth  bring  to  his  ciirs  the  simple  but  sublime  words 
of  the  Son  of  God:  "If  a  son  shall  ask  bread  of  any  of  you  that 
is  a  father,  will  he  give  him  a  stone?  Or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will 
he,  for  a  fish,  give  him  a  serpent?  Or  if  he  shall  ask  an  ^%%t 
will  he  offer  him  a  scorpion?  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how 
to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children;  how  much  more  shall 
your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
him?" 

Emboldened  with  this  infallible  promise  of  the  Saviour, 
which  has  ennobled  and  almost  divinized  him,  the  Protestant 
student  ceases  to  tremble  and  fear,  a  new  strength  has  been 
given  to  his  feet,  a  new  power  to  his  mind.  For  he  has  gone  to 
his  Father  for  more  light  and  strength.  Nay,  he  has  boldly 
asked  not  only  the  assistance  and  the  help  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
but  the  very  presence  of  His  Spirit  in  his  soul  to  guide  and 
strengthen   him.      The  assurance  that  the  great  God  who  has 


I02  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

created  heaven  and  earth  is  his  Father,  his  loving  Father,  has 
absolutely  raised  him  above  himself;  it  has  given  a  new^,  I  dare 
say  a  divine  impulse,  to  all  his  aspirations  for  truth  and  knowl- 
edge. It  has  put  into  his  breast  the  assurance  that,  sustained  by 
the  love,  and  the  light,  and  the  help  of  that  great  infinite, 
eternal  God,  he  feels  himself  as  a  giant  able  to  cope  with  any 
obstacle.  He  does  not  any  more  walk,  on  his  way  to  eternity, 
as  a  worm  of  the  dust;  a  voice  from  heaven  has  told  him  that 
he  was  the  child  of  God!  Eternity,  and  not  time,  then  becomes 
the  limits  of  his  existence;  he  is  no  more  satisfied  with  toucliing 
with  his  hands  and  studying  with  his  eyes  the  few  objects  which 
are  within  the  limited  horizon  of  the  eyelid-vision.  He  stretches 
his  giant  hands  to  the  boundless  limits  of  the  infinite,  he  boldly 
raises  his  feet  and  eyes  from  the  dust  of  this  earth,  to  launch 
himself  into  the  boundless  oceans  of  the  unkno\vn  worlds.  He 
feels  as  if  there  was  almost  nothing  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
intelligence,  nothing  to  resist  the  power  of  his  arms,  nothing  to 
stop  his  onward  progress  toward  the  infinite  so  long  as  the 
infallible  words  of  Christ  shall  be  his  compass,  his  light,  and  his 
strength.  He  will  then  touch  the  mountains,  and  they  will  melt 
and  bow  down  before  him  to  let  his  iron  and  fiery  chariot  pass 
over  the  Rocky  Mountains,  8,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  He  will  boldly  ascend  to  the  regions  where  the  lightning 
and  the  storms  reign,  and  there  he  will  place  his  daring  hands 
into  the  roaring  clouds,  and  ^vrench  the  sparkle  of  lightning 
which  will  carry  his  message  from  cne  end  of  the  world  to  the 
other.  He  will  force  the  oceans  to  tremble  and  submit,  as 
humble  slaves,  before  those  marvelous  steam-engines  which,  like 
giants,  carry  "floating  cities"  over  all  the  seas  in  spite  of  the 
winds  and  the  waves. 

Had  the  Newtons,  the  Franklins,  the  Fultons,  the  Morses 
been  Romanists,  their  names  would  have  been  lost  in  the 
obscurity  which  is  the  natural  heritage  of  the  abject  slaves 
of  the  Popes.  Being  told  from  their  infancy  that  no  one 
had  any  right  to  make  use  of  his  "private  judgment,"  intelli- 
gence and  conscience  in  the  research  of  truth,  they  would 
have  remained  mute  and  motionless  at  the  feet  of  the  modem 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  IO3 

and  terrible  god  of  Rome,  the  Pope.  But  they  were  Protestants  ! 
In  that  great  and  glorious  word  "  Protestant,"  is  the  secret  of  the 
marvelous  discoveries  with  which  they  have  changed  the  face  of 
the  world.  They  were  Protestants  !  Yes,  they  hud  passed 
their  young  years  in  Protestant  schools,  where  they  had  read  a 
book  which  told  them  that  they  were  created  in  the  image  of 
God,  and  that  that  great  God  had  sent  His  eternal  Son,  Jesus,  to 
make  them  free  from  the  bondage  of  man.  They  had  read  in 
that  Protestant  book  (for  the  Bible  is  the  most  Prostestant  book 
in  the  world)  that  man  had  not  only  a  conscience,  but  an  intelli- 
gence to  guide  him;  they  had  learned  that  that  intelligence  and 
conscience  had  no  other  master  but  God,  no  other  guide  but 
God,  no  other  light  but  God.  On  the  walls  of  their  Protestant 
schools  the  Son  of  God  had  written  the  marvelous  words: 
"Come  unto  me;   I  am  the  Light,  the  Way,  the  Life." 

But  when  the  Protestant  nations  are  marching  with  such  giant 
strides  to  the  conquest  of  the  world,  why  is  it  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  nations  not  only  remain  stationary,  but  give  evidence  of 
a  decadence  which  is,  day  after  day,  more  and  more  appalling 
and  remediless  ?  Go  to  their  schools  and  give  a  moment  of 
attention  to  the  principles  which  are  sown  in  the  young  intelli- 
gences of  their  unfortunate  slaves,  and  you  will  have  the  key  to 
that  sad  mystery. 

What  is  not  only  the  first,  but  the  daily  school  lesson  taught 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  ?  Is  it  not  that  one  of  the  greatest 
crimes  which  a  man  can  commit  is  to  follow  his  "  private  judg- 
ment ? "  which  means  that  he  has  eyes,  but  cannot  see ;  ears,  but 
he  cannot  hear;  and  intelligence,  but  he  cannot  make  use  of  it  in 
the  research  of  truth  and  light  and  knowledge,  without  danger 
of  being  eternally  damned.  His  superiors  —  which  mean  the 
priest  and  the  Pope — must  see  for  him,  hear  for  him,  and  think 
for  him.  Yes,  the  Roman  Catholic  is  constantly  told  in  his 
school  that  the  most  unpardonable  and  damnable  crime  is  to 
make  use  of  his  own  intelligence  and  follow  his  own  private 
judgment  in  the  research  of  truth.  He  is  constantly  reminded 
that  man's  ow^n  private  judgment  is  his  greatest  enemy.  Hence 
all  his  intellectual   and   conscientious  efforts  must  be  brousrht  to 


I04  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

fight  down,  silence,  kill  his  "private  judgment."  It  is  by  the 
judgment  of  his  superiors — the  priest,  the  bishop  and  the  pope — 
that  he  must  be  guided  in  everything. 

Now,  w^hat  is  a  man  who  cannot  make  use  of  his  "private 
personal  judgment  ? "  Is  he  not  a  slave,  an  idiot,  an  ass  ?  And 
what  is  a  nation  composed  of  men  who  do  not  make  use  of  their 
private  personal  judgment  in  the  research  of  truth  and  happi- 
ness, if  not  a  nation  of  brutes,  slaves  and  contemptible  idiots  ? 

But  as  this  will  look  like  an  exaggeration  on  my  part,  allow 
me  to  force  the  Church  of  Rome  to  come  here  and  speak  for 
herself.  Please  pay  attention  to  what  she  has  to  say  about  the 
intellectual  faculties  of  men.  Here  are  the  very  words  oi  the 
so-called  Saint  Ignatius  Loyola,  the  founder  of  the  Jesuit 
Society : 

"  As  for  holy  obedience,  this  virtue  must  be  perfect  in  every 
point — in  execution,  in  will,  in  intellect,  doing  which  is  enjoined 
with  all  celerity,  spiritual  joy  and  perseverance ;  persuading  our- 
selves that  everything  is  just,  suppressing  every  repugnant 
thought  and  judgment  of  one's  own  in  a  certain  obedience;  and 
let  every  one  persuade  himself,  that  he  who  lives  under  obedience 
should  be  moved  and  directed,  under  Divine  Providence,  by  his 
su{)erior,  just  as  if  he  were  a  corpse  {^perinde  acsi  cadaver 
esset)  which  allows  itself  to  be  moved  and  led  in  every  direc- 
tion. " 

Yes  !  Protestants,  when  you  send  your  child  to  school,  it  is 
that  he  may  more  and  more  understand  the  dignity  of  man. 
Your  object  is  to  enlighten,  expand  and  raise  his  intelligence. 
You  want  to  give  more  light,  more  strength,  more  food,  more 
life  to  that  intelligence.  But  know  it  well,  not  from  my  pen, 
but  from  the  solemn  declaration  of  Rome.  The  young  Roman 
Catholic  goes  to  school,  not  only  that  his  intelligence  may  be 
fettered,  clouded  and  paralyzed,  but  that  it  may  be  killed.  (You 
have  read  it.)  It  is  only  when  he  will  be  like  a  corpse  before 
his  superior  that  the  young  Roman  Catholic  will  have  attained 
to  the  highest  degree  of  perfect  manhood  !  Is  not  such  a 
doctrine  absolutely  anti-Christian  and  anti-social.  Is  it  not 
diabolical  ?     Would  not  mankind  become  a  flock  of  brute  beasts 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  lOJ 

a  the  Church  of  Rome  could  succeed  in  persuading  her  hundred 
of  nnillions  of  slaves  to  consider  themselves  as  cadavers — 
corpses  in  the  presence  of  their  superiors. 

Some  one  will,  perhaps,  ask  me  what  can  be  the  object  of 
the  popes  and  the  priests  of  Rome  in  degrading  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  such  a  strange  way  that  they  turn  them  into  moral 
corpses  ?  What  can  be  the  use  of  those  hundred  of  millions  of 
corpses  ?  Why  not  let  them  live  ?  The  answer  is  a  very  easy 
one.  The  great,  and  the  only  object  of  the  thoughts  and  workings 
of  the  Pope  and  the  priests  is  to  raise  themselves  above  the  rest 
of  the  world.  They  want  to  be  high  !  high  !  high  !  above  the 
head  not  only  of  the  common  people,  but  of  the  kings  and 
emperors  of  the  world.  They  want  to  be  not  only  as  high,  but 
higher  than  God.  It  is  when  speaking  of  the  Pope  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  says:  "  He  opposeth  and  cxalteth  himself  above  all  that 
is  called  God,  or  that  is  worshipped ;  so  that  he,  as  God,  sitteth  ir; 
the  temple  of  God,  shewing  himself  that  he  is  God"  (2  Thess. 
ii.  4).  To  attain  their  object,  the  priests  have  persuaded  their 
millions  and  millions  of  slaves  that  they  were  mere  corpses; 
that  they  must  have  no  will,  no  conscience,  no  intelligence  of 
their  own,  just  "  as  corpses,  which  allow  themselves  to  be  move<? 
and  led  in  any  way,  without  any  resi'^tance. "  When  this  has 
been  once  gained,  they  have  made  a  pyramid  of  all  those  motion- 
less, inert  corpses,  which  is  so  high,  that  though  its  feet  are  on 
the  earth,  its  top  goes  to  the  skies,  in  the  very  abode  of  the  old 
divinities  of  the  Pagan  world,  and  putting  themselves  and  then 
p>opes  at  the  top  of  that  marvelous  pyram'd,  the  priests  say  to 
the  rest  of  the  world :  "  Who  among  you  are  as  high  as  we  are  ? 
Who  has  ever  been  raised  by  God  as  a  priest  and  a  p>ope  ? 
Where  are  the  kings  and  the  emperors  whose  thrones  are  as 
elevated  as  ours  ?  Are  we  not  at  the  very  top  of  humanity  ? " 
Yes  !  ves  !  I  answer  to  the  priests  of  Rome,  you  are  high,  very 
high  indeed  !  No  throne  on  earth  has  ever  been  so  sublime,  so 
exalted  as  yours.  Since  the  days  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  the 
world  has  not  seen  such  a  hugh  fabric.  Your  throne  is  higher 
than  anything  we  know.     But  it  is  a  throne  of  corpses  !  !  1 

And  if  vou  want  to  know  what  other  use  is  made  of  those 


Io6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

millions  and  millions  of  corpses,  I  will  tell  it  to  you.  There  is 
no  manure  so  rich  as  dead  carcasses.  Those  millions  of  corpses 
serv^e  to  manure  the  gai'dens  of  the  priests,  the  bishops  and  the 
popes,  and  make  their  cabbages  grow.  And  what  fine  cabbages 
grow  in  the  Pope's  garden  ! 

Is  it  not  a  lucky  thing  for  the  world  in  general,  and  for  the 
Roman  Catholics  in  particular,  that  though  they  are  taught  to 
become  like  corpses,  to  have  no  will,  no  understanding,  no 
judgment  of  their  own  in  the  presence  of  their  superiors,  there 
are  many  who  can  never  attain  to  that  perfection  of  intellectual 
degradation  and  death  !  Yes,  in  spite  of  the  efforts,  in  spite  of 
the  teachings  of  their  Church,  a  few  Roman  Catholics  retain 
some  life,  some  will,  some  intelligence,  some  judgment  of  their 
own  which  prevents  them  from  becoming  complete  brutes. 
Many  now  and  then  refuse  to  descend  to  the  damp,  dark  and 
putrid  abode  of  the  corpses.  They  want  to  breathe  the  fresh 
and  pure  air  of  liberty  which  God  has  given  to  man.  They 
raise  their  humiliated  forehead  from  the  ignominious  tomb  which 
their  church  has  dug  for  them,  and  they  give  some  signs  of  life. 
But  at  every  such  signs  of  life  given  by  an  individual  or  by  a 
people  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  be  sure  that  you  will  see  the 
flashing  light  and  hear  the  roaring  thunder  of  the  Vatican 
directed  against  the  rebel  who  dares  to  refuse  to  become  a  corpse 
before  his  superiors.  It  is  for  having  shown  such  signs  of  life 
and  independence  of  mind  that  Galileo  was  sent  to  gaol  and 
threatened  to  be  cruelly  tortured  on  the  racks  of  the  Inquisition 
in  Italy,  three  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  for  having  shown  those 
symptoms  of  life  that  not  long  ago  the  honest  Kenna,  one  of  the 
most  respected  Roman  Catholics  of  the  day,  was  excommuni- 
cated the  day  before  his  death,  and  had  to  be  buried  as  a  dog  in 
his  own  field,  for  having  refused  to  take  away  his  children  from 
an  excellent  grammar  school  to  obey  the  priest.  It  is  for  having 
dared  to  think  for  himself  that  a  few  days  before  his  death  the 
amiable  and  learned  Montalembert  was  considered  as  an  outcast 
by  the  Pope,  who  refused  him  tlie  honor  of  public  prayers  in 
Rome  after  his  death. 

But  that  you  may  better  understand  the  degrading  tendencies 


ROME     AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  IO7 

of  the  principles  which  arc  as  the  fundamental  stone  of  the 
moral  and  intellectual  education  of  Rome,  let  me  put  before 
your  eyes  another  extract  of  the  Jesuit  teachings,  which  I  take 
again  from  the  "  Spiritual  Exercises,"  as  laid  down  by  their 
founder,  Ignatius  Loyola:  "  That  we  may  in  all  things  attain 
the  truth,  that  we  may  not  err  in  anything,  we  ought  ever  to 
hold  as  a  fixed  principle  that  what  I  see  white  I  believe  to  be 
black,  if  the  superior  authorities  of  the  Church  define  it  to  be  so." 

You  all  know  that  it  is  the  avowed  desire  of  Rome  to  have 
public  education  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits.  She  says  every- 
where that  they  are  the  best,  the  model  teachers.  Why  so  ? 
Beeause  they  more  boldly  and  more  successfully  than  any  other 
of  her  teachers  aim  at  the  destruction  of  the  intelligence  and 
conscience  of  their  pupils.  Rome  proclaims  everywhere  that 
the  Jesuits  are  the  most  devoted,  the  most  reliable  of  her  teachers; 
and  she  is  right,  for  when  a  man  has  been  trained  a  sufficient 
time  by  them,  he  most  perfectly  becomes  a  moral  corpse.  His 
superiors  can  do  what  they  please  with  him.  When  he  knows 
that  a  thing  is  white  as  snow,  he  is  ready  to  swear  that  it  is 
black  as  ink,  if  his  superior  tells  him  so.  But  some  may  be 
tempted  to  think  that  these  degrading  principles  are  exclusively 
taught  by  the  Jesuits;  that  they  are  not  the  teachings  of  the 
Church,  and  that  I  do  an  injustice  to  the  Roman  Catholics  when 
I  give,  as  a  general  iniquity,  what  is  the  guilt  of  the  Jesuits 
only.  Listen  to  the  words  of  that  infallible  Pope  Gregory 
XV L,  in  his  celebrated  Encyclical  of  the  15th  of  August,  1S32. 
"If  the  holy  Church  so  requires,  let  us  sacrifice  our  own 
opinions,  our  knowledge,  our  intelligence^  the  splendid  dreams 
of  our  imagination,  and  the  most  sublime  attainments  of  the 
human  understanding." 

It  is  when  considering  those  anti-social  principles  of  Rome 
that  our  learned  and  profound  thinker,  Gladstone,  wrote,  not 
long  ago:  "No  more  cunning  plot  was  ever  devised  against  the 
freedoiTi,  the  happiness  and  the  virtues  of  mankind  than  Roman- 
ism. "  ("Letter  to  Earl  Aberdeen.")  Now,  Protestants,  do 
you  •  begin  to  see  the  difference  of  the  object  of  education 
between  a  Protestant  and  a  Roman   Catholic    school  ?     Do  you 


Io8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

begin  to  understand  that  there  is  as  great  a  distance  be  twee* 
the  word  "  Education "  among  you,  and  the  meaning  of  the 
same  word  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  than  between  the  southern 
and  the  northern  poles  !  By  education  you  mean  to  raise  man 
to  the  highest  sphere  of  manhood.  Rome  means  to  lower  him 
below  the  most  stupid  brutes.  By  education  you  mean  to  teach 
man  that  he  is  a»free  agent;  that  liberty,  w^ithin  the  limits  of  the 
laws  of  God  and  of  his  country,  is  a  gift  secured  to  every  one; 
you  w^ant  to  impress  man  with  the  noble  thought  that  it  is 
better  to  die  a  free  man  than  to  live  a  slave.  Rome  wants  to 
teach  that  there  is  only  one  man  who  is  free,  the  Pope,  and  that 
all  the  rest  are  born  to  be  his  abject  slaves  in  thought,  w^ill  and 
action. 

Now,  that  you  may  still  more  understand  to  what  a  bottomless 
abyss  of  human  degradation  and  moral  depravity  these  anti- 
Christian  and  anti-social  principles  of  Rome  lead  her  poor  blind 
slaves,  read  what  Liguori  says  in  his  bpok,  "  The  Nun  Sancti- 
fied": "The  principal  and  most  efficacious  means  of  practicing 
obedience  due  to  superiors,  and  of  rendering  it  meritorious 
before  God,  is  to  consider  that  in  obeying  them  we  obey  God 
himself,  and  that  by  despising  their  commands,  w^e  despise  the 
authority  of  our  Divine  Master.  When,  thus,  a  religious 
receives  a  precept  from  her  prelate,  superior  or  confessor,  she 
should  immediately  execute  it,  not  only  to  please  them  but 
principally  to  please  God,  whose  will  is  made  known  to  her  by 
their  command.  In  obeying  their  command,  in  obeying  their 
directions,  she  is  more  certainly  obeying  the  will  of  God  than  if 
an  angel  came  dow^n  from  heaven  to  manifest  his  w^ill  to  her. 
Bear  this  alw^ays  in  your  mind,  that  the  obedience  which  you 
practice  to  your  superior  is  paid  to  God.  If,  then,  you  receive  a 
command  from  one  who  holds  the  place  of  God,  you  should 
observe  it  with  the  same  diligence  as  if  it  came  from  God  him- 
self. Blessed  Egidus  used  to  say  that  it  is  more  meritorious  to 
obey  man  for  the  love  of  God  than  God  himself.  It  may  be 
added  that  there  is  more  certaint}-  of  doing  the  will  of  God  by 
obedience  to  your  superior  than  by  obedience  to  Jesus  Christ, 
should  He  appear    in    person    and    give    His    commands.     St. 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  IO9 

Philip  de  Neri  used  to  say  that  religous  shall  be  most  certain  of 
not  having  to  render  an  account  of  the  actions  performed 
through  obedience;  for  these  the  superiors  only  who  commanded 
them  shall  be  held  accountable.  "  The  Lord  said  once  to  St. 
Catherine  of  Sienne,  "  Religious  will  not  be  obliged  to  render  an 
account  to  me  of  what  they  do  through  obedience;  for  that  I 
will  demand  an  account  from  the  superior.  This  doctrine  is 
conformable  to  Sacred  Scripture:  Behold,  says  the  Lord,  as 
clay  is  in  the  potter's  hands,  so  are  you  in  my  hand,  O  Israel ! 
(Jeremiah  xviii:  6.)  A  religious  man  must  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  superiors  to  be  molded  as  they  will.  Shall  the  clay  say  to 
him  that  fashioneth  it,  What  art  thou  making  ?  The  potter 
ought  to  answer,  '  Be  silent ;  it  is  not  your  business  to  inquire 
what  I  do,  but  to  obey  and  to  receive  whatever  form  I  please  to 
give  you. ' " 

I  ask  of  you,  American  Protestants,  what  would  become  of 
your  fair  country  if  you  were  blind  enough  to  allow  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  teach  the  children  of  the  United  States  ?  What 
kind  of  men  and  women  can  come  out  of  such  schools  ?  What 
future  of  shame,  degradation  and  slavery  you  prepare  for  your 
country  if  Rome  does  succeed  in  forcing  you  to  support  such 
schools.  What  kind  of  women  would  come  out  from  the 
schools  of  nuns,  who  would  teach  them  that  the  highest  pitch  of 
perfection  in  a  woman  is  when  she  obeys  her  superior,  the 
priest,  in  everything  he  commands  her  !  that  your  daughter  will 
never  be  called  to  give  an  account  to  God  for  the  actions  she 
will  have  done  to  please  and  obey  her  superior,  the  priest,  the 
bishop  or  the  Pope  ?  That  the  affairs  of  her  conscience  will  be 
arranged  between  God  and  that  superior,  and  that  she  will  never 
be  asked  why  she  had  done  this  or  that,  when  it  will  be  to 
gratify  the  pleasures  of  the  superior  and  obey  his  command  that 
she  has  done  it.  Again,  what  kind  of  men  and  citizens  will 
come  out  from  the  schools  of  those  Jesuits  who  believe  and 
teach  that  a  man  has  attained  the  perfection  of  manhood  only 
when  he  is  a  perfectly  spiritual  corpse  before  his  superior ;  when 
he  obeys  the  priest  with  the  perfection  of  a  cadaver^  that  has 
neither  life  nor  will  in  itself. 


no  FIFTV    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

But  some  will  be  tempted  to  think  that  this  perfect  blind 
obedience  to  the  priest,  which  is  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  education,  is  required  only  in  spiritual  matters. 
Yes;  but  you  must  not  forget  that  in  the  Church  of  Rome 
every  action  of  the  public  or  private  life  belongs  to  the  spiritual 
sphere,  which  the  superior  only  must  rule.  For  instance,  a 
Roman  Catholic  has  not  the  right  to  select  the  teacher  of  his 
boy,  nor  the  school  where  he  will  send  him ;  he  must  consult 
his  priest,  and  if  he  dares  to  act  in  a  different  way  from  wha' 
his  priest  has  told  him  in  the  selection  of  that  teacher  or  that 
school,  he  is  excommunicated  and  damned,  as  Mr.  Kenna  haf' 
been  lately.  If  he  votes  according  to  his  own  private  judgmen* 
for  Mr.  Jones,  instead  of  Mr.  Thompson,  the  selected  member 
of  the  bishop  and  the  priest,  he  is  damned  and  considered  as  a 
rebel  against  his  holy  Church,  out  of  which  there  is  no  salvation. 

The  Church  of  Rome's  only  object  in  giving  what  she  calls 
education  is  to  teach  her  slaves  that  they  must  obey  their 
superiors  in  everything,  as  God  himself.  All  the  rest  of  her 
teaching  is  only  a  mask  to  conceal  her  plans.  History  is  never 
taught  in  her  schools;  "what  she  calls  historv  is  a  most  shameful 
string  of  falsehoods.  Oi  course  she  does  not  dare  to  say  a  word 
of  truth  about  her  past  struggles  against  the  great  principles  of 
light  and  libertv,  when  she  covered  the  Avhole  of  Europe  with 
tears,  blood  and  ruins.  Writing,  reading,  arithmetic,  geography 
and  grammar  are  taught  to  a  certain  degree  in  her  schools,  but 
all  these  teachings  are  nothing  else  but  covered  roads  through 
which  the  priest  wants  to  reach  the  citadel  of  the  heart  and 
intelligence  of  his  poor  victim,  and  take  an  absolute  possession 
of  them.  Those  things  are  taught  every  day  only  to  have  a 
daily  opportunity  to  persuade  the  pupil  that  he  must  never 
make  any  use  of  his  private  judgment  in  anything,  and  that  he 
must  submit  his  intelligence,  his  conscience,  his  ^vill  to  the 
intelligence,  conscience  and  will  of  his  superior,  if  he  Avants  to 
save  himself  from  the  eternal  fire  of  hell.  He  is  constantly  told, 
"what  I  have  been  told  a  thousand  times  mvself,  when  studying 
in  the  college  of  Xicolet,  that  those  who  obev  their  superiors 
in  everythiri*g    will  not   be    called   to  give  an   account  of  their 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  Ill 

actions  to  their  Supreme  Judge,  even  if  those  actions  were  bad 
in  themselves;  for,  as  Liguori  told  you  a  moment  ago,  "Who- 
soever obeys  his  superior  for  the  love  of  God,  obeys  God  him- 
self, and  that  there  are  more  merits  to  obey  one's  own  superior 
than  God  himself.  " 

The  Church  of  Rome  shows  her  great  wisdom  in  enforcing 
that  dogma  of  the  entire  and  blind  subjection  of  the  will  and 
intelligence  of  the  inferior  to  the  superior.  For  the  very 
moment  that  a  Roman  Catholic  thinks  that  it  is  his  right  and 
sacred  duty  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience  and 
intelligence,  he  is  lost  to  the  church  of  Rome.  It  is  only  when 
a  man  has  entirely  silenced  and  absolutely  killed  his  intelligence, 
it  is  only  when  he  has  become  a  perfect  moral  corpse,  that  he 
can  believe  that  his  priest,  even  his  drunken  priest,  has  the 
power  to  change  a  wafer,  or  any  other  piece  of  bread,  into  the 
great  God,  for  whom  and  by  whom  everything  has  been  created. 
It  is  only  when  the  intelligence  of  man  has  become  a  dead 
carcass  that  he  can  believe  that  a  miserable  sinner  has  the 
supreme  power  to  force  the  Son  of  God  to  come,  in  His  divine 
and  human  person,  into  his  vest  or  pant's  pockets  to  follow  him 
everywhere  he  wants  to  go,  even  to  the  bar  of  the  low  tavern, 
that  He  may  become  his  comj^anion  of  debauch  and  drunken- 
ness. Do  you  see,  now,  why  the  Church  of  Rome  cannot  let 
her  poor  young  slaves  go  to  your  schools  .''  In  your  schools, 
the  first  thing  you  inculcate  to  the  pupil  is  that  his  intelligence 
is  the  great  gift  of  God,  by  which  man  is  distinguished  from 
the  brute;  that  he  must  enlighten,  form,  feed,  cultivate  his 
intelligence,  which  is  to  him  what  the  helm  is  to  the  ship, 
Christ,  with  His  holy  Word,  being  the  pilot.  You  see,  now 
why  the  Church  of  Rome  abhors  your  schools.  It  is  because 
you  want  to  make  men^  and  she  wants  to  make  brutes.  You 
want  to  raise  men  to  the  highest  sphere  to  which  his  intelligence 
can  allow  him  to  reach;  she  wants  to  keep  him  in  the  dust,  at 
the  feet  of  the  priests ;  you  want  to  form  free  citizens,  she  wants 
to  form  abject  and  obedient  slaves  of  the  priests;  you  teach  man 
to  keep  his  sacred  promises  and  stand  by  his  oath,  she  teaches 
him  that    the    Pope  has  the  right  to  dissolve  the  most  sacred 


112  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

promises  and  to  annul  all  his  oaths,  even  to  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  his  country.  You  tell  your  pupils  that  so  long  as  they  -will 
keep  themselves  within  the  limits  of  the  laws  of  their  country 
they  are  responsible  only  to  God  for  their  consciences.  They 
tell  their  pupils  that  it  is  not  to  God,  but  to  the  priest  that  he 
must  go  to  give  an  account  of  his  conscience.  You  teach  your 
pupils  that  the  laws  of  God  only  bind  the  conscience  of  man; 
they  tell  him  that  it  is  the  laws  of  the  Church,  which  means  the 
ipse  dixit  of  the  Pope,  which  binds  their  consciences.  You 
teach  the  student  that  every  man  has  the  right  to  change  his 
religion  according  to  his  conscience ;  she  positively  says  that  no 
man  has  the  right  to  change  his  religion  according  to  his 
cou'cience.  It  is  evident  that  the  Church  of  Rome  would  be 
dead  to-morrow,  if,  to-day,  she  would  allow  her  children  to 
attend  schools  where  they  would  learn  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
their  conscience  and  listen  to  the  voice  of  their  intelligence. 
But  she  is  too  shrewd  to  avow  before  the  world  the  real  reasons 
why  she  wants,  at  any  cost,  to  prevent  her  children  from 
attending  your  schools.  And  it  is  here  she  shows  her  profound 
and  diabolical  cunning.  Though  she  is  the  most  deadly  enemy 
of  liberty  of  conscience,  though  she  has,  time  after  time,  anathe- 
mized  liberty  of  conscience  as  one  of  Satan's  schemes,  she 
suadenly  steps  on,  as  the  great  friend  and  apostle  of  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  under  that  new  mask  she  approaches  your 
legislators  with  great  airs  of  dignity,  and  says,  "  We  are  happy 
to  live  in  a  country  where  liberty  of  conscience  is  secured  to 
every  citizen.  It  is  in  its  sacred  name  that  w^e  respectfully 
approach  your  honorable  legislature  to  ask:  First,  to  be 
exempted  from  sending  our  children  to  the  Government  schools. 
Second,  to  have  the  money  we  want  from  the  public  treasury  in 
order  to  support  our  own  schools.  For  two  reasons:  First,  you 
read  the  Bible  in  your  schools,  audit  is  against  our  conscience  to 
let  our  children  read  the  Bible.  Second,  you  have  some 
prayers  at  the  beginning  and  some  religious  hymns  sung  at  the 
end  of  the  hours  of  school,  and  it  is  against  our  conscience  to 
allow  the  children  of  the  Church  of  Rome  to  join  you  in  those 
prayers  and  hymns."      The  legislators,  who,  for  the  greater  part 


ROM£    AND    EDUCATION,    KTC.  II3 

arc  too  honorable  men  to  suspect  the  fraud,  are  won  by  the  air 
of  candor  and  honesty  of  the  Roman  CathoHc  petitioners. 
Considering  the  great  benefit  which  will  come  to  the  country  if 
all  the  children  are  taught  in  the  same  school,  they  are  soon 
ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  in  order  to  have  the  Roman  Catholic 
and  the  Protestant  children  under  the  same  roof,  to  receive  the 
same  light  and  the  same  moral  food  and  same  instruction.  As 
true  patriots,  the  legislators  understand  that  if  they  wish  their 
beloved  country  to  be  strong  and  happy,  the  first  thing  they 
must  do  is  to  make  the  young  generation  one  in  mind,  in  heart. 
If  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic  children  are  taught  in 
the  same  school,  they  will  know  each  other  and  love  each  other 
when  young,  and  those  sacred  ties  of  friendship  which  will  bind 
them  in  the  spring  of  life,  will  be  strengthened  when  their 
reason  will  be  matured  and  enlightened  by  a  good  education 
under  the  same  respected  and  worthy  teachers.  As  Christian 
men,  the  legislators  would  perhaps  like  to  keep  the  Bible,  and 
have  short  prayers  in  the  schools;  but  as  patriots,  they  feel  that 
those  things,  though  good  and  sacred,  are  an  insurmountable 
barrier  to  the  Roman  Catholic.  The  delicate  conscience  of  the 
bishops  and  priests  cannot  allow  such  |:hings  in  the  school 
attended  by  their  lambs  !  Through  respect  for  the  sacred  rights 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  conscience,  the  legislators  in  many 
places  throw  the  Bible  overboard,  and  they  say  to  God:  "Please 
get  out  from  our  schools,  and  do  excuse  us  if  we  order  our 
teachers  to  ignore  your  existence!"  They  say  to  Jesus  Christ: 
"  We  have  not  forgotten  your  sublime  and  touching  words, 
*  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me.'  No  doubt  you  would 
like  to  press  our  dear  little  ones  on  your  loving  heart  and  bless 
them  for  a  moment  in  the  schools;  but  we  cannot  allow  them  to 
go  so  near  you  in  the  school,  we  cannot  even  allow  them  to 
speak  to  you  a  single  word  there.  Please  be  not  offended  if  we 
turn  you  out  from  those  very  schools  where  you  were  so  wel- 
come formerly.  We  are  forced  to  that  sad  extremity  through 
the  respect  we  owe  to  the  tender  consciences  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  You  know  that  they  cannot 
allow  their  children  to  speak  to   you   together  with  ours."     But 


114  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

when  those  awful,  not  to  say  sacrilegious,  sacrifices  have  been 
made  by  the  Protestant  legislators  to  appease  the  implacable 
god  of  Rome — when,  through  respect  for  the  scrviples  of  the 
bishops  and  priests  of  Rome,  the  great  God  of  Heaven,  with 
His  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  have  been  unceremoniously  turned  out 
from  the  schools — when  the  Word  of  God  has  been  prohibited, 
and  the  Bible  is  thrown  overboard,  is  the  Moloch  god  appeased  ? 
Will  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  and  priests  tell  their  children 
that  they  may  unite  with  yours  to  go  and  receive  education  from 
the  same  teacher  ?  No  !  But  assuming,  then,  a  sublime 
air  of  indignation,  they  turn  against  you  as  mad  dogs;  they 
call  your  schools  godless  schools !  good  only  to  form  thieves, 
infidels  and  atheists  ! 

Do  you  see  now^  that  all  those  dignified  scruples  of  conscience 
about  reading  the  Bible,  praying  with  you,  etc.,  were  only  a 
mask  to  deceive  you,  and  make  you  fall  into  a  snare  ?  Do  you 
not  perceive  now^  that  they  did  not  care  a  straw  for  the  Bible 
and  the  prayers  in  the  schools  ?  but  they  wanted  your  legislators 
to  compromise  themselves  before  the  Christian  world,  lose  fheir 
moral  strength  in  the  eyes  of  a  great  part  of  the  nation,  divide 
your  ranks,  your  means,  3^our  strength,  and  beat  you  on  that 
great  question  of  education.  They  will  take  such  airs  of  martyrs 
when  you  will  try  to  force  their  children  to  your  schools  that 
many  honest  and  unsuspecting  Protestants  will  be  completely 
deceived  by  them.  At  first,  they  could  not,  they  said,  trust  the 
children  to  your  hands,  because  you  read  the  Word  of  God ;  you 
prayed  and  blessed  God  in  the  school.  But  now  that  the  Bible 
and  God  are  turned  out  from  the  schools,  they  baptize  them  by 
the  most  ignominious  names  which  can  be  given — they  call  them 
"  godless  schools  !  "  Have  you  ever  seen  a  more  profoundly 
ignominious  and  sacrilegious  trick  ?  Will  not  your  legislators 
open  their  eyes  to  that  strange  act  of  deception,  of  \vhich  they 
are  the  victims  ?  Will  they  not  come  out  quickly  from  the 
traps  laid  before  them  by  the  bishops  and  the  priests  of  Rome  ? 
Yes  !  let  us  hope  that  your  patriots  and  Christian  legislators 
will  soon  understand  that  they  owe  a  reparation  to  God  and  to 
their  country;  with  unanimous  voice  they  will   ask   pardon  from 


ROME    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  11^ 

God  for  having  expelled  him  from  the  very  place  where  He  has 
most  right  to  reign  supremely — the  school. 

For  what  is  a  school  without  God  in  its  midst  to  sit  as  a 
father,  and  to  form  the  young  hearts  and  evoke  the  young 
intellect  ?  What  is  a  boy,  what  is  a  girl,  what  is  a  woman  or  a 
man  without  God  ?  what  is  a  family,  what  is  a  people  without 
God  ?  It  is  a  monstrosity,  it  is  a  body  without  life,  it  is  a  world 
without  light,  it  is  a  cistern  without  water.  Let  us  hope  that, 
before  long,  your  patriotic  and  Christian  legislators  will  remem- 
ber that  the  Bible  is  the  foundation  of  the  greatness  of 
Protestant  nations.  It  is  to  the  Bible  the  United  States,  as 
well  as  Great  Britain,  owe  their  liberty,  power,  prestige  and 
strength.  It  is  the  Bible  that  has  ennobled  the  hearts  of  your 
heroes,  imjDroved  the  minds  of  your  poets  and  orators,  and 
strengthened  the  arms  of  your  warriors.  Yes  !  it  is  because 
your  soldiers  have  brought  with  them  everywhere,  the  Bible 
pressed  on  their  hearts,  that  they  have  conquered  the  enemies  of 
liberty.  So  long  as  the  United  States  will  be  true  to  the  Bible, 
their  glorious  banners  will  fly  respected  and  feared  all  over  the 
seas,  and  over  all  the  continents  of  the  world.  Let  the  disciples 
of  the  Gospel,  the  children  of  God,  and  the  redeemed  of  Christ 
all  over  the  fair  and  noble  country  you  inhabit,  hasten  to  request 
their  legislators  to  invite  the  Saviour  of  the  world  to  come  back 
and  bless  their  dear  children  in  the  school.  For  it  is  not  only  in 
your  homes  and  in  your  churches  that  Jesus  tells  you  "  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me. "  It  is  particularly  in  the  school. 
Oh  !  give  two  or  three  minutes  to  those  dear  little  ones,  that 
they  may  press  themselves  on  His  bosom,  bless  him  for  having 
saved  them  on  the  cross,  and  proclaim  his  mercies  by  singing 
one  of  those  hymns  which  thev  like  so  much.  By  this  noble 
act  of  national  reparation  you  will  take  away  from  the  hands  of 
the  priests  the  only  weapon  with  which  they  can  hurt  you;  you 
will  destroy  the  only  argument  they  use  with  a  true  force 
against  your  schools  w^hen  they  call  them  godless  schools.  Do 
not  fear  any  more  the  priests  and  the  prelates  of  Rome.  Do 
not  yield  any  more  and  give  up  your  privilege  to  please  them 
and  reconcile  them  to   your  schools.     You  will  never  be  able  to 


Il6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

reconcile  them  to  your  schools ;  for  there  is  light  in  your  schools, 
and  they  want  the  darkness.  There  is  freedom  and  liberty  in 
your  schools;  they  want  slavery  !  There  is  life  in  your  schools, 
and  it  is  only  on  dead  corpses  that  their  church  can  have  a  chance 
to  live  a  few  years  more.  You  see,  by  a  sad  experience,  that 
their  scruples  of  conscience  against  the  Bible  and  the  prayer  of 
the  school  are  mere  hypocrisy  just  thrown  into  the  eyes  of  the 
public.  Do  not  say  with  some  honest  but  deluded  Protestants: 
Is  it  not  enough  that  that  child  should  learn  his  religion  at 
home  ?  No,  it  is  not  enough;  for  it  is  in  our  nature  that  we 
want  two  witnesses  to  believe  a  thing.  What  comes  to  our 
mind  only  through  one  witness  remains  uncertain;  but  let  two 
good  witnesses  confirm  a  fact,  and  then  we  accept  it.  Your 
child  wants  two  witnesses  to  believe  the  necessity  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  religion.  His  Christian  home  is  surely  a  good  witness 
to  your  child,  but  it  is  not  enough;  what  he  has  heard  from  you 
must  be  confirmed  by  his  school  teacher.  Without  this  second 
^vitness,  nine  times  out  of  ten  your  children  will  be  skeptics  and 
infidels.  Besides  that,  the  very  idea  of  God  brings  with  it  the 
obligation  to  bless,  love  and  adore  Him  everywhere.  The 
moment  you  take  your  child  to  a  place  where  not  only  he  cannot 
love,  bless  and  adore  God,  but  where  the  adoration  and  the 
praise  of  God  are  forbidden,  you  entirely  destroy  the  idea  of 
God  from  the  mind  and  from  the  heart  of  your  child.  You  make 
him  believe  that  what  you  have  told  him,  when  at  home,  of  God 
is  only  a  fable  to  amuse  and  deceive  him. 

Do  you  see  that  noble  ship  in  the  midst  of  that  splendid 
harbor,  how  she  is  tossed  by  the  foaming  waves,  how  she  is 
bfaten  by  the  furious  winds  ?  What  does  prevent  that  ship 
from  flying  before  the  storm  and  running  ashore,  a  miserable 
wreck  ?  What  does  prevent  her  from  being  dashed  on  that 
/ock  ?  The  anchor  !  Yes,  the  anchor  is  her  safety.  But  let  a 
single  link  of  the  chain  that  binds  the  ship  to  her  anchor  break, 
will  she  not  soon  be  dashed  on  the  rock  and  broken  to  pieces, 
and  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  ?  It  is  so  with  your  child  ! 
So  long  as  his  intelligence  and  his  heart  are  united  to  God  by  the 
anchor   of   faith,  he  will  nobly   stand  against  the  furious  waves, 


ftOMfi    AND    EDUCATION,    ETC.  1.^ 

he  will  nobly  fight  his  battles;  but  let  the  school  teacher  be 
silent  about  God,  and  here  is  a  broken  link,  and  the  child  will 
be  a  wreck.  Do  not  fear  the  priest,  but  fear  God!  Do  not  try 
any  more  to  please  the  priests,  but  do  all  in  your  power  to  please 
your  great  and  merciful  God,  not  only  in  your  homes,  but  also 
in  your  schools,  and  those  schools  will  become  more  than  ever  a 
focus  of  light,  an  inexhaustible  source  of  intellectual  and  moral 
strength — more  than  ever  your  children  will  learn  in  the  school 
to  be  your  honor  and  your  glory  and  your  joy.  They  will  learn 
that  they  are  not  ignoble  worms  of  the  dust,  whose  existence 
will  end  in  the  tomb,  but  that  they  are  immortal  as  God,  whose 
beloved  children  they  are.  They  will  learn  how  to  serve  their 
God  and  love  their  country.  Be  not  ashamed,  but  be  proud  to 
send  your  children  to  schools  where  they  will  learn  how  to  be 
good  Christians  and  good  citizens.  When  you  will  have  finished 
your  pilgrimage  they  will  be  your  worthy  successors,  and  the 
God  whom  they  will  have  learned  to  fear,  serve  and  love  in  the 
school  will  help  them  to  make  your  country  great,  happy  and 
free. 


k 


Chapter  XIII. 

TBDEOIiOGY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME:  ITS  ANTI-SOOIAI.  AND 
ANTI-CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER. 

TALLEYRAND,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  Roman  Catholic 
bishops  of  France,  once  said,  "  Language  is  the  art  of 
concealing  one's  thoughts."  Never  was  there  a  truer  expres- 
sion, if  it  had  reference  to  the  awful  deceptions  practiced  by  the 
Church  of  Rome  under  the  pompous  name  of  "Theological 
studies." 

Theology  is  the  study  of  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  God. 
Nothing,  then,  is  more  noble  than  the  study  of  theology.  How 
solemn  were  my  thoughts  and  elevated  my  aspirations  when,  in 
1829,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Raimbault  and 
Leprohon,  I  commenced  my  theological  course  of  study  at 
Nicolet,  which  I  was  to  end  in  1833! 

I  supposed  that  my  books  of  theology  were  to  bring  me 
nearer  to  my  God  by  the  more  perfect  knowledge-  I  would  ac- 
quire, in  their  study,  of  His  holy  will  and  His  sacred  laws.  My 
hope  was  that  they  would  be  to  my  heart  what  the  burning  coal, 
brought  by  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  was  to  the  lips  of  the  prophet 
of  old. 

The  principal  theologians  which  we  had  in  our  hands  were 
"Les  Conferences  d'Anger,"  Bailly,  Dens,  St.  Thomas,  but 
above  all  Liguori,  who  has  since  been  canonized.  Never  did  I 
open  one  without  offering  up  a  fervent  prayer  to  God  and  to 
the  Virgin  Mary  for  the  light  and  grace  of  which  I  would  be 
in  need  for  myself  and  for  the  people  whose  pastor  I  w^as  to 
become. 

But  how  shall  I  relate  my  surprise  when  I  discovered,  that 
in  order  to  accept  the  principles  of  the  theologians  which  my 


THEOLOGY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  ETC.       I  I9 

Church  gave  me  for  guides,  I  had  to  put  away  all  principles  of 
truth,  of  justice,  of  honor  and  holiness!  What  long  and  painful 
efforts  it  cost  me  to  extinguish,  one  by  one,  the  lights  of  truth 
and  of  reason  kindled  by  the  hand  of  my  merciful  God  in  my 
intelligence.  For  to  study  theology  in  the  Church  of  Rome 
signifies  to  learn  to  speak  falsely,  to  deceive,  to  commit  robbery, 
to  perjure  one's  self!  It  means  how  to  commit  sins  without 
shame,  it  means  to  plunge  the  soul  into  every  kind  of  iniquity 
and  turpitude  without  remorse ! 

I  know  that  Roman  Catholics  will  bravely  and  squarely 
deny  what  I  now  say.  I  am  aware  also  that  a  great  many 
Protestants,  too  easily  deceived  by  the  fine  whitewashing  of  the 
exterior  walls  of  Rome,  will  refuse  to  believe  me.  Nevertheless 
they  may  rest  assured  it  is  true,  and  my  proof  will  be  irrefutable. 
The  truth  may  be  denied  by  many,  but  my  witnesses  cannot  be 
contradicted  by  any  one.  My  witnesses  are  even  infallible. 
They  are  none  other  than  the  Roman  Catholic  theologians 
themselves,  approved  by  infallible  Popes!  These  very  men 
who  corrupted  my  heart,  perverted  my  intelligence  and  poisoned 
my  soul,  as  they  have  done  with  each  and  every  priest  of  their 
Church,  will  be  my  witnesses,  my  only  witnesses.  I  will  just 
now  forcibly  bring  them  before  the  world  to.  testify  againsf 
themselves! 

Liguori,  in  his  treatise  on  oaths,  Question  4,  asks  if  it  is 
allowable  to  use  ambiguity,  or  equivocal  words,  to  deceive  the 
judge  when  under  oath,  and  at  No.  151  he  answers:  "It  is 
certain,  and  the  opinion  of  all  theologians,  that  for  good  reasons 
one  may  be  permitted  to  use  equivocations  and  to  maintain  them 
by  oath;  and  by  'good  reasons'  we  mean  all  that  can  do  any 
good  to  the  body  or  the  soul." 

Here  is  the  Latin  text: 

"Certum  est,  et  commune  apud  omnes  quod,  ex  justa  causa, 
licitum  sit  uti  aequivocatione,  et  cum  juvamento  affirmare:  Et 
justa  causa  esse  potest  quicunque  fines  honestus  ad  servanda  bona 
spiritui  vel  corporali  utilia"  (Sal:  Nos.  109  and  vol.  sauch). 

"  A  culprit,  or  a  witness,  questioned  by  a  judge,  but  in  an 
illegal  manner,  may  swear  that  he  knows  nothing  of  the  crime 


I20  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

about  which  he  is  questioned,  though  he  knows  it  well,  mentally 
meaning  that  he  knows  nothing  in  such  a  manner  as  to  answer." 

When  the  crime  is  very  secret  and  unknown  to  all,  Liguori 
says  the  culprit  or  the  witness  must  deny  it  under  oath.  Here 
are  his  own  w^ords: 

"Idem  si  testis  ex  alio  capita,  non  teneatur  deponere:  Nempe 
si  ipsi  conotet  crimen  caruisse  culpa,  vel  si  sciat  crimen,  sed  sub 
sccreto,  cum  nulla  proccesserit  infamia." 

"He  may  swear  that  he  knows  nothing,  when  he  knows 
that  the  person  who  committed  the  crime  committed  it  without 
malice  (as  affir.  Salm.  to  c.  2,  No.  259,  and  Elb.  No.  145);  or 
again,  if  he  knows  the  crime,  but  secretly,  and  that  there  has 
been  no  scandal"  (as  we  are  assured  by  Card.  No.  51.) 

"When  a  crime  is  well  concealed,  the  witness,  and  even  the 
criminal,  may  and  even  must  swear  that  the  crime  has  not  been 
committed ! 

"The  guilty  party  may  yet  do  likewise,  when  a  half  proof 
cannot  be  brought  against  him." 

Here  is  the  Latin  text: 

"Reus  vel  testis  non  tenetur  judicio,  respondere  si  crittien 
fuerit  omnis  occultum  tune  enim  potest  imo  teneteur  testis  dicere 
reum  non  commisse.  Et  idem  potest  reus,  si  non  adsit  semi- 
plena  probatio"  (Salm.  D.  2,  No.  146  Bus.). 

Liguori  asks  himself  (Quest.  2):  If  an  accused,  legally  inter- 
rogated by  a  judge,  may  deny  his  crime  under  oath,  when  the 
confession  of  the  crime  might  cause  his  condemnation,  and  be 
disadvantageous  to  him?  and  he  answers: 

"  It  is  altogether  probable  that  when  the  accused  fears  a  sen^ 
tence  of  death,  or  of  being  sent  to  prison,  or  exiled,  he  may  deny 
his  crime  under  oath,  understanding  that  he  has  not  committed 
this  crime  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  obliged  to  confess  it."  Here 
is  the  Latin  text: 

"  Qugeritur  2.  Au  reus  legitime  interrogatus  possit  negare 
cimen,  etiam  cum  juramento,  si  grave  damnum,  ex  confessione 
ipsi  immineat  satis  probabiliter,  (Lugo  de  Justitia,  D.  40,  N.  15; 
Tamb.  lib.  3,  etc.);  et  aliis  pluribus  dicunt  posse  reum  si  sibi 
immineat  poena  mortis,  carceris,  rut  exilii,  negare  crimen,  etiam 


THEOLOGY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  ETC.      121 

juramento,  saltern  sine  peccato  gravi,  sub  intelligendo;  se  non 
commississe  quotenus  teneatur  illud  fateri  mado  sit  spes  vitandi 
pwenam." 

"He  wno  has  sworn  to  keep  a  secret  is  not  obliged  to  keep 
his  oath,  if  any  consequential  injury  to  him  or  to  others  is  there- 
by caused." 

"  If  any  one  has  sworn  before  a  judge  to  keep  the  truth,  he  is 
not  obliged  to  say  secret  things."     (Less,  Bonar,  Trail,  etc.) 

Liguori  asks  whether  a  woman,  accused  of  the  crime  of 
adultery,  which  she  has  really  committed,  may  deny  it  under 
oath?  He  answers:  "Yes;  provided  that  she  has  been  to  con- 
fess, and  received  the  absolution ;  for  then,"  he  says,  "  the  sin 
has  been  pardoned,  and  has  really  ceased  to  exist." 

"  Quaritur  2.  An  adultera  negare  adulterium  viro  suo? 
Resp.  Si  adulterium  confessa  sit:  Potest  respondere,  '  Innocens 
sum  ab  hoc  crimine'  quia  per  confessionem  est  jam  oblatum" 
(Card,  Disc.  19,  X.  54.) 

Liguori  maintains  that  one  may  commit  a  minor  crime  in 
order  to  avoid  a  greater  crime.  He  says:  "It  is  right  to  advise 
any  one  to  commit  a  robbery  or  a  fornication  in  order  to  avoid  a 
murder." 

"Hinc,  docet,  Sanchez,  No.  19  caj.  sot.,  parato  aliquem  oc- 
cidere  licet  posse  suaderi  ut  ab  eo  furetur,  vel  ut  fornicatur" 
(page  419). 

Question  3,  Liguori:  "May  a  servant  open  the  door  for  a 
prostitute?     Croix  denies  it,  but  Ligouri  affirms  it." 

Utrum  liceat  famulo  ostium  meretrici  operere?  Negat 
Croix.     At  commune  affirmant  Theologi." 

Question  4,  Liguori:  "Quaeretur  an  liceat  famulo  deferre 
scalam  vel  subjicere  humeros  domino  ascendenti  ad  fornicandum 
et  similia.  Buss,  etc.,  affirmant,  quorum  sententia  probabilior 
videtur." 

"  May  a  servant  bring  a  ladder  and  help  his  master  to  go  up 
and  commit  adultery  ?  Buss  and  others  think  that  he  may  do  it, 
and  I  am  of  the  same  opinion."     (Liguori,  Q.  2.) 

"  A  servant  has  the  right  to  rob  his  master,  a  child  his  father, 
and  a  poor  man  the  rich ! " 


123  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  Salmantes  says  that  a  servant  may,  according  to  his  own 
judgment,  pay  himself  with  his  own  hands  more  than  was  agreed 
upon  as  a  salary  for  his  own  work,  if  he  finds  that  he  deserves  a 
larger  salary ;  "  and,"  says  Liguori,  "  this  doctrine  appears  just 
to  me." 

Salm.,  D.  4,  proe.  N.  137,  dicunt  famulum  etiam  ex  propria 
judicio  sibi  compensare  suam  operam,  si  ipse  certe  judicet  se 
majus  stipendium  mereri.     Quod  sane  videtur  mihi  probabile. 

A  poor  man,  who  has  concealed  the  goods  and  effects  of 
which  he  is  in  need,  may  swear  that  he  has  nothing. 

"Indigens,  bonis  absconditis  ad  sustentationem,  protest  judici 
aespondere  se  nihil  habere."      (Salm.,  N.  140.) 

In  like  manner  an  heir  who,  without  taking  an  inventory, 
conceals  his  goods,  when  it  is  not  the  goods  mortgaged  for  the 
debt,  may  swear  that  he  has  concealed  nothing,  understanding 
the  goods  with  which  he  was  to  pay.     (Salm.  140.) 

"There  are  many  opinions  about  the  amount  w^hich  may  be 
stolen  to  constitute  a  mortal  sin.  Navar  has  said,  too  scrupul- 
ously, that  to  steal  a  half  piece  of  gold  is  a  mortal  sin;  while 
others,  too  lax,  hold  that  to  steal  less  than  ten  pieces  of  gold 
cannot  be  a  serious  sin.  But  Tol,  Mech,  Less,  etc.,  have  more 
wisely  ruled  that  to  steal  two  pieces  of  gold  constitutes  a  mortal 
sin." 

Dubium  2,  Liguori:  "  Variae  ea  de  re  sunt  sententiae.  Nav. 
nimis  scrupulose  statuit  medium  regulum :  alii  nemis  laxe  10 
aureos.  Moderatius,  Tol.,  Med.  Less,,  etc.,  etc.,  duos  regales,  etsi 
minus  sufficiat,  si  notabiliter  noceat." 

"Is  it  a  crime  to  steal  a  small  piece  of  a  relic.''  There  is  no 
doubt  its  being  a  sin  in  the  district  of  Rome,  since  Clement  VII. 
and  Paul  V.  have  excommunicated  those  who  committed  such 
thefts.  But  this  theft  is  not  a  serious  thing  when  committed 
outside  of  the  district  of  Rome,  unless  it  be  a  very  rare  and 
precious  relic,  as  the  wood  of  the  Holy  Cross  or  some  of  the  hair 
of  the  Virgin  Mary !  " 

Dubium  3,  Liguori:  "If  any  one  steals  small  sums  at  differ- 
ent times,  either  from  the  same  or  from  different  persons,  not 
liaving  the   intention   of  stealing  large   sums,  nor  of  causing  a 


THEOLOGY    OF     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME,    ETC.  1 23 

great  damage,  his  sin  is  not  mortal ;  particularly  if  the  thief  is 
poor,  and  if  he  has  the  intention  to  give  back  what  he  has 
stolen.  " 

Latin  text:  "Si  quis  et  occasione  furatur  sive  uni,  sive 
pluribus,  non  intendens  notabile  aliquid  acquirere  nee  proximo 
graviter  nocere,  neque  ea  simul  sumpta  unum  mortale  consti- 
tuunt,  si  vel  restituere  non  possit  vel  animum  habeat  restituendi.  " 

Question  ii,  N.  536:  "  If  several  persons  steal  from  the 
same  master,  in  small  quantities,  each  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to 
commit  a  mortal  sin,  though  each  one  know^s  that  all  these  little 
thefts  together  cause  a  considerable  damage  to  their  master,  yet 
no  one  of  them  commits  a  mortal  sin,  even  when  they  steal  at 
the  same  time.  " 

Latin  text:  "  Si  plures  modica  furentur,  nemo  pcccat  graviter, 
et  si  mutuo  sciant  gravitsr  damnum  domino  fieri.  Et  ^oc, 
etiamsi  singuli  eodem  tempore  furentur."     (Liguori,  536.) 

Liguori,  speaking  of  children  who  steal  from  their  parents, 
says:  "  Salas,  cited  by  Croix,  maintains  that  a  son  does  not 
commit  a  mortal  sin  when  he  steals  only  twenty  or  thirty  pieces 
of  gold  from  a  father  who  has  an  income  of  150  pieces  of 
gold;  and  Lugo  approves  of  that  doctrine.  Less  and  other 
theologians  say  that  it  is  not  a  mortal  sin  for  a  child  to  steal  two 
or  three  pieces  of  gold  from  a  rich  father;  Bannez  maintains 
that  to  commit  a  mortal  sin  a  child  must  steal  not  less  than  fifty 
pieces  of  gold  from  a  rich  father;  but  Lacroix  rejects  that 
doctrine,  except  the  father  is  a  prince.  " 

The  theologians  of  Rome  assure  us  that  we  may,  and  even 
that  we  must,  conceal  and  disguise  our  faith. 

"  Though  lying  is  forbidden,  we  may  be  allowed  to  conceal 
the  truth,  or  to  disguise  it  under  ambiguous  or  equivocal  words 
or  signs,  for  a  just  cause,  and  when  there  is  no  necessity  to 
confess  the  truth.  If  by  that  means  one  can  rid  hitnself  of 
dangerous  pursuits,  he  is  permitted  to  use  it;  for  in  general  it  is 
not  true  to  say  that,  when  interrogated  by  public  authority  about 
his  faith,  he  is  obliged  to  reveal  it.  When  you  are  not  ques- 
tioned as  to  your  faith,  you  are  not  only  allowed  to  conceal 
it,  but  it  is  often   more  to  the  glory  of  God   and  the  interest  of 


124  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHUKCH    OK    ROME. 

your  neighbor.  If,  for  example,  you  are  among  a  heretical 
people,  you  can  do  more  good  by  concealing  your  faith;  or  if, 
by  declaring  it,  you  are  to  cause  great  trouble  or  death.  It  is 
temerity  to  expose  one's  life."     (Liguori,  L,  2.) 

The  Pope  has  the  right  to  release  from  all  oaths. 

"  As  for  an  oath  made  for  a  good  and  legitimate  object,  it 
seems  that  there  should  be  no  power  capable  of  annulling  it. 
However,  when  it  is  for  the  good  of  the  public,  a  matter  which 
comes  under  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope,  who  has  the 
supreme  power  over  the  Church,  the  Pope  has  full  power 
to  release  from  that  oath. "  ( St.  Thomas,  Quest.  89,  art.  9, 
vol.  iv.) 

The  Roman  Catholics  have  not  only  the  right,  but  it  is  their 
duty  to  kill  heretics. 

"Excommunicatus  privatur  omni  alia  civili  communicatione 
fidelium,  ita  ut  ipsi  non  possit  cum  aliis,  et  si  non  sit  toleratus, 
etiam  aliis  cum  ipso  non  possint  communicare;  idque  in  casibus 
hoc  versu  comprehensis.     Os,  orare,  cammunio,  mensa  negatur." 

Translated :  "  Any  man  excommunicated  is  deprived  of  all 
civil  communication  with  the  faithful,  in  such  a  way  that  if  he 
is  not  tolerated  they  can  have  no  communication  with  him,  as  it 
is  in  the  following  verse;  'It  is  forbidden  to  kiss  him,  pray  with 
him,  salute  him,  to  eat  or  to  do  any  business  with  him.'"  (St. 
Liguori,  vol.  ix.,  page  62.) 

"  Quanquam  heretici  tolerandi  non  sunt  ipso  illorum  demerito, 
usque  tamen  ad  secundam  correptionem  expectandi  sunt,  ut  ad 
<anam  redeant  ecclesiae  fidem ;  qui  vero  post  secundam  correp- 
tionem in  suo  errore  obstinati  permanent,  non  modo  excommuni- 
rationis  sententia  sed,  etiam  saecularibus  principibus  exterminandi 
tradendi   sunt, " 

Translated:  "Though  heretics  must  not  be  tolerated  because 
they  deserve  it,  we  must  bear  with  them  till,  by  a  second 
admonition  they  may  be  brought  back  to  the  faith  of  the 
Church.  But  those  w^ho,  after  a  second  admonition,  remain 
obstinate  in  their  errors,  must  not  only  be  excommunicated,  but 
they  must  be  delivered  to  the  secular  powers  to  be  extermi- 
nated. " 


THEOLOGY  OF    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME,    ETC.  I  >5 

"Quanquam  heretici  revertentes,  semper  recipiendi  sint  ad 
pcEnitentiam  quoties  cumque  relapsi  fuerint;  non  tamen  semper 
sunt  recipiendi  et  restituendi  ad  bonorum  hujus  vitae  partici- 
pationem  .  .  .  recipiumtur  ad  pcEnitentiam  .  .  .  non  tamen  ut 
liberentur  a  sententia  mortis.  " 

Translated:  "  Though  the  heretics  who  repent  must  always 
be  accepted  to  penance,  as  often  as  they  have  fallen,  they  must 
not  in  consequence  of  that  always  be  permitted  to  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  this  life.  When  they  fall  again  they  are  admitted  to 
repent.  But  the  sentence  of  death  must  not  be  removed.  "  ( St. 
Thomas,  vol.  iv.,page  91.) 

"  Quum  quis  per  sententiam  denuntiatur  propter  apostasiam 
excommunicatus,  ipso  facto,  ejus  subditi  a  domino  et  juramento 
fidelitatis  ejus  liberati  sunt.  " 

"When  a  man  is  excommunicated  for  his  apostasy,  it  follows 
from  that  very  fact  that  all  those  who  are  his  subjects  are 
released  from  the  oath  of  allegiance  by  which  they  were  bound 
to  obey  him."     (St.  Thomas,  vol  iv.,  page  91.) 

Every  heretic  and  Protestant  is  condemned  to  death,  and 
every  oath  of  allegiance  to  a  government  which  is  Protestant  or 
heretic  is  abrogated  by  the  Council  of  Lateran,  held  in  A.  D.  12 15. 
Here  is  the  solemn  decree  and  sentence  of  death,  which  has 
never  been  repealed,  and  which  is  still  in  force: 

"  We  excommunicate  and  anathematize  every  heresy  that 
exalts  itself  against  the  holy  orthodox  and  Catholic  faith, 
condemning  all  heretics,  by  whatever  name  they  may  be  known; 
for  though  their  faces  differ,  they  are  tied  together  by  their  tails. 
Such  as  are  condemned  are  to  be  delivered  over  to  the  existing 
secular  powers,  to  receive  due  punishment.  If  laymen,  their 
goods  must  be  confiscated.  If  priests,  they  shall  be  first 
degraded  from  their  respective  orders,  and  their  property 
applied  to  the  use  of  the  church  in  which  they  have  officiated. 
Secular  powers  of  all  ranks  and  degrees  are  to  be  warned, 
induced,  and,  if  necessary,  compelled  by  ecclesiastical  censure,  to 
swear  that  they  will  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  in  the 
defence  of  the  faith,  and  extirpate  all  heretics  denounced  by  the 
Church  who  shall  be  found  in  their  territories.     And  whenever 


126  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

any  person  shall  assume  government,  whether  it  be  spiritual  or 
temporal,  he  shall  be  bound  to  abide  by  this  decree. 

"  If  any  temporal  lord,  after  being  admonished  and  required 
by  the  Church,  shall  neglect  to  clear  his  territory  of  heretical 
depravity,  the  metropolitan  and  bishops  of  the  province  shall 
unite  in  excommunicating  him.  Should  he  remain  contuma- 
cious for  a  whole  year,  the  fact  shall  be  signified  to  the  Supreme 
Pontiff,  who  will  declare  his  vassals  released  from  their  alleg- 
iance from  that  time,  and  will  bestow  the  territory  on  Catholics, 
to  be  occupied  by  them,  on  the  condition  of  exterminating  the 
heretics,  and  preserving  the  said  territory  in  the  faith. 

"  Catholics  vv^ho  shall  assume  the  cross  for  the  extermination 
of  heretics  shall  enjoy  the  same  indulgences  and  be  protected  by 
the  same  privileges  as  are  granted  to  those  who  go  to  the  help 
of  the  Holy  Land.  We  decree,  further,  that  all  who  may  have 
dealings  with  heretics,  and  especially  such  as  receive,  defend,  or 
encourage  them,  shall  be  excommunicated.  He  shall  not  be 
eligible  to  any  public  office.  He  shall  not  be  admitted  as  a 
witness.  He  shall  neither  have  the  power  to  bequeath  his 
property  by  will,  nor  to  succeed  to  any  inheritance.  He  shall 
not  bring  any  action  against  any  person,  but  any  one  can  bring 
an  action  against  him.  Should  he  be  a  judge,  his  decision  shall 
have  no  force,  nor  shall  any  cause  be  brought  before  him. 
Should  he  be  an  advocate,  he  shall  not  be  allowed  to  plead. 
Should  he  be  a  lawyer,  no  instruments  made  by  him  shall  be 
held  valid,  but  shall  be  condemned  with  their  author.  " 

But  why  let  my  memory  and  my  thoughts  linger  any  longer 
in  these  frightful  paths,  where  murderers,  liars,  perjurers  and 
thieves  are  assured  by  the  theologians  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
that  they  can  lie,  steal,  murder  and  perjure  themselves  as  much 
as  they  like,  without  offending  God,  provided  they  commit  those 
crimes  according  to  certain  rules  approved  by  the  Pope  for  the 
good  of  the  Church  ! 

I  should  have  to  write  several  large  volumes  were  I  to  quote 
all  the  Roman  Catholic  doctors  and  theologians  who  approve  of 
lying,  of  perjury,  of  adultery,  theft  and  murder,  for  the  greatest 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the  Roman  Church  I      But  I  have 


THEOLOGY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  ETC.       1 37 

quoted   enough    for    those    who  have    eyes  to  see  and  ears  to 
hear. 

With  such  principles,  is  it  a  wonder  that  all  the  Roman 
Catholic  nations,  without  a  single  exception,  have  declined  so 
rapidly  ? 
..  The  great  Legislator  of  the  World,  the  only  Saviour  of 
^nations,  has  said:  "Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God. "  A 
nation  can  be  great  and  strong  only  according  to  the  truths 
w^hich  form  the  basis  of  her  faith  and  life.  "  Truth  "  is  the 
only  bread  which  God  gives  to  the  nations  that  they  may  prosper 
and  live.  Deceitfulness,  duplicity,  perjury,  adultery,  theft, 
murder,  are  the  deadly  poisons  which  kill  the  nations. 

Then,  the  more  the  priests  of  Rome,  with  their  theology, 
are  venerated  and  believed  by  a  people,  the  sooner  that 
people  will  decay  and  fall.  "  The  more  priests  the  more 
crimes,"  has  said  a  profound  thinker;  for  then  the  more  hands 
will  be  at  work  to  pull  down  the  only  sure  foundations  of 
society. 

How  can  any  man  be  sure  of  the  honesty  of  his  wife  as  long 
as  a  hundred  thousand  priests  tell  her  that  she  may  commit  any 
sin  with  her  neighbor,  in  order  to  prevent  him  from  doing  some- 
thing worse  ?  or  when  she  is  assured,  that,  though  guilty  of 
adultery,  she  can  swear  she  is  pure  as  an  angel  .'' 

What  will  it  avail  to  teach  the  best  principles  of  honor, 
decency  and  holiness  to  a  young  girl,  when  she  is  bound  to  go 
many  times  a  year  to  a  bachelor  priest,  who  is  bound  in  con- 
science to  give  her  the  most  infamous  lessons  of  depravity,  under 
the  pretext  of  helping  her  to  confess  all  her  sins  ? 

How  will  the  rights  of  justice  be  secured,  and  how  can  the 
judges  and  the  juries  protect  the  innocent  and  punish  the  guilty, 
so  long  as  the  witnesses  are  told  by  two  hundred  thousand 
priests  that  they  can  conceal  the  truth,  give  equivocal  answers, 
and  even  perjure  themselves  under  a  thousand  pretexts  ? 

What  Government,  either  monarchical  or  republican,  can  be 
5ure  of  a  lease  of  existence  ?  how  can  they  make  their  people 
walk  with  a  firm  step  in  the  ways  of  light,  progress  and  liberty. 


128  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

as  long  as  there  is  a  dark  power  over  them  which  has  the  right, 
at  every  hour  of  the  day  or  night,  to  break  and  dissolve  all  the 
most  sacred  oaths  of  allegiance  ? 

Armed  with  his  theology,  the  priest  of  Rome  has  become 
the  most  dangerous  and  determined  enemy  of  truth,  justice  and 
liberty.  He  is  the  most  formidable  obstacle  to  every  good 
Government,  as  he  is,  without  being  aware  of  it,  the  greatest 
enemy  of  God  and  man. 


Chapter  XIV. 

TJbLU  VOW  OF  CELIBACTS'. 

WERE  I  to  write  all  the  ingenious  tricks,  pious  lies,  shameful 
stories  called  miracles,  and  sacrilegious  perversions  of  the 
Word  of  God  made  use  of  by  superiors  of  seminaries  and 
nunneries  to  entice  their  poor  victims  into  the  trap  of  perpetual 
celibacy,  I  should  have  to  write  ten  large  volumes,  instead  of  a 
short  chapter. 

Sometimes  the  trials  and  obligations  of  married  life  are  so 
exaggerated  that  they  may  frighten  the  strongest  heart.  At 
other  times  the  joys,  jjeace  and  privileges  of  celibacy  are 
depicted  with  such  brilliant  colors  that  they  fill  the  coldest  mind 
with  enthusiasm. 

The  Pope  takes  his  victim  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain, 
and  there  shows  him  all  the  honors,  praise,  wealth,  peace  and 
joys  of  this  world,  united  to  the  most  glorious  throne  of  heaven, 
and  then  tells  him :  "  I  will  give  you  all  those  things  if  you  fall 
at  my  feet,  promise  me  an  absolute  submission,  and  swear  never 
to  marry  in  order  to  serve  me  better. " 

Who  can  refuse  such  glorious  things  ?  But  before  entirely 
shutting  their  eyes,  so  that  they  may  not  see  the  bottomless 
abyss  into  which  they  are  to  fall,  the  unfortunate  victims  some- 
times have  forebodings  and  presentiments  of  the  terrible  miseries 
which  are  in  store  for  them.  The  voice  of  their  conscience, 
intelligence  and  common  sense  has  not  always  been  so  fully 
silenced  as  the  superior  desired. 

At  the  very  time  when  the  tempter  is  whispering  his  lying 
promises  into  their  ears,  their  Heavenly  Father  is  speaking  to 
them  of  the  ceaseless  trials,  the  shameful  falls,  the  tedious  days, 


130  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  dreary  nights,  and  the  cruel  and  insufferable  burdens  which 
are  concealed  behind  the  walls  where  the  sweet  yoke  of  the 
Good  Master  is  exchanged  for  the  burdens  of  heartless  men  and 
women. 

As  formerly,  the  human  victims  crowned  with  floAvers,  when 
dragged  to  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  their  false  gods,  often  cried 
out  with  alarm,  and  struggled  to  escape  from  the  bloody  knife  of 
the  heathen  priest,  so  at  the  approach  of  the  fatal  hour  at  which 
the  impious  vow  is  to  be  made,  the  young  victims  often  feel  their 
hearts  fainting  and  filled  with  terror.  With  pale  cheeks,  tremb- 
ling lips  and  cold-dropping  sweat  they  ask  their  superiors, 
"  Is  it  possible  that  our  merciful  God  requires  of  us  such  a 
sacrifice  ? " 

Oh !  how  the  merciless  priest  of  Rome  then  becomes 
eloquent  in  depicting  celibacy  as  the  only  way  to  heaven,  or 
in  showing  the  eternal  fires  of  hell  ready  to  receive  cowards  and 
traitors,  who,  after  having  put  their  hand  to  the  plough  of 
celibacy,  look  back  !  He  speaks  of  the  disappointment  and 
sadness  of  so  many  dear  friends,  who  expected  better  things  of 
them.  He  points  out  to  them  their  own  shame  when  they  will 
again  be  in  a  world  which  will  have  nothing  for  them  but 
sneers  for  their  want  of  perseverance  and  courage.  He  over- 
whelms them  with  a  thousand  pious  lies  about  the  miracles 
wrought  by  Christ  in  favor  of  his  virgins  and  priests.  He 
bewitches  them  by  numerous  texts  of  Scripture,  which  he 
brings  as  evident  proof  of  the  \vill  of  God  in  favor  of  their 
taking  the  vows  of  celibacy,  though  they  have  not  the  slightest 
reference  to  such  vows. 

The  text  of  which  the  strangest  abuses  are  made  bv  the 
superiors  to  persuade  the  young  people  of  both  sexes  to  bind 
themselves  to  those  shameful  vows  is  Matt,  xix.,  12,  13:  "For 
there  are  eunuchs  ^\'hich  were  born  from  their  mother's  womb; 
and  there  are  some  eunuchs  \vhich  w^ere  made  eunuchs  of 
men;  and  there  are  eunuchs  w^hich  have  made  themselves 
eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake.  He  that  is  able  to 
receive  it,  let  him  receive  it, " 

Upon  one  occasion  our  superior  made  a  very  pressing  appeal 


THE     VOW    OK    CELIBACY.  I3I 

to  our  religious  feelings  from  this  text,  to  induce  us  to  make  the 
vow  of  celibacy  and  become  priests.  But  the  address,  though 
delivered  with  a  great  deal  of  zeal,  seemed  to  us  deficient  in 
logic. 

The  next  day  was  a  day  of  rest  i^conge).  The  students  in 
theology  who  were  preparing  themselves  for  the  priesthood, 
with  me,  talked  seriously  of  the  singular  arguments  of  the  last 
address.  It  seemed  to  them  that  the  conclusions  could  not  in 
any  way  be  drawn  from  the  selected  text,  and  therefore  deter- 
mined to  respectfully  present  their  objections  and  their  views, 
which  were  also  mine,  to  the  superior;  and  I  was  chosen  to 
speak  for  them  all. 

At  the  next  conference,  after  respectfully  asking  and  obtain- 
ing permission  to  express  our  objections  with  our  own  frank  and 
plain  sentiments,  I  spoke  about  as  follows: 

"Dear  and  venerable  sir:  You  told  us  that  the  following 
words  of  Christ,  '  There  be  ejtnuchs  -which  have  made  them- 
selves eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven'' s  sakc^^ — show  us 
evidently  that  we  must  make  the  vow  of  celibacy  and  make 
ourselves  eunuchs  if  we  want  to  become  priests.  Allow  us  to 
tell  you  respectfully,  that  it  seems  to  us  that  the  mind  of  our 
Saviour  was  very  different  from  yours  when  he  pronounced 
these  words.  In  our  humble  opinion,  the  only  object  of  the 
Son  of  God  was  to  warn  His  disciples  against  one  of  the  most 
damnable  errors  which  were  to  endanger  the  very  existence  of 
nations.  He  was  foretelling  that  there  would  be  men  so  wicked 
and  blind  as  to  preach  that  the  best  way  for  men  to  go  to 
heaven  would  be  to  make  eunuchs  of  themselves.  Allow  us  to 
draw  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  that  speech  Jesus  Christ 
neither  approves  nor  disapproves  of  the  idea  of  gaining  a  throne 
in  heaven  by  becoming  eunuchs.  He  leaves  us  to  our  common 
sense  and  to  some  clearer  parts  of  Scripture  to  see  whether  or 
not  He  approves  of  those  who  would  make  eunuchs  of  them- 
selves to  gain  a  crown  in  heaven.  Must  we  not  interpret  this 
text  as  we  interpret  what  Jesus  said  to  His  apostles,  '  The  time 
Cometh  that  whosoever  killeth  you  will  think  that  he  doeth 
God's  service'  (John  xvi.,  i,  2). 


133  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  Allow  US  to  put  these  two  texts  face  to  face : 

"  '  There  are  eunuchs  which  have  "  '  The  time  cometh  that  who- 

made    themselves    eunuchs    for    the  soever  killeth  you  will  think  that 

kingdom    of    heaven's    sake. '   (Matt.  he  doeth  God's  service. '  (John  xvi. 

xix.,  12,  13).  I,  2). 

"  Because  our  Saviour  has  said  that  thei-e  would  be  men  who 
would  think  that  they  would  please  God  (and  of  course  gain  a 
place  in  heaven)  by  killing  His  disciples,  are  we,  therefore, 
allowed  to  conclude  that  it  would  be  our  duty  to  kill  those  who 
believe  and  follow  Christ  ?     Surely  not. 

"Well,  it  seems  to  us  that  we  are  not  to  believe  that  the 
best  way  to  go  to  heaven  is  to  make  ourselves  eunuchs,  because 
our  Saviour  had  said  that  some  men  had  got  that  criminal  and 
foolish  notion  into  their  mind  ! 

"  Christian  nations  have  always  looked  with  horror  upon 
those  who  voluntarily  became  eunuchs.  Common  sense,  as  well 
as  the  Word  of  God,  condemns  those  who  thus  destroy  in  their 
own  bodies  that  which  God  in  his  wisdom  gave  them  for  the 
wisest  and  holiest  purposes.  Would  it  not,  therefore,  be  a  crime 
which  every  civilized  and  Christian  nation  would  punish,  to 
preach  publicly  and  with  success  to  the  people  that  one  of  the 
surest  ways  for  a  man  to  go  to  heaven  would  be  to  make  him- 
self an  eunuch  ?  How  can  we  believe  that  our  Saviour  could 
ever  sanction  such  a  practice  ? 

"  Moreover,  if  being  eunuchs  would  make  the  way  to  heaven 
surer  and  more  easy,  would  not  God  be  unjust  for  depriving  us 
of  the  great  priviledge  of  being  born  eunuchs,  and  thus  being 
made  ripe  fruits  for  heaven  ? 

"  It  seems  to  us  that  that  text  does  not  in  any  way  require  us 
to  believe  that  an  eunuch  is  nearer  the  kingdom  of  God  than 
he  w^ho  lives  just  according  to  the  laws  w^hich  God  gave  to  man 
in  the  earthly  paradise.  If  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be 
without  his  wife  when  he  was  so  holy  and  strong  as  he  was  in 
the  Garden  of  Eden,  how  can  it  be  good  now  that  he  is  so  weak 
and  sinful  ? 

"  Our  Saviour  clearly  shows  that  he  finds  no  sanctifying 
pow^er  in  the  state  of  an  eunuch,  in   his  answer  to  the  young 


THE    VOW    OF    CELIBACY. 


133 


man  who  asked  him,  '  Good  master,  what  must  I  do  that  I  may 
have  eternal  life?'  (Matt,  xix.,  16.)  Did  the  good  Master 
answer  him  in  the  language  we  heard  from  you  two  days  ago, 
namely,  that  the  best  way  to  have  eternal  life  is  to  make  your- 
self an  eunuch — make  a  solemn  vow^  never  to  marry  .'*  No;  but 
he  said,  '  Keep  the  commandments  ! ' 

"  Were  the  blessed  Saviour  to-day  in  your  place,  and  I 
should  ask  him,  'What  must  I  do  to  be  saved,  and  to  show  the 
way  of  God  to  my  brethren  ? '  would  he  not  say  to  me, '  Keep 
the  commandments  ! '  But  where  is  the  commandment  of  God 
in  the  Old  or  New  Testament,  to  induce  us  to  make  such  a  vow 
as  that  of  celibacy  ?  The  promise  of  a  place  in  heaven  is  not 
attached  in  any  way  to  the  vow  of  celibacy.  Christ  has  not  a 
word  about  that  doctrine. 

"  Allow  us  to  respectfully  ask,  if  the  views  concerning  the 
vows  of  celibacy  entertained  by  Christ  had  been  like  yours,  is  it 
possible  that  He  would  have  forgotten  to  mention  them  when 
He  answered  the  solemn  question  of  that  young  man  ?  Is  it 
possible  that  He  would  not  have  said  a  single  word  about  a 
thing  which  you  have  represented  to  us  as  being  of  such  vital 
importance  to  those  who  sincerely  desire  to  know  what  to  do  to 
be  saved  .''  Is  it  not  strange  that  the  Church  should  attach  such 
an  importance  to  that  vow  of  celibacy,  when  we  look  in  vain 
for  such  an  ordinance  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  ? 
How  can  we  understand  the  reasons  or  the  importance  of  such  a 
strict,  and  we  dare  say,  unnatural  obligation  in  our  day,  when 
we  know  very  well  that  the  holy  apostles  themselves  were 
living  with  their  wives,  and  that  the  Saviour  had  not  a  word  of 
rebuke  for  them  on  that  account  ? " 

This  free  expression  of  our  common  views  on  the  vows  of 
celibacy  evidently  took  our  superior  by  surprise.  He  answered 
me,  with  an  accent  of  indignation  which  he  could  not  suppress. 
"  Is  that  all  you  have  to  say  ? " 

"  It  is  not  quite  all  we  have  to  say,"  I  answered ;  "  but  before 
we  go  further  we  would  be  much  gratified  to  receive  from  you 
the  light  we  want  on  the  difficulties  which  I  have  just  stated." 

"  You  have  spoken  as  a  true  heretic,"  replied  Mr.  Leprohon, 


134  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

with  an  unusual  vivacity ;  "  and  were  it  not  for  tlie  hope  which 
I  entertain  that  you  said  those  things  more  to  receive  the  Hght 
you  want  than  to  present  and  support  the  heretical  side  of  such 
an  important  question,  I  would  at  once  denounce  you  to  the 
bishop.  You  speak  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  just  as  a  Protestant 
v/ould  do.  You  appeal  to  them  as  the  only  source  of  Christian 
truth  and  knowledge.  Have  you  forgotten  that  we  have  the 
holy  traditions  to  guide  us,  the  authority  of  which  is  equal  to 
that  of  the  Scriptures  ? 

"  You  are  correct  when  you  say  that  we  do  not  find  any 
direct  proof  in  the  Bible  to  enforce  the  vows  of  celibacy  upon 
those  who  desire  to  consecrate  themselves  to  the  service  of  the 
Church.  But  if  we  do  not  find  the  obligation  of  that  vow  in 
the  Bible,  we  find  it  in  the  holy  traditions  of  the  Church. 

"  It  is  an  article  of  faith  that  the  vow  of  celibacy  is  ordered 
by  Jesus  Christ,  through  His  Church.  The  ordinances  of  the 
Church,  which  are  nothing  but  the  ordinances  of  the  Son  of 
God,  are  clear  on  that  subject,  and  bind  our  consciences,  just  as 
the  commandments  of  God  upon  Mount  Sinai ;  for  Christ  has 
said,  those  who  do  not  hear  the  Church  must  be  looked  upon  as 
heathen  and  publicans.  There  is  no  salvation  to  those  who  do 
not  submit  their  reasoning  to  the  teachings  of  the  Church. 

"  You  are  not  required  to  understand  all  the  reasons  for  the 
vow  of  celibacy;  but  you  are  bound  to  belive  in  its  necessity 
and  holiness^  as  the  Church  has  pronounced  her  verdict  upon 
that  question.  It  is  not  your  business  to  argue  about  those 
matters;  but  your  duty  is  to  obey  the  Church,  as  dutiful  children 
obey  a  kind  mother. 

"  But  who  can  have  any  doubt  about  the  necessity  of  the 
vows  of  celibacy,  when  we  remember  that  Christ  had  ordered 
His  apostles  to  separate  themselves  from  their  wives  .? — a  fact  on 
which  no  doubt  can  remain  after  hearing  St.  Peter  say  to  our 
Saviour,  'Behold,  we  have  forsaken  all  and  followed  thee;  what 
shall  we  have,  therefore  ?'  (Matt.  xix.  27).  Is  not  the  priest 
the  true  representative  of  Christ  on  earth  t  In  his  ordination,  is 
not  the  priest  made  the  equal,  and,  in  a  sense,  the  superior  of 
Christ?  for  when  he   celebrates  Mass  he  commands  Christ,  and 


THE    VOW    OF    CELIBACY.  1 35 

that  very  Sou  of  God  is  bound  to  obey  !  It  is  not  iu  the  power 
of  Christ  to  resist  the  orders  of  the  priest.  He  must  come  down 
from  heaven  every  time  the  priest  orders  Him.  The  priest 
shuts  Him  up  in  the  holy  tabernacles  or  takes  him  out  of  them, 
according  to  his  own  will. 

"  By  becoming  priests  of  the  New  Testament  you  will  be 
raised  to  a  dignity  which  is  much  above  that  of  angels.  From 
these  sublime  privileges  flows  the  obligation  of  the  priest  to 
raise  himself  to  a  degree  of  holiness  much  above  the  level  of 
the  common  people,  a  holiness  equal  to  that  of  the  angels.  Has 
not  our  Saviour,  when  speaking  of  the  angels,  said,  '  Neque 
nubent  neque  nubentur  ?''  They  marry  not,  nor  are  given  in 
marriage.  Surely,  since  the  priests  are  the  messengers  and 
angels  of  God,  on  earth  they  must  be  clad  with  angelic  holiness 
and  purity 

"  Does  not  Paul  say  that  the  state  of  virginity  is  superior  to 
that  of  marriage  ?  Does  not  that  saying  of  the  apostle  show 
that  the  priest,  whose  hands  every  day  touch  the  divine  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  must  be  chaste  and  pure,  and  must  not  be 
defiled  by  the  duties  of  married  life  .'  That  vow  of  celibacy  is 
like  a  holy  chain,  which  keeps  us  above  the  filth  of  this  earth 
and  ties  us  to  heaven,  Jesus  Christ,  through  His  holy  Church, 
commands  that  vow  to  his  priests  as  the  most  efficacious  remedy 
against  the  inclinations  of  our  corrupt  nature. 

"  According  to  the  holy  Fathers,  the  vow  of  celibacy  is  like 
a  strong,  high  tower,  from  the  top  of  which  we  can  fight  our 
enemies,  and  be  perfectly  safe  from  their  darts  and  weapons. 

"  I  will  be  happy  to  answer  your  other  objections,  if  you 
have  any  more,"  said  Mr.   Leprohon. 

"  We  are  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  answers,"  I  replied, 
"and  we  will  avail  ourselves  of  your  kindness  to  present  you 
with  some  other  observations. 

"And,  firstly,  we  thank  you  for  having  told  us  that  we  find 
nothing  in  the  Word  of  God  to  support  the  vows  of  celibacy, 
and  that  it  is  only  by  the  traditions  of  the  Church  that  we  can 
prove  their  necessity  and  holiness.  It  was  our  impression  that 
you   desired    us  to  believe  that  the  necessity   of  that  vow  was 


136  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHUP.ori    OF    ROME. 

founded  on  the  Holy  Scriptures.  If  you  will  allow  it,  we  will 
discuss  the  traditions  another  ti''iie,  and  w^ill  confine  ourselves 
to-day  to  the  different  texts  lo  which  you  referred  in  favor  of 
celibacy. 

"  When  Peter  says,  '  We  have  given  up  everything,'  it  seems 
to  us  that  he  had  no  intention  of  saying  that  he  had  forever 
given  up  his  wife  by  a  vow.  For  St.  Paul  positively  says, 
many  years  after,  that  Peter  had  his  wife;  that  he  was  not  only 
living  with  her  in  his  own  house,  but  was  traveling  with  her 
when  preaching  the  gospel.  The  words  of  Scripture  are  of 
such  evidence  on  that  subject  that  they  can  neither  be  obscured 
by  any  shrewd  explanation  nor  by  any  tradition,  however 
respectable  it  may  appear. 

"  Though  you  know^  the  w^ords  of  Paul  on  that  subject,  you 
will  allow  us  to  read  them :  '  Have  we  not  power  to  eat  and 
drink  ?  have  we  not  power  to  lead  about  a  sister,  a  wife,  as  well 
as  other  apostles  and  as  the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  and  Cephas  ? ' 
(i  Cor.  ix.,  4,  5).  St.  Peter  saying,  '  We  have  forsaken  every- 
thing' could  not  mean  then  that  he  had  made  a  vow  of  celibacy, 
and  that  he  would  not  live  with  his  wife  as  a  married  man. 
Evidently  the  words  of  Peter  mean  only  that  Jesus  had  the  first 
place  in  his  heart — that  everything  else,  even  the  dearest  objects 
of  his  love,  as  father,  mother,  wife,  were  only  secondary  in  his 
affections  and  thoughts. 

"  Your  other  text  about  the  angels  who  do  not  marry,  from 
which  you  infer  the  obligation  and  law  of  the  vow  of  celibacy, 
does  not  seem  to  us  to  bear  on  that  subject  as  much  as  you  have 
told  us.  For,  be  kind  enough  to  again  read  the  text:  'Jesus 
answered  and  said  unto  them,  '  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
Scriptures,  nor  the  |X)wer  of  God.  For  in  the  resurrection  they 
neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels 
of  God  in  heaven'  (IVIatt.  xxii.  29,  30).  You  see  that  when 
our  Saviour  speaks  of  men  who  are  like  angels,  and  who  do  not 
marry.  He  takes  care  to  observe  that  he  speaks  of  the  state  of 
men  after  the  resurrection.  If  the  Church  had  the  same  rule 
for  us  that  Christ  mentioned  for  the  angelic  men  to  whom  He 
refers,  and  would  allow  us  to  make  a   vow  never  to  marry  after 


THE    VOW    OF    CELIBACY.  l^J 

the  resurrection,  we  would  not  have  the  slightest  objection  to 
such  a  vow. 

"  You  see  that  our  Saviour  speaks  of  a  state  of  celibacy ;  but 
He  does  not  intimate  that  that  state  is  to  begin  on  this  side  of  the 
grave.  Why  does  not  our  Church  imitate  and  follow  the  teach- 
ings of  our  Saviour?  Why  does  she  enforce  a  state  of  celibacy  be- 
fore the  resurrection,  while  Christ  postpones  the  promulgation 
of  this  law  till  after  that  great  day  ? 

"Christ  speaks  of  a  perpetual  celibacy  only  in  heaven!  On 
what  authority,  then,  does  our  Church  enforce  that  celibacy  on 
this  side  of  the  grave,  when  we  still  carry  our  souls  in  earthly 
vessels  ? 

"You  tell  us  that  the  vow  of  celibacy  is  the  best  remedy 
against  the  incl-nations  of  our  corrupt  nature;  but  do  you  not 
fear  that  your  remedy  makes  war  against  the  great  one  which 
God  prepared  in  His  wisdom?  Do  we  not  read  in  our  own  vul- 
gate:  'Propter  fornicationem  autem  quisque  suam  uxorem 
hebeat,  et  unaquaquae  virum  suum'?  'To  avoid  fornication  let 
-very  man  have  his  own  wife,  and  let  every  woman  have  her 
>wn  husband'  (2  Cor.  vii.  2.) 

"Is  it  not  too  strange,  indeed,  that  God  does  tell  us  that  the 
best  remedy  He  had  prepared  against  the  inclinations  of  our  cor- 
rupt nature  is  in  the  blessings  of  a  holy  marriage.  '  Let  every 
man  have  his  own  wife,  and  ev'ery  woman  her  own  husband.* 
But  now  our  Church  has  found  another  remedy,  which  is  more 
accordant  to  the  dignity  of  man  and  the  holiness  of  God,  and  that 
remedy  is  the  vow  of  celibacy ! " 

The  sound  of  my  last  words  were  still  on  my  lips  when  our 
venerable  superior,  unable  any  longer  to  conceal  his  indignation, 
abruptly  interrupted  me,  saying: 

"I  do  exceedingly  regret  to  have  allowed  you  to  go  so  far. 
This  is  not  a  Christian  and  humble  discussion  between  young 
Levites  and  their  superior,  to  receive  from  him  the  light  they 
want.  It  is  the  exposition  and  defence  of  the  most  heretical 
doctrines  I  have  ever  heard.  Are  you  not  ashamed,  when  you 
try  to  make  us  prefer  your  interpretation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
to  that  of  the  Church?     Is  it  to  you,  or  to  His  holy  Church, 


1 38  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OK    ROME, 

that  Chris^,  promised  the  hght  of  the  Holy  Ghost?  Is  it  you 
who  have  to  teach  the  Church,  or  the  Church  who  must  teach 
you?  Is  it  you  who  will  govern  and  guide  the  Church,  or  the 
Church  w^ho  will  govern  and  guide  you? 

"  My  dear  Chiniqu}*,  if  there  is  not  a  great  and  prompt 
change  in  you  and  in  those  whom  you  pretend  to  represent,  I 
fear  much  for  you  all.  You  show  a  spirit  of  infidelity  and 
revolt  which  frightens  me.  Just  like  Lucifer,  you  rebel  against 
the  Lord!  Do  you  not  fear  to  share  the  eternal  pains  of  his 
rebellion? 

"  Whence  have  you  taken  the  false  and  heretical  notions  you 
have,  for  instance,  about  the  wives  of  the  apostles?  Do  you  not 
know  that  you  are  supporting  a  Protestant  error,  when  you  say 
that  the  apostles  were  living  with  their  wives  in  the  usual  way 
of  married  people?  It  is  true  that  Paul  says  that  the  apostles 
had  women  with  them,  and  that  they  were  even  traveling  with 
them.  But  the  holy  traditions  of  the  Church  tell  us  that  those 
women  were  holy  virgins,  vs^ho  were  traveling  with  the  apostles 
to  serve  and  help  them  in  different  ways.  They  were  minister- 
ing to  their  different  wants — washing  their  underclothes,  prepar- 
ing their  meals,  just  like  the  housekeeper  whom  the  priests  have 
to-day.  It  is  a  Protestant  impiety  to  think  and  speak  other- 
wise. 

"  But  only  a  word  more,  and  I  am  done.  If  you  accept  the 
teaching  of  the  Church,  and  submit  yourself  as  doubtful  children 
to  that  most  holy  Mother,  she  will  raise  you  to  the  dignity  of 
the  priesthood,  a  dignity  much  above  kings  and  emperors  in  this 
world.  If  you  serve  her  with  fidelity,  she  will  secure  to  you  the 
respect  and  veneration  of  the  whole  world  while  you  live,  and 
procure  you  a  crown  of  glory  in  heaven. 

"But  if  you  reject  her  doctrines,  and  persist  in  your  rebellious 
views  against  one  of  the  most  holy  dogmas;  if  you  continue  to 
listen  to  the  voice  of  your  own  deceitful  reason  rather  than  to 
the  voice  of  the  Church,  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  you  become  heretics,  apostates  and  Protestants;  you 
will  lead  a  dishonored  life  in  this  world,  and  you  will  be  lost  for 
;:';1  eternity." 


THE     \OW    OF    CELIBACY.  1 30 

Our  superior  left  us  immediately  after  these  fulminating 
words.  Some  of  the  theological  students,  after  his  exit,  laughed 
heartily,  and  thanked  me  for  having  so  bravely  fought  and 
gained  a  glorious  victory.  Two  of  them,  Joseph  Turcot  and 
Benony  Legendre,  disgusted  by  the  sophisms  and  logical  absurd- 
ities of  our  superior  left  the  seminary  a  few  days  after.  The 
rest,  with  me,  had  not  the  moral  courage  to  follow  their  example, 
but  remained,  stunned  by  the  last  words  of  our  superior. 

I  went  to  my  room  and  fell  on  my  kees,  with  a  torrent  of 
tears  falling  from  my  eyes.  I  was  really  sorry  for  having 
wounded  his  feelings,  but  still  more  so  for  having  dared  for  a 
moment  to  oppose  my  own  feeble  and  fallible  reason  to  the 
mighty  and  infallible  intelligence  of  my  Church! 

At  first  it  appeared  to  me  that  I  was  only  combatting,  in  a 
^■espectful  way,  against  my  old  friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon;  but 
I  had  received  it  from  his  own  lips  that  I  had  really  fought 
against  the  Lord! 

After  having  spent  a  long  and  dark  night  of  anguish  and 
remorse,  my  first  action,  the  next  day,  was  to  go  to  confession, 
and  ask  my  confessor,  with  tears  of  regret,  pardon  for  the  sins  I 
had  committed  and  the  scandal  I  had  given. 

Had  I  listened  to  the  voice  of  my  conscience,  I  certainly 
would  have  left  the  seminary  that  day;  for  they  told  me  that  I 
had  confounded  my  superior  and  pulverized  all  his  arguments. 
Reason  and  conscience  told  me  that  the  vov^^  of  celibacy  was  a 
sin  against  logic,  morality  and  God;  that  that  vow  could  not  be 
sustained  by  any  argument  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  logic  or 
common  sense.  But  I  was  a  most  sincere  Roman  Catholic.  I 
had  therefore  to  fight  a  new  battle  against  my  conscience  and 
intelligence,  so  as  to  subdue  and  silence  them  forever!  Many  a 
time  it  was  my  hope,  before  this,  to  have  succeeded  in  slaughter- 
ing them  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  my  Church ;  but  that  day, 
far  from  being  forever  silenced  and  buried,  they  had  come  out 
again  with  renewed  force,  to  \vaken  me  from  the  terrible 
illusions  in  which  I  was  living.  Nevertheless,  after  a  long  and 
frightful  battle,  my  hope  was  that  they  were  perfectly  subdued 
and  buried  under  the  feet  of  the  holy  Fathers,  the  learned  theo- 


140  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

logjans  and  the  venerable  popes,  whose  voice  only  I  wm 
determined  now  to  follow.  I  felt  a  real  calm  after  that  struggle. 
It  was  evidently  the  silence  of  death,  although  my  confessor 
told  me  it  was  the  peace  of  God.  More  than  ever  I  determined 
to  have  no  knowledge,  no  thought,  no  will,  no  light,  no  desires, 
no  science  but  that  which  my  Church  would  give  me  through 
my  superior.  I  was  fallible,  she  was  infallible!  I  was  a  sinner, 
she  was  the  immaculate  spouse  of  Jesus  Christ!  I  was  weak, 
she  had  more  power  than  the  great  waters  of  the  ocean!  I  w^as 
but  an  atom,  she  was  covering  the  world  with  her  glory! 
What,  therefore,  could  I  have  to  fear  in  humbling  myself  to  her 
feet,  to  live  of  her  life,  to  be  strong  of  her  strength,  wise  of  her 
wisdom,  holy  with  her  holiness?  Had  not  my  superior  repeat- 
edly told  me  that  no  error,  no  sin  would  be  imputed  to  me  as 
long  as  I  obeyed  my  Church  and  walked  in  her  ways? 

With  these  sentiments  of  a  most  profound  and  perfect  respect 
for  my  Church,  I  irrevocably  consecrated  myself  to  her  service 
on  the  4th  of  May,  1832,  by  making  the  vow  of  celibacy  and  ac- 
«pting  the  office  of  sub-deacon. 


Chapter  XV. 

THE  IMFUBITITLES  OF  THE  THBOIiOGT  OF  BOKE. 

"The  mother  of  harlots  and  abominations." — Rev.  xvii.  J. 

CONSTRAINED  by  the  voice  of  my  conscience  to  reveal 
the  impurities  of  the  theology  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  I 
feel,  in  doing  so,  a  sentiment  of  inexpressible  shame.  They  ar« 
of  such  a  loathsome  nature,  that  often  they  cannot  be  expressed 
in  any  living  language. 

How^ever  great  may  have  been  the  corruptions  in  the  theo- 
logies and  priests  of  paganism,  there  is  nothing  in  their  records 
which  can  be  compared  with  the  depravity  of  those  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Before  the  day  on  which  the  theology  of 
Rome  was  inspired  by  Satan,  the  world  had  certainly  witnessed 
many  dark  deeds;  bvt  vice  had  never  been  clothed  with  the 
mantle  of  theology : — the  most  shameful  forms  of  iniquity  had 
never  been  publicly  taught  in  the  schools  of  the  old  pagan  priest, 
under  the  pretext  of  saving  the  world.  No  !  neither  had  the 
priests  or  the  idols  been  forced  to  attend  meetings  where  the 
most  degrading  forms  of  iniquity  were  objects  of  the  most  min- 
ute study,  and  that  under  the  pretext  of  glorifying  God. 

Let  those  who  understand  Latin  read  the  pages  which  I  give 
at  the  end  of  my  book,  "  The  Priest,  the  Woman,  and  the 
Confessional, "  and  then  decide  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
sentiments  therein  contained  are  not  enough  to  shock  the 
feelings  of  the  most  depraved.  And  let  it  be  remembered  that 
all  those  abominations  have  to  be  studied,  learned  by  heart  and 
thoroughly  understood  by  men  who  have  to  make  a  vow  never 
to  marry  !  For  it  is  not  till  after  his  vow  of  celibacy  that  the 
student  in  theology  is  initiated  into   those  mysteries  of  iniquity. 

Has  the  world  ever  witnessed  such  a  sacrilegious  comedy  ? 

141 


^' 


142  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

A  young  man  about  twenty  years  of  age  has  been  enticed  to 
make  a  vo-w  of  perpetual  celibacy,  and  the  very  next  day  the 
Church  of  Rome  puts  under  the  eye  of  his  soul  the  most  infamous 
spectacle  ?  She  fills  his  memory  with  the  most  disgusting  images ! 
She  tickles  all  his  senses  and  pollutes  his  ears  not  by  imaginary 
representations,  but  by  realities  which  would  shock  the  most 
abandoned  in  vice  ! 

For,  let  it  be  well  understood,  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible 
for  one  to  study  those  questions  of  Roman  Theology,  and  fathom 
those  forms  of  iniquity  without  having  his  body  as  well  as  his 
mind  plunged  into  a  state  the  most  degrading.  Moreover,  Rome 
does  not  even  try  to  conceal  the  overwhelming  power  of  this 
kind  of  teaching ;  she  does  not  even  attempt  to  make  it  a  secret 
from  the  victims  of  her  incomparable  depravity,  but  bravely 
TELLS  them  that  the  study  of  those  questions  will  act  with  at 
irresistible  power  upon  those  organs,  and  without  a  blush  says 
"  that  pollution  must  follow  !  !  ! " 

But  in  order  that  the  Church  of  Rome  may  more  certainly 
destroy  her  victims,  and  that  they  may  not  escape  from  the  abyss 
which  she  has  dug  under  their  feet,  she  tells  them  "There  is  no 
sin  for  you  in  those  pollutions  !"      (Dens,  vol.  i.,  p.  315.) 

But  Rome  must  bewitch,  so  as  the  better  to  secure  their 
destruction.  She  puts  to  their  lips  the  cup  of  her  enchantments, 
the  more  certainly  to  kill  their  souls,  dethrone  God  from  their 
consciences,  and  abrogate  his  eternal  laws  of  holiness.  What 
answer  does  Rome  give  those  who  reproach  her  with  the  awful 
impurity  of  her  theology.  "  My  theological  works,"  she 
answers,  "  are  all  written  in  Latin;  the  people  cannot  read  them. 
No  evil,  no  scandal,  therefore,  can  come  from  them  ! "  But 
this  answer  is  a  miserable  subterfage.  Is  this  not  the  public 
acknowledgment  that  her  theology  would  be  exceedingly 
injurious  to  the  people  if  it  were  read  and  understood  by  them  ?" 

By  saying,  "  My  theological  works  are  written  in  Latin, 
therefore  the  people  cannot  be  defiled,  as  they  do  not  understand 
them,"  Rome  does  acknowledge  that  these  works  would  only 
act  as  a  pestilence  among  the  people  were  they  read  and 
understood  bv  them.     But  are   not   the   one    hundred   thousand 


THE    IMPURITIES    OF    THE    THEOLOGY    OF    ROME.  I43 

priests  of  Rome  bound  to  explain  in  every  known  tongue,  and 
present  to  the  mind  of  every  nation,  the  theology  contained  ia 
those  books  ?  Are  they  not  bound  to  make  every  polluting 
sentence  in  them  flow  into  the  ears,  imagination,  hearts  and 
minds  of  all  the  married  and  unmarried  women  whom  Rome 
holds  in  her  grasp  ? 

I  exaggerate  nothing  when  I  say  that  not  fewer  than  half  a 
million  women  every  day  are  compelled  to  hear  in  their  own 
language,  almost  every  polluting  sentence  and  impure  notion  of 
the  diabolical  science. 

And  here  I  challenge,  most  fearlessly,  the  Church  of  Rome 
to  deny  what  I  say,  when  I  state  that  the  daily  average  of  women 
who  go  to  confession  to  each  priest,  is  ten.  But  let  us  reduce  th" 
number  to  five.  Then  the  two  hundred  thousand  priests 
who  are  scattered  over  the  whole  world,  hear  the  confessions 
of  one  million  wonic-n  every  dav.  Well,  now,  out  of 
one  hundred  women  who  confess,  there  are  at  least  ninety-nine 
whom  the  priest  is  bound  in  conscience  to  pollute,  bv  questioning 
them  on  the  matters  lyentioned  in  "  The  Priest,  the  Woman  and 
the  Confessional. ''  I  low  can  one  be  surprised  at  the  rapid  down- 
fall of  the  nations  who  are  under  the  yoke  of  the  Pope  .'' 

The  public  statistics  of  the  European,  as  well  as  of  American 
nations,  show  that  there  is  among  Roman  Catholics  nearly  double 
the  amount  of  prostitution,  bastardy,  theft,  perjury  and  murder, 
than  is  found  among  Protestant  nations.  Where  must  we,  then, 
look  for  the  cause  of  those  stupendous  facts,  if  noi  in  the  corrupt 
teachings  of  the  theology  of  Rome.  How  can  the  Roman 
Catholic  nations  hope  to  raise  themselves  in  the  scale  of  Christian 
dignity  and  morality  as  long  as  there  remain  two  hundred 
thousand  priests  in  their  midst,  bound  in  conscience  every  day  to 
pollute  the  minds,  and  the  hearts  of  their  mothers,  their  wives 
and  their  daughters. 

And  here  let  me  say,  once  for  all,  that  I  am  not  induced  to 
speak  as  I  do  from  any  motive  of  contempt  or  unchristian  feeling 
against  the  theological  professors  who  have  initiated  me  into 
those  mysteries  of  iniquitv.  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Raimbault  and 
Leprohon  were,  and  in  my  mind    they  still  are,  as    venerable   as 


144  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

men  can  be  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  As  I  have  been  myself, 
and  as  all  the  priests  of  Rome  are,  they  were  plunged  into  the 
abyss  without  understanding  it,  into  the  abyss  of  the  most  stolid 
ignorance.  They  were  crushed,  as  I  was  myself,  under  a  yoke 
w^hich  bound  their  understanding  to  the  dust  and  polluted  their 
hearts  without  measure.  We  were  embarked  together  on  a 
ship,  the  first  appearance  of  which  was  really  magnificent,  but 
the  bottom  of  which  was  irremediably  rotten.  Without  the 
true  Pilot  on  board  we  were  left  to  perish  on  unknown  shoals. 
Out  of  this  sinking  ship  the  hand  of  God  alone,  in  his  merciful 
providence,  rescued  me.  I  pity  those  friends  of  my  youth,  but 
despise  them  ?  hate  them  ?     No  !     Never  !     Never  ! 

Every  time  our  theological  teachers  gave  us  our  lessons,  it 
was  evident  that  they  blushed  in  the  inmost  part  of  their  souls. 
Their  consciences  as  honest  men  were  evidently  forbidding  them, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  open  their  mouths  on  such  matters,  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  slaves  and  priests  of  the  Pope,  they  were 
compelled  to  speak  without  reserve. 

After  our  lessons  in  theology,  we  students  used  to  be  filled 
with  such  a  sentiment  of  shame  that  sometimes  we  hardly  dared 
to  look  at  each  other;  and,  when  alone  in  our  rooms,  those 
horrible  pictures  were  affecting  our  hearts,  in  spite  of  ourselves, 
as  the  rust  affects  and  corrodes  the  hardest  and  purest  steel. 
More  than  one  of  my  fellow-students  told  me,  with  tears  of 
shame  and  rage,  that  they  regretted  to  have  bound  themselves 
by  perpetual  oaths  to  minister  at  the  altars  of  the  Church. 

One  day  one  of  the  students,  called  Desaulnier,  who  was 
sick  in  the  same  room  with  me,  asked  me:  '-Chiniquy,  what  do 
you  think  of  the  matters  which  are  the  objects  of  our  present 
theological  studies  .''  Is  it  not  a  burning  shame  that  we  must 
allow  our  minds  to  be  so  polluted  }  " 

"  I  cannot  sufficiently  tell  you  my  feelings  of  disgust, "  I 
answered.  "Had  I  known  sooner  that  we  were  to  be  dragged 
over  such  a  ground,  I  certainly  never  would  have  nailed  my 
future  to  the  banners  under  which  we  are  irrevocably  bound 
to  live." 

"Do  vou  know,"  said   Desaulnier,    "that  I   am  determined 


THE    IMPURITIES    OF    THE    THEOLOGY    OF    ROME.  I45 

never  to  consent  to  be  ordained  a  priest ;  for  when  I  think  of  the 
fact  that  the  priest  is  bound  to  confer  with  women  on  all  these 
polluting   matters,  I  feel  an  insurmountable  disgust  and  shame. " 

"  I  am  not  less  troubled, "  I  replied.  "  My  head  aches  and 
my  heart  sinks  withm  me,  when  I  hear  our  theologians  telling 
us  that  we  will  be  in  conscience  bound  to  speak  to  females  on 
these  impure  subjects.  Hut  sometimes  this  looks  to  me  as  if  it 
were  a  bad  dream,  the  impure  phantoms  of  which  will  disappear 
at  the  first  awakening.  Our  Church,  which  is  so  pure  and  holy, 
that  she  can  only  be  served  by  the  spotless  virgins,  surely  cannot 
compel  us  to  pollute  (jur  lips,  thoughts,  souls,  and  even  our 
bodies,  by  speaking  to  strange  women  on   matters  so  defiling  !" 

"  But  we  are  near  the  hour  at  which  the  good  Mr.  Leprohon 
is  in  the  habit  of  visiting  us.  Will  you,"  said  1,  '"promise  to 
stand  by  me  on  what  1  shall  ask  him  on  this  subject  ?  I  hope  to 
get  from  him  a  pledge  tiiat  we  will  not  be  compelled  to  be 
polluted  in  the  confessional  by  the  women  who  will  confess  to 
us.  The  purity  and  holiness  of  our  superior  is  of  such  a  high 
character,  that  I  am  sure  he  has  never  said  a  word  to  females  on 
those  degrading  matters.  In  spite  of  all  the  theologians,  Mr. 
Leprohon  will  allow  us  to  keep  our  tongues  and  our  hearts,  as 
well  as  our  bodies,  pure  in  the  confessional.  " 

"  I  have  had  the  desire  to  speak  to  him  on  this  subject  for 
some  time,"  rejoined  Desaulnier,  "  but  my  courage  failed  mc 
every  time  I  attempted  to  do  so.  I  am  glad,  therefore,  that  you 
are  to  break  the  ice,  and  I  will  certainly  support  you,  as  I  have 
a  longing  desire  to  know  something  more  in  regard  to  the 
mysteries  of  the  confessional.  If  we  be  at  liberty  never  to 
speak  to  women  on  those  horrors,  I  will  consent  to  serve  the 
Church  as  a  priest;  but  if  not,  I  will  never  be  a  priest." 

A  few  minutes  after  this  our  superior  entered,  to  kindly 
inquire  how  we  had  rested  the  night  before.  Having  thanked 
him  for  his  kindness,  I  opened  the  volumes  of  Dens  and  Liguori, 
which  were  on  our  table,  and,  with  a  blush,  putting  my  fingers 
on  one  of  the  infamous  chapters  referred  to,  I  said  to  him: 

"After  God,  you  have  the  first  place  in  my  heart  since  my 
mother's  death,  and    vou  know   it.      I  take  }  ou,  not  only  as  my 


146  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

benefactor,  but  also,  as  it  were,  as  my  father  and  mother.  You 
will  therefore  tell  me  all  I  want  to  know  in  these  my  hours  of 
anxiety,  through  'which  God  is  pleased  to  make  me  pass.  To 
follow  your  advice,  not  to  say  your  commands,  I  have  lately 
consented  to  receive  the  order  of  sub-deacon,  and  I  have  in 
consequence  taken  the  vow  of  perpetual  celibacy.  But  I  will 
not  conceal  the  fact  from  you  that  I  had  not  a  clear  understanding 
of  what  I  was  then  doing;  and  Delsaulnier  has  just  stated  to  me, 
that  until  recently  he  had  no  more  idea  of  the  nature  of  that 
promise,  nor  of  the  difficulties  which  we  now  see  ahead  of  us  in 
our  priestly  life,  than  I  had. 

"  But  Dens,  Liguori  and  St.  Thomas  nave  given  us  notions 
quite  new  in  regard  to  marry  things.  They  have  directed  our 
minds  to  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  which  are  in  us,  as  well  as 
in  every  other  child  of  Adam.  They  have,  in  a  word,  directed 
our  minds  into  regions  which  were  quite  new  and  unexplored  by 
us;  and  I  dare  say  that  every  one  of  those  whom  we  have 
known,  whether  in  this  house  or  elsewhere,  who  have  made  the 
same  vow,  could  tell  the  same  tale. 

"However,  I  do  not  speak  for  them ;  I  speak  only  for  myself 
and  Desaulnier.  For  God's  sake,  please  tell  us  if  we  will  be 
bound  in  conscience  to  speak  in  the  confessional,  to  the  married 
and  unmarried  females,  on  such  impure  and  defiling  questions  as 
are  contained  in  the  theologians  befoi-e  us  ?  " 

"  Most  undoubtedly,"  replied  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon ;  "  because 
the  learned  and  holy  theologians  whose  writings  are  in  your 
hands  are  positive  on  that  question.  It  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  you  should  question  your  female  penitents  on  such  matters; 
for,  as  a  general  thing,  girls  and  married  women  are  too  timid 
to  confess  those  sins,  of  which  they  are  even  more  frequently 
guilty  than  men,  therefore  they  must  be  helped  by  questioning 
them.  " 

"  But  have  you  not, "  I  rejoined,  "  induced  us  to  make  an 
oath  that  we  should  always  remain  pure  and  undefiled  ?  How 
is  it,  then,  that  to-day  you  put  us  in  such  a  position  that  it  is 
almost  an  impossibility  for  us  to  be  true  to  our  sacred  promise  ? 
For  the  theologians  are  unanimous  that  those  questions  put  bjr 


THE     IMPURITIES    (JF     THE     THEOLOGY     OF     ROME.  1 47 

US  to  our  female  penitents,  together  with  the  recital  of  their 
Bccret  sins,  will  act  with  such  an  irresistible  power  upon  us  that 
we  will  be  polluted. 

"  Would  it  not  be  better  for  us  to  feel  those  things  in  the 
holy  bonds  of  marriage,  with  our  wives,  and  according  to  the 
laws  of  God,  than  in  company  and  conversation  with  strange 
women  ?  Because,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  theologians  which 
are  in  our  hands,  no  priest  —  not  even  you,  my  dear  Mr. 
Leprohon,  can  hear  the  confessions  of  women  without  being 
defiled.  " 

Here  Desaulnier  interrupted  me,  and  said:  "My  dear  Mr. 
Leprohon,  I  concur  in  everything  Chiniquy  has  just  been  telling 
you.  Would  we  not  be  more  chaste  and  pure  by  living  with 
our  lawful  wives,  than  by  daily  exposing  ourselves  in  the 
confessional  in  company  of  women  whose  presence  will  irresist- 
ibly drag  us  into  the  most  shameful  pit  of  impurity  ?  I  ask  you, 
my  dear  sir,  what  will  become  of  my  vow  of  perfect  and 
perpetual  chastity,  when  the  seducing  presence  of  my  neighbor's 
wife,  or  the  enchanting  words  of  his  daughfer,  will  have  defiled 
me  through  the  confessional.  After  all,  I  may  be  looked  upon 
by  the  people  as  a  chaste  man;  but  what  will  I  be  in  the  eyes  of 
God  ?  The  people  may  entertain  the  thought  that  I  am  a  strong 
and  honest  man;  but  will  I  not  be  a  broken  reed  r  Will  God 
not  be  the  witness  that  the  irresistible  temptations  which  will 
have  assailed  me  when  hearing  the  secret  sins  of  some  sw^eet 
and  tempting  women,  will  have  deprived  me  of  that  glorious 
crown  of  chastity  for  which  I  have  so  dearly  paid  ?  Men  will 
think  that  I  am  an  angel  of  purity;  but  my  own  conscience 
will  tell  me  that  I  am  nothing  but  a  skillful  hypocrite.  For 
according  to  all  the  theologians,  the  confessional  is  the  tomb  of 
the  chastity  of  priests  !  !  If  I  hear  the  confession  of  women,  I 
will  be  like  all  other  priests,  in  a  tomb,  well  painted  and  gilded 
on  the  outside,  but  within  full  of  corruption." 

Francis  Desaulnier,  just  as  he  had  foretold  me,  refused  to  be 
a  priest.  He  remained  all  his  life  in  the  orders  of  the  sub- 
deaconate,  in  the  College  of  Nicolet,  as  a  Professor  of  Philo- 
sophy,    He  was  a  man  who  seldom   spoke  in  conversation,  but 


148  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

thought  very  much.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  still  see  him  there, 
under  that  tall  centenary  tree,  alone,  during  the  long  hours  of 
intermission,  and  many  long  days  during  our  holidays,  while  the 
rest  of  the  students  passed  hither  and  thither,  singing  and 
playing,  on  the  enchanting  banks  of   the  river  of  Nicolet. 

He  was  a  good  logician  and  a  profound  mathematician ;  and 
although  affable  to  everyone,  he  was  not  communicative.  I  was 
probably  the  only  one  to  \vhom  he  opened  his  mind  concerning 
the  great  questions  of  Christianity — faith,  history,  the  Church 
and  her  discipline.  He  repeatedly  said  to  me:  "  I  wish  I  had 
never  opened  a  book  of  theology.  Our  theologians  are  without 
heart,  soul  or  logic.  Many  of  them  approve  of  theft,  lies  and 
perjury;  others  drag  us,  without  a  blush,  into  the  most  filthy 
pits  of  iniquity.  Every  one  of  them  would  like  to  make  an 
assassin  of  every  Catholic.  According  to  their  doctrine,  Christ 
is  nothing  but  a  Corsican  brigand,  whose  bloody  disciples  are 
bound  to  destroy  all  the  heretics  by  fire  and  sword.  Were  we 
acting  according  to  the  principles  of  those  theologians,  we  would 
slaughter  all  Protestants  with  the  same  coolness  of  blood  as  we 
would  shoot  down  the  wolf  which  crosses  our  path.  With  their 
hand  still  reddened  with  the  blood  of  St.  Bartholomew  they 
speak  to  us  of  charity,  religion  and  God,  as  if  there  were  neither 
of  them  in  the  world. " 

Desaulnier  was  looked  upon  as  "  ?^«  homme  singulier''''  at 
Nicolet.  He  was  really  an  exception  to  all  the  men  in  the 
seminary.  For  example:  Though  it  was  the  usage  and  the  law 
that  ecclesiastics  should  receive  the  communion  every  month, 
and  upon  every  great  feast  day  of  the  Church,  yet  he  would 
scarcely  take  the  communion  once  a  year.  But  let  me  return  to 
the  interview  with  our  superior. 

Desaulnier's  fearless  and  energetic  words  had  evidently 
made  a  very  painful  impression  upon  our  superior.  It  was  not 
a  usual  thing  for  his  disciples  in  theology  thus  to  take  upon 
themselves  to  speak  with  such  freedom  as  we  both  did  on  this 
occasion.  He  did  not  conceal  his  pain  at  what  he  called  our 
unbecoming  and  unchristian  attack  upon  some  of  the  most  holy 
ordinances  of  the  Church;  and  after  he   had   refuted  Desaulnier 


THE    IMPURITIES    OF    THE    THEOLOGY    OF    ROME.  I49 

in  the  best  way  he  could,  he  turned  to  me  and  said :  "  My  dear 
Chiniquy,  I  have  repeatedly  warned  you  against  the  habit  you 
have  of  listening  to  your  own  frail  reasoning,  when  you  should 
only  obey  as  a  dutiful  child.  Were  we  to  believe  you  we 
would  immediately  set  ourselves  to  work  to  reform  the  Church 
and  abolish  the  confession  of  women  to  priests;  we  would  throw 
all  our  theological  books  into  the  fire  and  have  new  ones  written, 
better  adapted  to  your  fancy.  What  does  all  this  prove  ?  Only 
one  thing,  and  that  is,  that  the  devil  of  pride  is  tempting  you  as 
he  has  tempted  all  the  so-called  Reformers,  and  destroyed  them 
as  he  w^ould  you.  If  you  do  not  take  care,  you  will  become 
another  Luther  ! 

"  The  theological  books  of  St.  Thomas,  Liguori  and  Dens 
have  been  approved  by  the  Church.  How,  therefore,  do  you 
not  see  the  ridicule  and  danger  of  your  position.  On  one  side, 
then,  I  see  all  our  holy  popes,  the  two  thousand  Catholic 
bishops,  all  our  learned  theologians  and  priests,  backed  up  by 
our  two  hundred  millions  of  Roman  Catholics  drawn  up  as  an 
innumerable  army  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  Lord;  and  on  the 
other  side,  what  do  I  see  ?  Nothing  but  mv  small,  though  very 
dear  Chiniquy  ! 

"  How,  then,  is  it  that  you  do  not  fear,  when  with  your 
weak  reasoning  you  oppose  the  mighty  reasoning  and  light  of 
so  many  holy  popes,  venerable  bishops  and  learned  theologians  ? 
Is  it  not  just  as  absurd  for  you  to  try  to  reform  the  Church  by 
your  small  reasons,  as  it  is  for  the  grain  of  sand  which  is  found 
at  the  foot  of  the  great  mountain  to  try  to  turn  that  mighty 
mountain  out  of  its  place  ?  or  for  the  small  drop  of  water  to 
attempt  to  throw  the  boundless  ocean  out  of  its  bed,  or  try  to 
oppose  the  running  tides  of  the  Polar  seas  ? 

"  Believe  me,  and  take  my  friendly  advice,"  continued  our 
superior,  "before  it  is  too  late.  Let  the  small  grain  of  sand 
remain  still  at  the  foot  of  the  majestic  mountain  !  and  let  the 
humble  drop  of  water  consent  to  follow  the  irresistible  currents 
of  the  boundless  seas,  and  everything  will  be  in  order. 

*'  All  the  good  priests  who  have  heard  the  confessions  of 
women  before  us  have  been  sanctified  and  have  had  their  soals 


150  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

saved,  even  when  their  bodies  were  polluted;  for  those  carnal 
pollutions  are  nothing  but  human  miseries,  which  cannot  defile 
a  soul  which  desires  to  remain  united  to  God.  Are  the  rays  of 
the  sun  defiled  by  coming  down  into  the  mud.?  No  !  The  rays 
remain  pure,  and  return  spotless  to  the  shining  orb  whence  they 
came.  So  the  heart  of  a  good  priest  —  as  I  hope  my  dear 
Chiniquy  will  be — will  remain  pure  and  holy  in  spite  of  the 
accidental  and  unavoidable  defilement  of  the  flesh. 

"  Apart  from  those  things,  in  your  ordination  you  will  receive 
a  special  grace  which  will  change  you  into  another  man;  and  the 
Virgin  Mary,  to  whom  you  will  constantly  address  yourself  will 
obtain  for  you  a  perfect  purity  from  her  Son. 

"  The  defilement  of  the  flesh  spoken  of  by  the  theologians, 
and  which,  I  confess,  is  unavoidable  when  hearing  the  con- 
fessions of  women,  must  not  trouble  you;  for  they  are  not 
sinful,  as  Dens  and  Liguori  assure  us.  (Dens,  vol.  i.,  pages 
299,  309.) 

"  But  enough  on  that  subject.  I  forbid  you  to  speak  to  me 
any  more  on  those  idle  questions,  and,  as  much  as  my  authority 
is  anything  to  you  both,  I  forbid  you  to  say  a  word  more  to  each 
other  on  that  matter  !" 

It  was  my  fond  hope  that  my  dear  and  so  much  venerated 
Mr.  Leprohon  would  answer  me  with  some  good  and  reasonable 
arguments ;  but  he,  to  my  surprise,  silenced  the  voice  of  our  con- 
science by  "  un  coup  d'etat?'' 

Nevertheless,  the  idea  of  that  miserable  grain  of  sand  which 
so  ridiculously  attempted  to  remove  the  stately  mountain,  and 
also  of  that  all  but  perceptible  drop  of  water  which  attempted 
to  oppose  itself  to  the  onward  motion  of  the  vast  ocean,  singularly 
struck  and  humbled  me.  I  remained  silent  and  confused,  though 
not  convinced. 

This  was  not  all.  Those  rays  of  the  sun,  which  could  not 
be  defiled,  even  when  going  down  into  the  mud,  after  bewilder- 
ing one  by  their  glittering  appearance,  left  my  soul  more  in  the 
dark  than  ever.  I  could  not  resist  a  presentiment  that  I  was  in 
the  presence  of  an  imposition,  and  of  a  glittering  sophism. 
But    I   had  neither  sufficient  learning,  moral  courage,  nor  graca 


THE    IMPURITIES    OF    THE    THEOLOGY    OF    ROME.  151 

from  God  clearly  to  see  through  that  misty  cloud,  and  to  expel 
it  from  my  mind. 

Almost  every  month  of  the  ten  years  which  I  had  passed  in 
the  seminary  of  Nicolet,  priests  of  the  district  of  Three  Rivers 
and  elsewhere  were  sent  by  the  bishops  to  spend  two  or  three 
■weeks  in  doing  penances  for  having  bastards  by  their  nieces, 
their  housekeepers  and  their  fair  penitents.  Even  not  long 
before  this  conversation  with  our  director,  the  curate  of  St. 
Francois,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Amiot,  had  in  the  very  same  week  two 
children  by  two  of  his  fair  penitents,  both  of  whom  were  sisters. 
One  of  those  girls  gave  birth  to  her  child  at  the  parsonage  the 
very  night  on  which  the  bishop  was  on  his  episcopal  visit  to 
that  parish.  These  public  and  undeniable  facts  were  not  much 
in  harmony  with  those  beautiful  theories  of  our  venerable 
director  concerning  the  rays  of  the  sun,  which  "  remained  pure 
and  undefiled,  even  when  warming  and  vivifying  the  mud  of 
our  planet."  The  facts  had  frequently  occurred  to  my  mind 
while  Mr.  Leprohon  was  speaking,  and  I  was  tempted  more 
than  once  to  ask  him  respectfully  if  he  really  thought  these 
"  shining  rays,"  the  priests,  had  thus  come  into  the  mire,  and 
would  then  return,  like  the  rays  of  the  sun,  without  taking  back 
with  them  something  of  the  mire  in  which  they  had  been  so 
strangely  wallowing.  But  my  respect  for  Mr.  Leprohon  sealed 
my  lips. 

When  I  returned  to  my  room,  I  fell  on  my  knees  to  ask  God 
to  pardon  me  for  having,  for  a  moment,  thought  otherwise  than 
the  popes  and  theologians  of  Rome.  I  again  felt  angry  with 
myself  for  having  dared,  for  a  single  moment,  to  have  arrayed 
my  poor  little  and  imperceptible  grain  of  sand — drop  of  water — 
and  personal  and  contemptible  understanding  against  that 
sublime  mountain  of  strength,  that  vast  ocean  of  learning,  and 
that  immensely  divine  wisdom  of  the  popes  ! 

But,  alas  !  I  was  not  yet  aware  that  when  Jesus  in  His 
mercy  sends  into  a  perishing  soul  a  single  ray  of  His  grace,  that 
there  is  more  light  and  wisdom  in  that  soul  than  in  all  the  popes 
and  their  theologians  ! 

I  was  then  taught  what  the  real  foundation  of  the  Church  of 


152  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Rome  is,  and  sincerely  believed  that  to  think  for  myself  was  a 
damnable  impiety — that  to  look  and  see  with  my  own  eyes,  and 
understand  with  my  own  mind,  was  an  unpardonable  sin.  To 
be  saved  I  had  to  believe,  not  what  I  considered  to  be  the  truth, 
but  what  the  popes  told  me  to  be  the  truth.  I  had  to  look  and 
see  every  object  of  faith,  just  as  every  true  Roman  Catholic  of 
to-day  has  to  look  and  see  the  same,  through  the  Pope's  eyes  or 
those  of  his  theologians. 

Hov^^ever  absurd  and  impious  this  belief  may  be,  yet  it  was 
mine,  and  it  is  also  the  belief  of  every  true  member  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  to-day.  The  glorious  light  and  grace  of  God 
could  not  possibly  flow  directly  from  Him  to  me ;  they  had  to 
pass  through  the  Pope  and  his  Church,  which  were  my  only 
mountain  of  strength  and  only  ocean  of  light.  It  was,  then,  my" 
firm  belief  that  there  was  an  impassable  abyss  between  myself 
and  God,  and  that  the  Pope  and  his  Church  were  the  only 
bridge  by  which  I  could  have  communication  with  Him.  That 
stupendously  high  and  most  sublime  mountain,  the  Pope,  was^ 
between  myself  and  God;  and  all  that  was  allowed  my  poor 
soul  was  'to  raise  itself  and  travel  with  great  difficulty  till  it 
attained  the  foot  of  that  holy  mountain,  the  Pope,  and,  pros- 
trating itself  there  in  the  dust,  ask  him  to  let  me  know  what  my 
yet  distant  God  would  have  me  do.  The  promises  of  mercy, 
truth,  light  and  life  were  all  vested  in  this  great  mountain,  the 
Pope,  from  whom  alone  they  could  descend  upon  my  poor  lost 
soul  ! 

Darkness,  ignorance,  uncertainty  and  eternal  loss  were  my 
lot  the  very  moment  I  ceased  woi'shipping  at  the  feet  of  the 
Pope  !  The  God  of  Heaven  was  not  my  God;  He  was  only  the 
God  of  the  Pope.  The  Saviour  of  the  world  was  not  my 
Saviour;  he  was  only  the  Pope's.  Therefore  it  w^as  through 
the  Pope  only  that  I  could  receive  Christ  as  my  Saviour,  and  to 
the  Pope  alone  had  I  to  go,  to  know  the  way,  the  truth  and  the 
life  of  my  soul  ! 

God  alone  knows  what  a  dark  and  terrible  night  I  passed 
after  this  meeting  !  I  had  again  to  smother  my  conscience, 
dismantle  my  reason,  and  bring  them  all  under  the  turpitudes  of 


THE    IMPURITIES    OF    THE    THEOLOGY    OF    ROME.  I53 

the  theologies  of  Rome,  which  are  so  well  calculated  to  keep 
the  world  fettered  in  ignorance,  superstition,  and  death. 

But  God  saw  the  tears  with  which  I  bedewed  my  pillow 
that  night.  He  heard  the  cry  of  my  agonizing  soul,  and  in  His 
infinite  love  and  mercy  determined  to  come  to  my  rescue,  and 
save  me.  If  He  saw  fit  to  leave  me  many  years  more  in  t\\e 
slavery  of  Egypt,  it  was  that  I  might  better  know  the  plagues 
of  that  land  of  darkness,  and  the  iron  chains  which  are  there 
prepared  for  poor  lost  souls. 

When  the  hour  of  my  deliverance  came,  the  Lord  took  mc 
by  the  hand  and  helped  me  to  cross  the  Red  Sea.  He  brought 
me  to  the  Land  of  Promise — a  land  of  peace,  life  and  joy  which 
pasfieth  all  understanding. 


Chapter  XVI. 

THE  FBEEST  OF  BOME  AND  THE  HOLY  FATHERS:  OB  HOW  I 
SWORE  TO  GIVE  UP  THE  WORD  OF  GOD  TO  FOLLOW  THE 
WORD  OF  MEN. 

THERE  are  several  imposing  ceremonies  at  the  ordination  of 
a  priest;  and  I  will  never  forget  the  joy  I  felt  when  the 
Roman  Pontiff  presentnig  to  me  the  Bible,  ordered  me,  with  a 
solemn  voice,  to  study  and  preach  it.  That  order  passed 
through  my  soul  as  a  beam  of  light.  But,  alas  !  those  rays  of 
light  and  life  were  soon  to  be  followed,  as  a  flash  of  lightning 
in  a  stormy  night,  by  the  most  sudden  and  distressing  darkness  ! 

When  holding  the  sacred  volume,  I  accepted  with  unspeak- 
able joy  the  command  of  studying  and  preaching  its  saving 
truth;  but  I  felt  as  if  a  thunderbolt  had  fallen  upon  me  when  I 
pronounced  the  awful  oath  which  is  required  from  every  priest: 
"  /  ivill  never  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  except  according 
to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  leathers.  " 

Many  times,  with  the  other  students  in  theology,  I  had 
discussed  the  nature  of  that  strange  oath ;  still  more  often,  in  the 
silence  of  my  meditations,  alone  in  the  presence  of  God,  I  had 
tried  to  fathom  the  bottomless  abyss  which,  it  seemed  to  me, 
was  dug  under  my  feet  by  it,  and  every  time  my  conscience  had 
shrunk  in  terror  from  its  consequences.  But  I  was  not  the  only- 
one  in  the  seminary  who  contemplated,  with  an  anxious  mind, 
its  evidently  blasphemous  nature. 

About  six  months  before  our  ordination,  Stephen  Baillargeon, 
one  of  my  fellow^  theological  students,  had  said  in  my  presence 
to  our  superior,  the  Rev.  Mr,  Raimbault :  "  Allow  me  to  tell 
vou  that  one  of  the  things  with  which  I  cannot  reconcile  my 
conscience  is  the  solemn  oath  we  will  have  to   take,  '  That  we 

IS4 


THE    PRIEST    OK    ROME    AND    THE    HOLY    FATHERS.  155 

will  never  interpret  the  Scriptures  except  according  to  the 
unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers  ! '  We  have  not  given 
a  single  hour  yet  to  the  serious  study  of  the  Holy  Fathers.  I 
know  many  priests,  and  not  a  single  one  of  them  has  ever 
studied  the  Holy  Fathers;  they  have  not  even  got  them  in  their 
libraries!  We  will  probably  walk  in  their  footsteps.  It  may 
be  that  not  a  single  volume  of  the  Holy  Fathers  will  ever  fall 
into  our  hands  !  In  the  name  of  common  sense,  how  can  we 
swear  that  we  will  follow  the  sentiments  of  men  of  whom  we 
know  absolutely  nothing,  and  about  whom,  it  is  more  probable, 
we  will  never  know  anything,  except  by  mere  vague  hearsay  } 

Our  superior  gave  evident  signs  of  weakness  in  his  answer 
to  that  unexpected  difficulty.  But  his  embarrassment  grew 
much  greater  when  I  said:  "  Baillargeon  cannot  contemplate 
that  oath  without  anxiety,  and  he  has  given  you  some  of  his 
reasons;  but  he  has  not  said  the  last  word  on  that  strange  oath. 
If  you  will  allow  me,  Mr.  Superior,  I  will  present  you  some 
more  formidable  objections.  It  is  not  so  much  on  account  of 
our  ignorance  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Holy  Fathers  that  I  tremble 
when  I  think  that  I  will  have  '  to  swear  never  to  interpret  the 
Scriptures  except  according  to  their  unanimous  consent.'  Would 
to  God  that  I  could  say,  with  Baillargeon,  '  I  know  nothing  of 
the  Holy  Fathers;  how  can  I  swear  that  they  will  guide  me  in 
all  my  ways.? '  It  is  true  that  we  know  so  little  of  them  that  it 
is  supremely  ridiculous,  if  it  is  not  an  insult  to  God  and  man, 
that  we  take  them  for  our  guides.  But  my  regret  is  that  we 
know  already  too  much  of  the  Holy  Fathers  to  be  exempt  from 
perjuring  ourselves,  when  we  swear  that  we  will  not  interpret 
the  Holy  Scriptures  except  according  to  their  unanimous 
consent. 

"  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  Holy  Fathers'  writings  are  so 
p>erfectly  kept  out  of  sight,  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
read  and  study  them  ?  But  even  if  we  had  access  to  them,  have 
we  sufficient  time  at  our  disposal  to  study  them  so  perfectly  that 
we  could  conscientiously  swear  that  we  will  follow  them  ?  And 
if  we  don't  study  them,  hou^  can  we  be  exempted  from  wilful 
f)erjury  the  day  that  we  will  swear  to  follow  them  ?     How  can 


1^6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

we  follow  a  thing  w^e  do  not  see,  which  we  do  not  hear,  and 
about  which  we  do  not  know  more  than  the  man  in  the  moon  ? 
Our  shameful  ignorance  of  the  Holy  Fathei's  is  a  sufficient 
reason  to  make  us  fear  at  the  approach  of  the  solemn  hour  that 
we  will  swear  to  follow  them.  Yes !  But  we  know  enough  of 
the  Holy  Fathers  to  chill  the  blood  in  our  veins  when  swearing 
to  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  only  according  to  their  unani- 
mous consent.  Please,  Mr.  Superior,  tell  us  what  are  the  texts 
of  Scripture  on  which  the  Holy  Fathers  are  unanimous.  You 
respect  yourself  too  much  to  try  to  answer  a  question  which  no 
honest  man  has,  or  will  ever  dare  to  answer.  And  if  you,  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  France,  cannot  put  your  finger  on 
the  texts  of  the  Holy  Bible  and  say,  '  The  Holy  Fathers  are 
perfectly  unanimous  on  these  texts  ! '  how  can  we,  poor  young 
ecclesiastics  of  the  humble  College  of  Nicolet,  say  '  The  Holy 
Fathers  are  unatiimously  of  the  same  mind  on  those  texts?' 
But  if  we  cannot  distinguish  to-day,  and  if  we  shall  never  be  able 
to  distinguish  between  the  texts  on  which  the  Holy  Fathers  are 
unanimous  and  the  ones  on  which  they  differ,  how  can  we  dare 
to  swear  before  God  and  man  to  interpret  every  text  of  the 
Scriptures  only  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Holy  Fathers  ? 

"  By  that  awful  oath,  will  we  not  be  absolutely  bound  to 
remain  mute  as  dead  men  on  every  text  on  which  the  Holy 
Fathers  have  differed,  under  the  evident  penalty  of  becoming 
perjured  ?  Will  not  every  text  on  which  the  Holy  Fathers 
have  differed  become  as  the  dead  carcass  which  the  Israelites 
could  not  touch,  except  by  defiling  themselves  ?  After  that 
strange  oath,  to  interpret  the  Scriptures  only  according  to  the 
unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  will  we  not  be  abso- 
lutely deprived  of  the  privilege  of  studying  or  preaching  on  a 
text  on  which  they  have  differed  ? 

"  The  consequences  of  the  oath  are  legion^  and  every  one  of 
them  seems  to  me  the  death  of  our  ministry,  the  damnation  of 
our  souls  !  You  have  read  the  history  of  the  Church,  as  we 
have  it  here,  written  by  Henrion,  Berrault  -  Bell  -  Costel  and 
Fleury.     Well,  what  is  the   prominent  fact    in    those    reliable 


THE    PRIEST    OF    ROME    AND    THE    HOLY    FATHERS.         I5jr 

histories  of  the  Church  ?  Is  it  not  that  the  Church  has  constantly 
been  filled  with  the  noise  of  the  controversies  of  Holy  Fathers 
with  Holy  Fathers  ?  Do  we  not  find,  on  every  page,  that  the 
Holy  Fathers  of  one  century  very  often  differed  from  the  Holy 
Fathers  of  another  century  in  very  important  matters  ?  Is  it  not 
a  public  and  undeniable  fact,  that  the  history  of  our  Holy  Church 
is  almost  nothing  else  than  the  history  of  the  hard  conflict,  stem 
divisions,  unflinching  contradictions  and  oppositions  of  Holy 
Fathers  to  Holy  Fathers  r 

"  Here  is  a  big  volume  of  manuscript  written  by  me,  contain- 
ing oaily  extracts  from  our  best  Church  historians,  filled  with 
the  public  disputes  of  Holy  Fathers  among  themselves  on  almost 
every  subject  of  Christainity. 

"  There  are  Holy  Fathers  who  say,  with  our  best  modern 
theologians — St.  Thomas,  Bellarmine  and  Liguori — that  we 
must  kill  heretics  as  we  kill  wild  beasts ;  while  many  others  say 
that  we  must  tolerate  them  !  You  all  know  the  name  of  the 
Holy  Father  who  sends  to  hell  all  the  widows  who  marry  a 
second  time,  while  other  Holy  Fathers  are  of  a  different  mind. 
Some  of  them,  you  know  well,  had  very  different  notions  from 
ours  about  purgatory.  Is  it  necessary  for  me  to  give  you  the 
names  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  in  Africa  and  Asia,  who  refused  to 
accept  the  supreme  jurisdiction  we  acknowledge  in  the  Pope 
over  all  churches  ?  Several  Holy  Fathers  have  denied  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Church  of  Rome — you  know  it;  they 
have  laughed  at  the  excommunications  of  the  Popes  !  Some 
even  have  gladly  died  when  excommunicated  by  the  Pope, 
without  doing  anything  to  reconcile  themselves  to  him  !  What 
do  we  find,  in  the  six  volumes  of  letters  we  have  still  from  St. 
Jerome,  if  not  the  undeniable  fact  that  he  filled  the  Church  with 
the  noise  of  his  harsh  denunciations  of  the  scriptural  views  of 
St.  Augustine  on  many  important  points.  You  have  read  those 
letters  ?  Well,  have  you  not  concluded  that  St.  Jerome  and  St. 
Augustine  agreed  almost  only  on  one  thing,  which  was,  to 
disagree  on  every  subject  they  treated  ? 

"  Did  not  St.  Jerome  knock  his  head  against  nearly  all  the 
Holv  Fathers  of  his  time  ?     And  has  he  not  received  hard  knock* 


158  FIFTV    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

from  almost  all  the  Holy  Fathers  with  whom  he  was  acquainted  ? 
Is  it  not  a  public  fact  that  St.  Jerome  and  several  other  Holy 
Fathers  rejected  the  sacred  book  of  the  Maccabees,  Judith, 
Tobias,  just  as  the  heretics  of  our  time  reject  them  ? 

"  And  now  we  are  gravely  asked,  in  the  name  of  the  God  of 
Truth,  to  swear  that  we  will  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  only 
according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  those  Holy  Fathers,  who 
have  been  unanimous  but  in  one  thing,  which  was  never  to 
agree  with  each  other,  and  sometimes  not  even  with  themselves. 

"For  it  is  a  well-known  fact,  though  it  is  a  very  deplorable 
one,  for  instance,  that  St.  Augustine  did  not  always  keep  to  the 
same  correct  views  on  the  text  '  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  that 
rock  I  will  build  my  church. '  After  holding  correct  views  on 
that  fundamental  truth  he  gave  it  up,  at  the  end  of  his  life,  to 
say,  with  the  Protestants  of  our  day,  that  '  upon  that  rock  means 
only  Christ,  and  not  Peter.'  Now,  how  can  I  be  bound  by  such  an 
oath  to  follow  the  views  of  men  who  have  themselves  been 
wavering  and  changing,  when  the  Word  of  God  must  stand  as 
an  unmoving  rock  to  my  heart  ?  If  you  require  from  us  an 
oath,  why  put  into  our  hands  the  history  of  the  Church,  which 
has  stuffed  our  memorv  with  the  undeniable  facts  of  the  endless 
fierce  divisions  of  the  Holy  Fathers  on  almost  every  question 
which  the  Scriptures  present  to  our  faith  ? 

"  Would  to  God  that  I  could  say,  with  Baillargeon,  I  know 
nothing  of  the  Holy  Fathers  !  Then  I  could  perhaps  be  at  peace 
with  my  conscience,  after  perjuring  myself  by  promising  a  thing 
that  I  cannot  do. 

"  I  was  lately  told  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon,  that  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  go  to  the  Holy  Fathers  in  order  to 
understand  the  Holy  Scriptures  !  But  I  will  respectfully  repeat 
to-day  what  I  then  said  on  that  subject. 

"  If  I  am  too  ignorant  or  too  stupid  to  understand  St.  Mark, 
St.  Luke  and  St.  Paul,  how  can  I  be  intelligent  enough  to 
understand  Jerome,  Augustine,  and  Tertullian  ?  And  if  St. 
Matthew,  St.  John  and  St.  Peter  have  not  got  from  God  the 
grace  of  writing  with  a  sufficient  degree  of  light  and  clearness 
to   be   understood  by   men  of  good-will,  how  is  it  that  Justin, 


THH    PRIEST    OF    ROME    AND    THE    HOLV    FATHERS.         1 59 

Clemens  and  Cyprian  have  received  from  our  God  a  favor  of 
lucidity  and  clearness  which  he  denied  to  His  apostles  and 
evangelists  ?  If  I  cannot  rely  upon  my  private  judgment  when 
studying,  with  the  help  of  God,  the  Holy  Scriptures,  how  can  I 
rely  on  my  private  judgment  when  studying  the  Holy  Fathers  ? 
You  constantly  tell  me  I  cannot  rely  on  my  private  judgment  to 
understand  and  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures;  but  w^ill  you 
please  tell  me  with  what  judgment  and  intelligence  I  shall  have 
to  interpret  and  understand  the  writings  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  if 
it  be  not  with  my  own  private  judgment  ?  Must  I  borrow  the 
judgment  and  intelligence  of  some  of  my  neighbors  in  order  to 
understand  and  interpret,  for  instance,  the  writings  of  Origen  ? 
or  shall  I  be  allowed  to  go  and  hear  what  that  Holy  Father 
wants  from  me  with  my  own  private  intelligence  ?  But.  again, 
if  you  are  forced  to  confess  that  I  have  nothing  else  but  my 
private  judgment  and  intelligence  to  read,  understand  and 
follow  the  Holy  Fathers,  and  that  I  not  only  can,  but  I  must, 
rely  on  my  own  private  judgment,  without  any  fear,  in  that 
case,  how  is  it  that  I  will  be  lost  if  I  make  use  of  that  same 
private  and  personal  judgment  when  at  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
listening  to  His  eternal  and  life-giving  words  ? 

"^  Nothing  distresses  me  so  much  in  our  holv  religion  as  this 
want  of  confidence  in  God  when  we  go  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  to 
hear  or  read  His  soul-saving  words,  and  the  abundance  of  self- 
confidence,  when  we  go  among  sinful  and  fallible  men,  to  know 
what  they  say. 

"  It  is  not  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  that  we  are  invited  to  go  to 
know  what  the  Lord  saith,  it  is  to  the  Holy   Fathers  !  ! 

"  Would  it  be  possible  that,  in  our  Holy  Church,  the  Word 
of  God  would  be  darkness,  and  the  words  of  men  light  ! 

"  This  dogma,  or  article  of  our  religion,  bv  which  we  must 
go  to  the  Holy  Fathers  in  order  to  know  what  '  The  Lord 
saith,'  and  not  to  the  Holy  Scripture,  is  to  my  soul  what  a 
handful  of  sand  would  be  to  mv  eves — it  makes  me  perfectly 
blind. 

"When  our  venerable  bishop  places  the  Holy  Scriptures  in 
my  hands  and  commands  me  to  studv   and   preach   them,  I  will 


l6o  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

understand  what  he  means,  and  he  will  know  what  he  says. 
He  will  give  me  a  most  sublime  work  to  perform;  and,  with 
the  grace  of  God,  I  hope  I  will  do  it.  But  when  he  orders  me 
to  swear  that  I  will  never  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures,  except 
according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  will 
he  not  make  a  perjured  man  of  me,  and  will  he  not  say  a  thing 
to  which  he  has  not  given  sufficient  attention  ?  For  to  swear 
that  we  will  never  interpret  anything  of  the  Scriptures,  except 
according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  is  to 
swear  to  a  thing  as  impossible  and  ridiculous  as  to  take  the  moon 
with  our  hands.  I  say  more,  it  is  to  swear  that  we  will  never 
study  nor  interpret  a  single  chapter  of  the  Bible.  For  it  is 
probable  that  there  are  very  few  chapters  of  that  Holy  Book 
w^hich  have  not  been  a  cause  of  serious  difference  between 
some  of  the  Holy  Fathers. 

"  As  the  writings  of  the  Holy  Fathers  fill  at  least  two 
hundred  volumes  in  folio,  it  will  not  take-  us  less  than  ten  years 
of  constant  study  to  know  on  what  question  they  are  or  are  not 
unanimous  !  If,  after  that  time  of  study,  I  find  that  they  are 
unanimous  on  the  question  of  orthodoxy,  which  I  must  believe 
and  preach,  all  will  be  right  with  me.  I  will  walk  with  a 
fearless  heart  to  the  gates  of  eternity,  and  with  the  certainty  of 
following  the  true  way  of  salvation.  But  if  among  fifty  Holy 
Fathers  there  are  forty-nine  on  one  side  and  one  only  on  the 
opposite  side,  in  what  awful  state  of  distress  will  I  be  plunged  ! 
Will  I  not  be  then  as  a  ship  in  a  stormy  night,  after  she  has 
lost  her  compass,  her  masts  and  her  helm.  If  I  were  allowed  to 
follow  the  majority,  there  would  always  be  a  plank  of  saftey  to 
rescue  me  from  the  impending  wreck.  But  the  Pope  has 
inexorably  tied  us  to  the  unanimity.  If  my  faith  is  not  the 
faith  of  unanimity^  I  am  forever  damned.  I  am  out  of  the 
Church  !  ! 

"What  a  frightful  alternative  is  just  before  us  !  We  must 
either  perjure  ourselves,  by  swearing  to  follow  a  unanimity 
which  is  a  fable,  in  order  to  remain  Roman  Catholics,  or  we 
must  plunge  into  the  abyss  of  impiety  and  atheism  by  refusing  to 
swear  that  we  will  adhere  to  a  unanimity  which  never  existed. " 


THE    PRIEST    OF    ROME    AND    THE    HOLY    FATHERS.  l6l 

It  was  visible,  at  the  end  of  that  long  and  stormy  conference, 
that  the  fears  and  anxieties  of  Baillargeon  and  mine  were 
partaken  of  by  every  one  of  the  students  in  theology.  The 
boldness  of  our  expressions  brought  upon  us  a  real  storm.  But 
our  superior  did  not  dare  to  face  or  answer  a  single  one  of  our 
arguments;  he  was  evidently  embarrassed,  and  nothing  could 
surpass  his  joy  when  the  bell  told  him  that  the  hour  of  the 
conference  was  over.  He  promised  to  answer  us  the  next  day ; 
but  the  next  day  he  did  nothing  but  throw  dust  into  our  eyes, 
and  abuse  us  to  his  heart's  content.  He  began  by  forbidding 
me  to  read  any  more  of  the  controversial  books  I  had  bought  u 
few  months  before,  among  which  was  the  celebrated  Derry 
discussion  between  seven  priests  and  seven  Protestants.  I  had 
to  give  back  the  well-known  discussion  between  "  Poj)e  and 
Maguire,"  and  between  Gregg  and  the  same  Maguire.  I  had 
also  to  give  up  the  numbers  of  the  Avenir  and  other  books  of 
Lamenais,  which  I  had  got  the  liberty,  as  a  privilege,  to  read. 
It  was  decided  that  mv  intelligence  was  not  clear  enough,  and 
that  my  faith  was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  read  those  books.  I 
had  nothing  to  do  but  to  bow  my  head  under  the  yoke  and  obey, 
without  a  word  of  murmur.  The  darkest  night  was  made 
around  our  understandings,  and  we  had  to  believe  that  that 
awful  darkness  was  the  shining  light  of  God  !  !  We  rejected 
the  bright  truth  which  had  so  nearly  conquered  our  minds,  in 
order  to  accept  the  most  ridiculous  sophisms  as  gospel  truths  ! 
We  did  the  most  degrading  action  a  man  can  do — we  silenced 
the  voice  of  our  conscience,  and  we  consented  to  follow  our 
superior's  views,  as  a  brute  follows  the  order  of  his  master;  we 
consented  to  be  in  the  hands  of  our  sup>eriors  like  a  stick  in  the 
hands  of  the  traveler. 

During  the  months  which  elapsed  between  that  hard -fought, 
though  lost  battle,  and  the  solemn'hour  of  my  priestly  ordination, 
I  did  all  I  could  to  subdue  and  annihilate  my  thoughts  on  that 
subject.  My  hope  was  that  I  had  entirely  succeeded.  But,  to 
my  dismay,  that  reason  suddenly  awoke,  as  from  a  long  sleep, 
when  I  had  perjured  myself,  as  everv  priest  has  to  do.  A  chill 
of  horror  and    shame   ran  through    all    my    frame    in  spite    ot 


l62  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

myself.  In  my  inmost  soul  a  cry  was  heard  from  my  wounded 
conscience.  "  You  annihilate  the  Word  of  God  !  You  rebel 
against  the  Holy  Ghost  !  You  deny  the  Holy  Scriptures  to 
follow  the  steps  of  sinful  men  !  You  reject  the  pure  waters  of 
eternal  life,  to  drink  the  waters  of  death. " 

In  order  to  choke  again  the  voice  of  my  conscience,  I  did 
what  my  Church  advised  me  to  do — I  cried  to  my  wafer  god 
and  to  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  that  they  might  come  to  my 
help,  and  silence  the  voices  which  were  troubling  my  peace  by 
shaking  my  faith. 

With  the  utmost  sincerity,  the  day  of  my  ordination,  I 
renewed  the  promise  that  I  had  already  so  often  made,  and  said 
in  the  presence  of  God  and  His  angels,  "  I  promise  that  I  will 
never  believe  anything  except  according  to  the  teachings  of  my 
Holy  and  Apostolic  Church  of  Rome." 

And  on  that  pillow  of  folly,  ignorance  and  fanaticism  I  laid 
my  head  to  sleep  the  sleep  of  spiritual  death,  with  the  two 
hundred  millions  of  slaves  whom  the  Pope  sees  at  his  feet. 

And  I  slept  that  sleep  till  the  God  of  our  salvation,  in  His 
great  mercy,  awoke  me,  by  giving  to  my  soul  the  light,  the 
truth  and  «Jie  life  which  are  in  Jesus  Christ. 


Chapter  XVII. 

TSB     BOKAK     CATHOLIC     FRLESTHOOD:     OB     ANCLEKT     AJTB 

MODERN    IDOLATRY. 

I  WAS  ordained  a  priest  of  Rome  in  the  Cathedral  of  Quebec, 
on  the  2ist  of  September,  1833,  by  the  Right  Reverend 
Sinai,  first  Archbishop  of  Canada.  No  words  can  express  the 
solemnity  of  my  thoughts,  the  superhuman  nature  of  my  aspira- 
tions, when  the  delegate  of  the  Pope,  imposing  his  hands  on  my 
head,  gave  me  the  power  of  converting  a  wafer  into  the 
real  substantial  body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ ! 
The  bright  illusion  of  Eve,  as  the  deceiver  told  her  "  Ye  shall 
be  as  gods,"  was  child's  play  compared  with  what  I  felt  when, 
assured  by  the  infallible  voice  of  my  Church  that  I  was  not  only 
on  equal  terms  with  my  Saviour  and  God,  but  I  was  in  reality 
above  Him  !  and  that  hereafter  I  would  not  only  command,  but 
create   Him  ! ! 

The  aspirations  to  power  and  glorv  which  had  been  such  a 
terrible  temptation  in  Lucifer  were  becoming  a  reality  in  me  ! 
I  had  received  the  power  of  commanding  God,  not  in  a  spiritual 
and  mystical,  but  in  a  real,  personal  and  most  irresistible  way. 

With  my  heart  full  of  an  inexpressible  joy  and  gratitude  to 
God,  and  with  all  the  faculties  of  my  soul  raised  to  exaltation,  I 
withdrew  from  the  feet  of  the  pontiff  to  my  oratory,  where  I 
passed  the  rest  of  the  day  in  meditation  on  the  great  things 
which  my  God  had  wrought  in  me. 

I  had,  at  last  attained  the  top  of  that  power  and  holiness 
which  my  Church  had  invited  me  to  consider  from  my  infancy 
as  the  most  glorious  gift  which  God  had  ever  given  to  man  I 
The  dignity  which  I  had  just  received  was  above  all  the 
dignities  and  the  thrones  of  this  world.     The  holy   character   of 

163 


164  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  PRIESTHOOD  had  been  impressed  on  my  soul,  with  the 
blood  of  Christ,  as  an  imperishable  and  celestial  glory.  Nothing 
could  ever  take  it  away  from  me  in  time  or  eternity.  I  was  to 
be  a  priest  of  my  God  forever  and  ever.  Not  only  had  Christ 
let  His  divine  and  priestly  nature  fall  on  my  shoulders,  but  He 
had  so  perfectly  associated  me  with  Himself  as  the  great  and 
eternal  Sacrificator,  that  I  was  to  renew,  every  day  of  my  life, 
His  atoning  sacrifice  !  At  my  bidding,  the  only  and  eternally 
begotten  Son  of  my  God  was  now  to  come  into  my  hands  in 
person  !  The  same  Christ  who  sits  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Father  was  to  come  down  every  day  into  my  breast,  to  unite 
His  flesh  to  my  flesh,  His  blood  to  my  blood.  His  divine  soul  to 
my  poor  sinful  soul,  in  order  to  walk,  work  and  live  in  me  and 
with  me  in  the  most  perfect  unity  and  intimacy  ! 

I  passed  the  whole  day  and  the  greater  part  of  the  night  in 
contemplating  the  superhuman  honors  and  dignities  which  my 
beloved  Church  had  conferred  on  me.  Many  times  I  fell  on 
my  knees  to  thank  God  for  His  mercies  towards  me,  and  I  could 
hardly  speak  to  Him  except  with  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude.  I 
often  repeated  the  words  of  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary:  "  My  soul 
doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit  doth  rejoice  in  God  my 
Saviour. " 

The  privileges  granted  to  me  were  of  a  more  substantial 
kind  than  those  bestowed  upon  Mary.  She  had  been  obeyed 
by  Christ  only  when  He  was  a  child.  He  had  to  obey  me  now, 
although  He  was  in  the  full  possession  of  His  eternal  glory  ! 

In  the  presence  of  God  and  His  angels,  I  promised  to  live  a 
holy  life  as  a  token  of  my  gratitude  to  Him.  I  said  to  my  lips 
and  my  tongue,  "  Be  holy  now ;  for  you  will  not  only  speak  to 
your  God :  you  will  give  Him  a  new  birth  every  day  ! "  I  said 
to  my  heart,  "  Be  holy  and  pure  now ;  for  you  will  bear  every 
day  the  Holy  of  Holies  ."  To  my  soul  I  said,  "Be  holy  now; 
for  you  will  henceforth  be  most  intimately  and  personally  united 
to  Christ  Jesus.  You  will  be  fed  with  the  body,  blood,  soul  and 
divinity  of  Him  before  whom  the  angels  do  not  find  themselves 
pure  enough  ! " 

Looking  on  my   table,  where    my   pipe,  filled   with   tobacco, 


THH    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    PRIBSTHOOD,    ETC,  1 65 

and  my  snuff-box  were  lying,  I  said:  "Impure  and  noxious 
w^eds,  you  will  no  more  defile  me  !  I  am  the  priest  of  the 
Almighty.  It  is  beneath  my  dignity  to  touch  you  any  more  ! " 
and  opening  the  window  I  threw  them  into  the  street,  never  to 
vnake  use  of  them  again. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1833, 1  had  thus  been  raised  to 
the  priesthood ;  but  I  had  not  yet  made  use  of  the  divine  powers 
with  which  I  had  been  invested.  The  next  day  I  was  to  say 
my  first  Mass,  and  work  that  incomparable  miracle  which  the 
Church  of  Rome  calls  Transubstantiation. 

As  I  have  already  said,  I  had  passed  the  greater  part  of  the 
night  between  the  2ist  and  22nd  in  meditation  and  thanks- 
givings. On  the  morning  of  the  22nd,  long  before  the  dawn  of 
day,  I  was  dressed  and  on  my  knees.  This  w;is  to  be  the  most 
holy  and  glorious  day  of  my  life  !  Raised  the  day  before,  to 
a  dignity  which  was  above  the  kingdoms  and  empires  of  the 
world,  I  was  now  for  the  first  time,  to  work  a  miracle  at  the 
altar  which  no  angel  or  seraph  could  do. 

At  my  bidding  Christ  was  to  receive  a  new  existence  !  The 
miracle  wrought  by  Joshua,  when  he  commanded  the  sun  and 
moon  to  stop,  on  the  bloody  plain  of  Gibeon,  was  nothing  com- 
pared to  the  miracle  that  I  was  to  perform  that  day.  When  the 
eternal  Son  of  God  would  be  in  my  hands,  I  was  to  present 
myself  at  the  throne  of  mercy,  with  that  expiatory  victim  of  the 
sins  of  the  world  pay  the  debt,  not  only  of  my  guilty  soul,  but 
of  all  those  for  whom  I  should  speak  t  The  ineffable  sacrifice 
of  Calvary  was  to  be  renewed  by  me  that  day  with  the  utmost 
perfection  ! 

When  the  bell  rang  to  tell  me  that  the  hour  was  come  to 
clothe  myself  with  the  golden  priestly  robes  and  go  to  the  altar, 
my  heart  beat  with  such  a  rapidity  that  I  came  very  near 
fainting.  The  holiness  of  the  action  I  was  to  do,  the  infinite 
greatness  of  the  sacrifice  I  was  about  to  make,  the  divine  victim 
I  was  to  hold  in  my  hands  and  present  to  God  the  Father  !  the 
wonderful  miracle  I  was  to  perform,  filled  my  soul  and  my 
heart  with  such  sentiments  of  terror,  joy  and  awe,  that  I  wa« 
trembling  from  head  to  foot;  and  if  very    kind   friends,  among 


l66  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK     CHURCH    OF    ROMR. 

whom  was  the  venerable  secretary  of  the  Archbishop  of  Quebeic, 
now  the  Grand  Vicar  Cazault,  had  not  been  there  to  help  and 
encourage  me,  I  think  I  w^ould  not  have  dared  to  ascend  the 
steps  of  the  altar. 

It  is  not  an  easy  thing  to  go  through  all  the  ceremonies  of  a 
mass.  There  are  more  than  one  hundred  different  ceremonies 
and  positions  of  the  body,  which  must  be  observed,  with  the 
utmost  perfection.  To  omit  one  of  them  willingly,  or  through 
a  culpable  neglect  or  ignorance,  is  eternal  damnation.  But 
thanks  to  a  dozen  exercises  through  which  I  had  gone  the 
previous  week,  and  thanks  be  to  the  kind  friends  who  helped 
and  guided  me,  I  went  through  the  performances  of  that  first 
mass  much  more  easily  than  I  expected.  It  lasted  about  an 
hour.  But  when  it  was  over,  I  was  really  exhausted  by  the 
effort  made  to  keep  my  mind  and  heart  in  unison  with  the 
infinite  greatness  of  the  mysteries  accomplished  by  me. 

To  make  one's  self  believe  that  he  can  convert  a  piece  of 
bread  into  God  requires  such  a  supreme  effort  of  the  will,  and 
complete  annihilation  of  intelligence,  that  the  state  of  the  soul, 
after  the  effort  is  over,  is  more  like  death  than  life. 

I  had  really  persuaded  myself  that  I  had  done  the  most  holy 
and  sublime  action  of  my  life,  when,  in  fact  I  had  been  guilty 
of  the  most  outrageous  act  of  idolatry  !  My  eyes,  my  hands  and 
lips,  my  mouth  and  tongue,  and  all  my  senses,  as  well  as  the 
faculties  of  my  intelligence,  were  telling  me  that  what  I  had 
seen,  touched,  eaten,  was  nothing  but  a  wafer;  but  the  voices  of 
the  Pope  and  his  Church  were  telling  me  that  it  was  the  real 
body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  had  persuaded 
myself  that  the  voices  of  my  senses  and  intelligence  were  the 
voices  of  Satan,  and  that  the  deceitful  voice  of  the  Pope  was  the 
voice  of  the  God  of  Truth  !  Every  priest  of  Rome  has  to  come 
to  that  strange  degree  of  folly  and  perversity,  every  day  of  his 
life,  to  remain  a  priest  of  Rome. 

The  great  imposture  taught  under  the  modern  word  tran- 
SUBSTANTIATION,  when  divested  of  the  glare  which  Rome,  by 
his  sorceries,  throws  around  it,  is  soon  seen  to  be  what  it  is — a 
most  iin-pious  and  idolatrous  doctrine. 


THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    PRIES  IHOOD,    ETC.  167 

"  I  must  carry  the  'good  god '  to-morrow  to  a  sick  man,  " 
%a.ys  the  priest  to  his  servant  girl.  It  plain  French:  "Je  dois 
porter  le  '  Bon  Dieu '  demain  a  uu  malade,  dit  le  praitre  a  sa 
servante;  mais  il  n'y  en  a  plus  dans  le  tabernacle."  "  But  there 
are  no  more  In  the  tabernacle.  Make  some  small  cakes, 
that  I  may  consecrate  them  to-morrow. "  And  the  obedient 
domestic  takes  some  wheat  flour,  for  no  other  kind  of  flour  is  fit 
to  make  the  god  of  the  Pope.  A  mixture  of  any  other  kind 
would  make  the  miracle  of  "  transubstantiation  "  a  great  fuilure. 
The  servant  girl  accordingly  takes  the  dough,  and  bakes  it 
between  two  heated  irons,  on  which  are  graven  the  following 
figures,       +  When  the  whole  is  well   baked,  she  takes  her 

°  '     C.    H.   S.  ' 

scissors  and  cuts  those  wafers,  which  are  about  four  or  five 
inches  large,  into  smaller  ones  of  the  size  of  an  inch,  and 
respectfully  hands  them  over  to  the  priest. 

The  next  morning  the  priest  takes  the  newly-baked  wafers 
to  the  altar,  and  changes  them  into  the  body,  blood,  soul  and 
divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  was  one  of  those  wafers  that  I  had 
taken  to  the  altar  in  that  solemn  hour  of  my  first  mass,  and 
which  I  had  turned  into  my  Saviour  by  the  five   magical   words 

— Hoc    EST    ENIM    CORPUS    MEUM    ! 

What  was  the  difference  between  the  incredible  folly  of 
Aaron  on  the  day  of  his  apostasy  in  the  wilderness,  and  the 
action  I  had  done  when  I  worshipped  the  god  whom  I  made 
myself,  and  got  my  friends  to  worship  ?  Where,  I  ask,  is  the 
difference  between  the  adoration  of  the  calf-god  of  Aaron  and 
the  wafer-god  which  I  had  made  on  the  22nd  September,  1833. 
The  only  difference  was,  that  the  idolatry  of  Aaron  lasted  but 
one  day,  while  the  idolatry  in  which  I  lived  lasted  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  and  has  been  perpetuated  in  the  Church  of  Rome  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years. 

What  has  the  Church  of  Rome  done  by  giving  up  the  words 
of  Christ,  "  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me, "  and  substituting 
her  dogfma  of  Transubstantiation  ?  She  has  brought  the  world 
back  to  the  old  heathenism.  The  priest  of  Rome  worships  a 
Saviour  called  Christ.  Yes;  but  that  Christ  is  not  the  Christ  of 
the  gospel.     It  is  a  false  and  newly-invented  Christ  whom  the 


l68  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OK     ROME. 

Popes  have  smuggled  from  the  Pantheon  of  Rome,  and  sacri- 
legiously called  by  the  adorable  name  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ. 

I  have  often  been  asked :  "  Was  it  possible  that  you  sincerely 
believed  that  the  wafer  could  be  changed  into  God  by  you  ? " 
And,  "Have  you  really  worshipped  that  wafer  as  your  Saviour?  '^ 

To  my  shame,  and  to  the  shame  of  poor  humanity,  I  must 
say  "  Yes. "  I  believed  as  sincerely  as  every  Roman  Catholic 
priest  is  bound  to  believe  it,  that  I  was  creating  my  own  Saviour- 
God  every  morning  by  the  assumed  consecration  of  the  wafer; 
and  I  was  saying  to  the  people,  as  I  presented  it  to  them,  "Ecce 
agnus  Dei" — ''This  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  takes  away  the 
sins  of  the  world ;  let  us  adore  him  " — prostrating  myself  on 
my  knees,  I  was  adoring  the  God  made  by  myself,  with  the  help 
of  my  servant;  and  all  the  people  prostrated  themselves  to  adore 
the  newly-made  god  ! 

I  must  confess,  further,  that  though  I  was  bound  to  believe 
in  the  existence  of  Christ  in  heaven,  and  was  invited  by  my 
Church  to  worship  Him  as  my  Saviour  and  my  God,  I  had,  as 
every  Roman  Catholic  has,  more  confidence,  faith  and  love 
towards  the  Christ  which  I  had  created  with  a  few  words  of  my 
lips,  than  towards  the  Chi'ist  of  heaven. 

My  Church  told  me,  every  day  of  my  life,  and  I  had  to 
believe  and  preach  it,  that  though  the  Christ  of  heaven  was  my 
Saviour,  He  was  angry  against  me  on  account  of  my  sins;  that 
He  was  constantly  disposed  to  punish  me  according  to  His 
terrible  justice;  that  He  was  armed  with  lightning  and  thunder 
to  crush  me;  and  that,  were  it  not  for  His  mother,  who  day  and 
night  was  interceding  for  me,  I  should  be  cast  into  that  hell 
which  my  sins  had  so  richly  deserved.  All  the  theologians, 
with  St.  Liguori  at  their  head,  whose  writings  I  was  earnestly 
studying,  and  which  had  received  the  approbation  of  infallible 
popes,  persuaded  me  that  it  was  Mary  whom  I  had  to  thank 
and  bless,  if  I  had  not  yet  been  punished  as  I  deserved.  Not 
only  had  I  to  believe  this  doctrine,  but  I  had  to  preach  it  to  the 
people.  The  result  was  for  me,  as  it  is  for  every  Roman 
Catholic,  that  my  heart  was  really  chilled,  and  I  was  filled   with 


THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC    PRIESTHOOD,    ETC.  l6o 

terror  every  time  I  looked  to  the  Christ  of  heaven  through  the 
fights  and  teachings  of  my  Church.  He  could  not,  as  I  believed, 
look  to  me  except  vs'ith  an  angry  face ;  He  could  not  stretch  out 
His  hand  tovv-ards  me  except  to  crush  me,  unless  His  merciful 
mother  or  some  other  mighty  saint  interposed  their  saving  suppli- 
cations to  appease  His  just  indignation.  When  I  was  praying 
to  that  Christ  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  my  mind  was  constantlv 
perplexed  about  the  choice  I  should  make  of  some  powerful 
protector,  whose  influence  could  get  me  a  favorable  hearing 
from  my  irritated  Saviour. 

Besides  this,*  I  was  told,  and  I  had  to  believe  it,  that  the 
Christ  of  heaven  was  a  mighty  monarch,  a  most  glorious  king 
surrounded  by  innumerable  hosts  of  servants,  officers  and  friends, 
and  that,  as  it  would  not  do  for  a  poor  rebel  to  present  himself 
before  his  irritated  King  to  get  his  pardon,  but  he  must  address 
himself  to  some  of  His  most  influential  courtiers,  or  to  His 
beloved  mother,  to  whom  nothing  can  be  refused,  that  they 
might  plead  his  cause;  so  I  sincerely  believed  that  it  \  as  better 
for  me  not  to  speak  myself  to  Jesus  Christ,  but  to  look  for  som« 
one  who  would  speak  for  me. 

But  there  would  be  no  such  terrors  or  fears  in  my  heart  when  I 
approached  the  Saviour  whom  I  had  created  myself  !  Such  an 
humble  and  defenceless  Saviour,  surely,  had  no  thunder  in  His 
hands  to  punish  His  enemies.  He  could  have  no  angry  looks 
for  me.  He  was  my  friend,  as  well  as  the  work  of  my  hands. 
There  was  nothing  in  Him  which  could  inspire  me  with  any 
fear.  Had  I  not  brought  Him  dow^n  from  heaven  ?  And  had 
He  not  come  into  my  hands  that  He  might  hear,  bless  and 
forgive  me  ? — that  He  might  be  nearer  to  me,  and  I  nearer  to 
Him? 

When  I  was  in  His  presence,  in  that  solitary  church,  there 
was  no  need  of  officers,  of  courtiers,  of  mothers  to  speak  to  Him 
for  me.  He  was  no  longer  there  a  mighty  monarch,  an  angry 
king,  who  could  be  approached  only  by  the  great  officers  of  His 
court ;  He  was  now  the  rebuked  of  the  world,  the  humble  and 
defenceless  Saviour  of  the  manger,  the  forsaken  Jesus  of  Calvary, 
the  forgotten  Christ  of  Gethsemane. 


I^O  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

No  words  can  give  any  idea  of  the  pleasure  I  used  to  feel 
when,  alone,  prostrated  before  the  Christ  whom  I  had  made  at 
the  morning  mass,  I  poured  out  my  heart  at  His  feet.  It  is 
impossible  for  those  who  have  not  lived  under  thos«  terrible 
illusions  to  understand  with  what  confidence  I  spoke  to  the 
Christ  w^ho  was  then  before  me,  bound  by  the  ties  of  His  love 
for  me  !  How  many  times,  in  the  colder  days  of  \vinter,  in 
churches  which  had  never  seen  any  fire,  with  an  atmosphere 
15  degrees  below  zero,  had  I  passed  whole  hours  alone,  in 
adoration  of  the  Saviour  whom  I  had  made  only  a  few  hours 
before  !  How  often  have  I  looked  with  silent  admiration  to  the 
Divine  Person  who  was  there  alone,  passing  the  long  hours  of 
the  day  and  night,  rebuked  and  forsaken,  that  I  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  approaching  Him,  and  of  speaking  to  Him  as  a 
friend  to  his  friend,  as  a  repenting  sinner  to  his  merciful  Saviour. 
My  faith — I  should  rather  say  my  awful  delusion,  was  then  so 
complete  that  I  scarcely  felt  the  biting  of  the  cold  !  I  may 
say  with  truth,  that  the  happiest  hours  I  ever  had,  during  the 
long  years  of  darkness  into  which  the  Church  of  Rome  had 
plunged  me,  were  the  hours  which  I  passed  in  adoring  the 
Christ  whom  I  had  made  with  my  own  lips.  And  every  priest 
of  Rome  would  make  the  same  declaration,  were  they  questioned 
on  the  subjecL 

It  is  a  similar  principle  of  monstrous  faith  that  leads  widows 
in  India  to  leap  with  cries  of  joy  into  the  fire  which  will  burn 
them  into  ashes  with  the  bodies  of  their  deceased  husbands. 
Their  priests  have  assured  them  that  such  a  sacrifice  will  secure 
eternal  happiness  to  themselves  and  their  departed  husbands. 

In  fact,  the  Roman  Catholics  have  no  other  Saviour  to 
whom  they  can  betake  themselves  than  the  one  made  by  the 
consecration  of  the  wafer.  He  is  the  only  Saviour  who  is  not 
angry  with  them,  and  who  does  not  require  the  mediation  of 
virgins  and  saints  to  appease  His  w^rath.  This  is  the  reason  why 
Roman  Catholic  churches  are  so  well  filled  by  the  poor  blind 
Roman  Catholics.  See  how  they  rush  to  the  foot  of  their 
altars  at  almost  every  hour  of  the  day,  sometimes  long  before 
rlie  dawn  !     Go  to  some  of  their  churches,  even   on  a  rainy   and 


THE    ROMAN    CATHOLIC     PRIESTHOOD,    ETC.  I7T 

•tormy  morning,  and  you  will  see  crowds  of  worshippers,  of 
every  age  and  from  every  grade  of  society,  braving  the  storm 
and  the  rain,  walking  through  the  mud  to  pass  an  hour  at  the 
foot  of  their  tabernacles! 

How  is  it  that  the  Roman  Catholics,  alone,  offer  such  a 
spectacle  to  the  civilized  world?  The  reason  is  very  simple 
and  plain.  Every  soul  yearns  for  a  God  to  whom  it  can  speak, 
and  who  will  hear  its  supplications  with  a  merciful  heart,  and 
who  will  wipe  away  her  penitential  tears.  Just  as  the  flowers 
of  our  gardens  turn  naturally  towards  the  sun  which  gives  them 
their  color,  their  fragrance  and  their  life,  so  every  soul  wants  a 
Saviour  who  is  not  angry  but  merciful  towards  those  who  come 
unto  Him — A  Saviour  who  will  say  to  the  weary  and  heavy  laden: 
"  Come  unto  me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." — A  God,  in  fine,  who 
is  not  armed  with  Thunder  and  Lightning,  and  does  not  require 
to  be  approached  only  by  saints,  virgins  and  martyrs;  but  who, 
through  his  son  Jesus,  is  the  real,  the  true  and  the  only  friend  of 
Sinners. 

When  the  people  think  that  there  is  such  a  God, — such  a 
loving  Saviour  to  be  found  in  the  tabernacle,  it  is  but  natural 
that  they  should  brave  the  storms  and  the  rains,  to  worship  at 
his  feet,  to  receive  the  pardon  of  their  sins. 

The  children  of  light,  the  disciples  of  the  gospel,  who  protest 
against  the  errors  of  Rome,  know  that  their  Heavenly  Father  is 
everywhere  ready  to  hear,  forgive  and  help  them.  They  know 
that  it  is  no  more  "at  Jerusalem,  nor  on  this  or  that  mountain," 
or  at  church  that  God  wants  to  be  worshipped  (John  iv.  21.) 
They  know  that  their  Saviour  liveth,  and  is  everywhere  ready  to 
hear  those  who  invoke  His  name;  that  He  is  no  more  in  that 
desert,  or  in  that  secret  chamber  (Matt,  xxiv.)  They  know- 
that  He  is  everywhere — that  He  is  ever  near  to  those  who  look 
to  his  bleeding  wounds  and  want  to  wash  their  robes  in  His 
blood.  They  find  Jesus  in  their  most  secret  closets  when  they 
enter  them  to  pray;— they  meet  Him  and  converse  with  Him 
when  in  the  fields,  behind  the  counter,  traveling  on  railroads  or 
steamers — everywhere  they  meet  with  Him,  aud  speak  to  Him 
as  friend  to  friend. 


1^3  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

It  is  not  SO  with  the  followers  of  the  Pope.  They  are  told 
contrary  to  the  gospel  (Matt.  xxiv.  22.),  that  Christ  is  in  this 
Church — in  that  secret  chamber  or  tabernacle!  Cruelly  deceived 
by  their  priests,  they  run,  they  brave  the  storms  to  go  as  near  as 
possible  to  that  place  where  their  merciful  Christ  lives.  They  go 
to  the  Christ  who  will  give  them  a  hearty  welcome,  who  will 
listen  to  their  humble  prayers,  and  be  compassionate  to  their  tears 
of  repentance, 

Let  Protestants  cease  to  admire  poor  deluded  Roman  Catholics 
who  dare  the  storm  and  go  to  church  even  before  the  dawn  of 
day.  This  devotion,  which  so  dazzles  them,  should  excite 
compassion,  and  not  admiration ;  for  it  is  the  logical  result  of  the 
most  awful  spiritual  darkness.  It  is  the  offspring  of  the  greatest 
imposture  the  world  has  ever  seen,  it  is  the  natural  consequence 
of  the  belief  that  the  pi'iest  of  Rome  can  create  Christ  and  God 
by  the  consecration  of  a  wafer,  and  keep  Him  in  a  secret 
chamber. 

The  Egyptians  worshipped  God  under  the  form  of  crocodiles 
and  calves:  The  Greeks  made  their  gods  of  marble  or  of  gold: 
The  Persian  made  the  sun  his  god:  The  Hottentots  make  theii 
gods  with  whale-bone,  and  go  far  through  the  storms  to  adore 
them:  The  Church  of  Rome  makes  her  god  out  of  a  piece  of 
bread!     Is  this  not  idolarty? 

From  the  year  1833,  to  the  day  that  God  in  his  meixy  opened 
my  eyes,  my  servant  had  used  more  than  a  bushel  of  wheat  flour, 
to  make  the  little  cakes  which  I  had  to  convert  into  the  Christ 
of  the  mass.  Some  of  these  I  ate;  others  I  carried  about  w^ith 
me  for  the  sick ;  and  others  I  placed  in  the  tabernacle  for  the 
adoration  of  the  people. 

I  am  often  asked: — "How  is  it  that  you  could  be  guilty  of 
such  a  gross  act  of  idolatry  ? "  My  only  answer  is  the  answer 
of  the  blind  man  of  the  gospel:  "I  know  not,  only  this  one 
thing  I  know,  that  I  was  blind,  and  could  not  see.  But  Jesus  has 
touched  my  eyes  and  now  I  see."     (John  ix.  ii). 


Chapter  XVIII. 

WLUTE    STABTIilKQ  CONSEQUENCES   OF  THE  DOGBLA.  OF    TRAIT- 
ST7BSTANTIATION-THH    OLD    PAGANISM    TJNDEB   A    0HBI8- 

TI AN  NAME. 

ON  the  day  of  my  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  I  had  to  believe, 
with  all  the  priests  of  Rome,  that  it  was  within  the  limits 
of  my  powers  to  go  into  all  the  bakeries  of  Quebec,  and  change 
all  the  loaves  and  biscuits  in  that  old  city,  into  the  body,  blood, 
soul  and  divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  pronouncing  over 
them  the  five  words:  Hoc  est  enim  corpus  meum.  Nothing 
would  have  remained  of  these  loaves  and  biscuits  but  the  smell, 
the  color,  the  taste. 

2.  Every  bishop  and  priest  of  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Boston,  Chicago,  Montreal,  Paris  and  London,  etc.,  firmly  be- 
lieves and  teaches  that  he  has  the  power  to  turn  all  the  loaves 
of  their  cities,  of  their  dioceses,  nay,  of  the  whole  world,  into  the 
body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
And,  though  they  have  never  yet  found  it  advisable  to  do  that 
wonderful  miracle,  they  consider,  and  say,  that  to  entertain  any 
doubt  about  the  power  to  perform  that  marvel,  is  as  criminal  as 
to  entertain  any  doubt  about  the  existence  of  God. 

3.  When  in  the  Seminary  of  Nicolet,  I  heard,  several  times, 
our  Superior,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Raimbault,  tell  us  that  a  French 
priest  having  been  condemned  to  death  in  Paris,  when  dragged 
to  the  scaffold  had,  through  revenge,  consecrated  and  changed 
into  Jesus  Christ  all  the  loaves  of  the  bakeries  of  that  great  city 
which  were  along  the  streets  through  which  he  had  to  pass;  and 
though  our  learned  superior  condemned  that  action  in  the  strong- 
est terms,  yet  he  told  us  that  the  consecration  was  valid,  and  that 
the  loaves  were  really  changed   into  the  body,  blood,  soul  and 

«73 


174    STARTLING    CONSEQUENCES    OF    TRANSUBSTANTIATION. 

divinity  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world.     And  I  was  bound  to  be^ 
lieve  it  under  pain  of  eternal  damnation. 

4.  Before  my  ordination  I  had  been  obliged  to  learn  by 
heart,  in  one  of  the  most  sacred  books  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
(Missale  Romanism,  p.  63)  the  following  statement:  "If,  after 
the  consecration,  the  consecrated  bread  disappear,  taken  away  by 
the  wind,  or  through  any  miracle;  or  dragged  away  by  an  ani- 
mal, let  the  priest  take  a  new  bread,  consecrate  it,  and  continue 
his  mass." 

And  at  page  57  I  had  learned,  "  If  a  Hy  or  spider  fall  into  the 
chalice,  after  the  consecration,  let  the  priest  take  and  eat  it,  if  he 
does  not  feel  an  insurmountable  repugnance;  but  if  he  cannot 
swallow  it,  let  him  wash  it  and  burn  it  and  throw  the  ashes  into 
the  sacrarium." 

5.  In  the  month  of  January,  1834,  ^  heard  the  following 
fact  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Paquette,  curate  of  St.  Gervais,  at  a 
grand  dinner  which  he  had  given  to  the  neighboring  priests: 

"When  young,  I  was  the  vicar  of  a  curate  who  could  eat  as 
much  as  two  of  us,  and  drink  as  much  as  four.  He  was  tall  ahd 
strong,  and  he  has  left  the  dark  marks  of  his  hard  fists  on  the 
nose  of  more  than  one  of  his  beloved  sheep;  for  his  anger  was 
really  terrible  after  he  drank  his  bottle  of  wine. 

"One  day,  after  a  sumptuous  dinner,  he  was  called  to  carry 
the  good  god  (Le  Bon  Dieu),  to  a  dying  man.  It  was  mid- 
winter. The  cold  was  intense.  The  wind  was  blowing  hard. 
There  was  at  least  five  or  six  feet  of  snow,  and  the  roads  were 
almost  impassable.  It  was  really  a  serious  matter  to  travel  nine 
miles  on  such  a  day,  but  there  was  no  help.  The  messenger  was 
one  of  the  first  marguilliers  (elders)  who  was  very  pressing, 
and  the  dying  man  was  one  of  the  first  citizens  of  the  place. 
The  curate,  after  a  few  grumblings,  drank  a  tumbler  of  good 
Jamaica  with  his  marguillier  as  a  preventative  against  the  cold, 
went  to  church,  took  the  good  god  (Le  Bon  Dieu),  and  threw 
himself  into  the  sleigh;  wrapped  as  well  as  possible  in  his  large 
buffalo  robes. 

"Though  there  were  two  horses,  one  before  the  other,  to 
drag  the  sleigh,  the  journey  was  a  long   and   tedious  one,  which 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME.     .  175 

was  made  still  worse  by  an  unlucky  circumstance.  They  were 
met  half-way  by  another  traveler  coming  from  the  opposite 
direction.  The  road  was  too  narrow  to  allow  the  two  sleighs 
and  horses  to  remain  easily  on  firm  ground  when  passing  by  each 
other,  and  it  would  have  required  a  good  deal  of  skill  and  patience 
in  driving  the  horses  to  prevent  them  from  falling  into  the  soft 
snow.  It  is  well  known  that  when  once  horses  are  sunk  into 
five  or  six  feet  of  snow,  the  more  they  struggle  the  deeper  they 
sink. 

"The  marguiller,  who  was  carrying  the  '  good  god,'  with  the 
cure,  naturally  hoped  to  have  the  privilege  of  keeping  the 
middle  of  the  road  and  escaping  the  danger  of  getting  his  horses 
wounded,  and  his  sleigh  broken.  He  cried  to  the  other  traveler, 
in  a  high  tone  of  authority:  "  Traveler  !  let  me  have  the  road. 
Turn  your  horses  into  the  snow  !  Make  haste,  I  am  in  a  hurry. 
I  carry  the  good  god  !  " 

"  Unfortunately  the  traveler  was  a  heretic,  who  cared  much 
more  for  his  horses  than  for  the  "good  god."     He  answered: 

"  Le  Diable  emporte  ton  Bon  Dieu  avant  que  je  ne  casse  le 
con  de  mon  cheval !"  "  The  devil  take  your  god  before  I  consent 
to  break  the  neck  of  my  horse.  If  your  god  has  not  taught  you 
the  rules  of  law  and  of  common  sense,  I  will  give  you  a  free 
lecture  on  that  matter,"  and  jumping  out  of  his  sleigh,  he  took 
the  reins  of  the  front  horse  of  the  marguillier  to  help  him  to  walk 
on  the  side  of  the  road,  and  keep  the  half  of  it  for  himself. 

"But  themarguillier,  who  was  naturally  a  very  impatient  and 
fearless  man,  had  drank  too  much  \vith  my  curate,  before  he  left 
the  parsonage,  to  keep  cool,  as  he  ought  to  have  done.  He  also 
jumped  out  of  his  sleigh,  ran  to  the  stranger,  took  his  cravat  in 
his  left  hand  and  raised  his  right  one  to  strike  him  in  the  face. 

"Unfortunately  for  him,  the  heretic  seemed  to  have  foreseen  all 
this.  He  had  left  his  overcoat  in  the  sleigh  and  was  more  ready 
for  the  conflict  than  his  assailant.  He  was  also  a  real  giant  in 
size  and  strength.  As  quick  as  lightning  his  right  and  left  fists 
fell  like  iron  masses  on  the  face  of  the  poor  marguillier,  and 
threw  him  on  his  back  in  the  soft  snow,  where  he  almost 
disappeared. 


176  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"Till  then  the  curate  had  been  a  silent  spectator;  'but 
the  sight  and  the  cries  of  his  friend,  whom  the  stranger  was 
pommelling  without  mercy,  made  him  lose  his  patience.  Taking 
the  little  silk  bag  which  contained  the  'good  god'  from  about  his 
neck,  where  it  was  tied,  he  put  it  on  the  seat  of  the  sleigh,  and 
said:  '  Dear  good  god!  Please  remain  neutral;  I  must  help 
my  marguillier  !  Take  no  part  in  this  conflict,  and  I  will  punish 
that  infamous  Protestant  as  he  deserves.' 

"  But  the  unfortunate  marguillier  was  entirely  put  hors  de 
combat  before  the  curate  could  go  to  his  help.  His  face  was 
horribly  cut — three  teeth  were  broken — the  lower  jaw  dislocated, 
and  the  eyes  were  so  terribly  damaged  that  it  took  several  days 
before  he  could  see  anything. 

"When  the  heretic  saw  the  priest  coming  to  renew  the  battle, 
he  threw  down  his  other  coat  to  be  freer  in  his  movements. 
The  curate  had  not  been  so  wise.  Relying  too  much  on  his 
herculean  strength,  covered  with  his  heavy  overcoat,  on  which 
was  his  white  surplice,  he  threw  himself  on  the  stranger,  like  a 
big  rock  which  falls  from  the  mountain  and  rolls  upon  the  oak 
below. 

"  Both  of  these  combatants  were  real  giants,  aiid  the  first  blows 
must  have  been  terrible  on  both  sides.  But  the  'infamous 
heretic'  probably  had  not  drank  so  much  as  my  curate  before 
leaving  home,  or  perhaps  he  was  more  expert  in  the  exchange 
of  these  bloody  jokes.  The  battle  was  long  and  the  blood 
flowed  pretty  freely  on  both  sides.  The  cries  of  the  combatants 
might  have  been  heard  at  a  long  distance,  were  it  not  for  the 
roaring  noise  of  the  wind,  which  at  that  instant  was  blowing  a 
hurricane. 

"  The  storm,  the  cries,  the  blows,  the  blood,  the  surplice  and 
the  overcoat  of  the  priest  torn  to  rags,  the  shirt  of  the  stranger 
reddened  with  gore,  made  such  a  terrible  spectacle,  that  in  the 
end  the  horses  of  the  marguiller,  though  well-trained  animals, 
took  fright  and  threw  themselves  into  the  snow,  turned  their  backs 
to  the  storm  and  made  for  home.  They  dragged  the  fragments 
of  the  upset  sleigh  a  pretty  long  distance,  and  arrived  at  the  door 
of  their  stable  with  only  some  diminutive  parts  of  the  harness. 


STARTLING    CONSEQUENCES    OF    TRANSUBSTANTIATION.     177 

"  The  'good  god'  had  evidently  heard  the  prayer  of  my  curate, 
and  he  had  remained  neutral;  at  all  events  he  had  not  taken  the 
part  of  his  priest,  for  he  lost  the  day,  and  the  infamous  Protestant 
remained  master  of  the  battle-field. 

"  The  curate  had  to  help  his  marguillier  out  of  the  snow  in 
which  he  was  buried,  and  where  he  had  lain  like  a  slaughtered 
ox.  Both  had  to  walk,  or  rather  crawl,  nearly  half  a  mile  in 
snow^  to  their  knees,  before  they  could  reach  the  nearest  farm- 
house, where  they  arrived  when  it  was  dark. 

"  But  the  worst  is  not  told.  You  remember  when  my  curate 
had  put  the  box  containing  the  '  good  god  '  on  the  seat  of  the 
sleigh,  before  going  to  fight.  The  horses  had  dragged  the 
sleigh  a  certain  distance,  upset  and  smashed  it.  The  little  silk 
bag,  with  the  silver  box  and  its  precious  contents,  was  lost  in  the 
snow,  and  though  several  hundred  people  had  looked  for  it, 
several  days  at  different  times,  it  could  not  be  found.  It  was 
only  late  in  the  month  of  June,  that  a  little  boy,  seeing  some 
rags  in  the  mud  of  the  ditch,  along  the  highway,  lifted  them  and 
a  little  silver  box  fell  out.  Suspecting  that  it  was  what  the 
f>eople  had  looked  for  so  many  days  during  the  last  winter,  he 
took  it  to  the  parsonage. 

"  I  was  there  when  it  was  opened ;  we  had  the  hope  that  the 
'good  god'  would  be  found  pretty  intact,  but  we  were  doomed 
to  be  disappointed,  The  good  god  was  entirely  melted  away. 
Le  Bon  Dieu  etait  fondu  !  " 

During  the  recital  of  that  spicy  story,  which  was  told  in  the 
most  amusing  and  comical  way,  the  priests  had  drunk  freely  and 
laughed  heartily.  But  when  the  conclusion  came:  "  Le  Bon 
Dieu  etait  fondu  !  " 

"  The  good  god  was  melted  away  ! "     There  was  a  burst  of 
laughter  such  as   I    never   heard — the  priests   striking  the  floor 
with  their  feet,  and  the  table   with  their  hands,  filled  the   house 
with  the  cries,  "vThe  good  god  melted  away  I " 
"  The  good  god  melted  away  ! " 

"  Le  Bon  Dieu  est  fondu  ! "  "  Le  Bon  Dieu  est  fondu  ! " 
Yes,  the  god  of  Rome,  dragged  away  by  a  drunken  priest,  and 
really  melted  away  in  the  muddy  ditch.     This  glorious  fact  was 


178  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

proclaimed  by  his  own  priests  in  the  midst  of  convulsive  laughter, 
and  at  tables  covered  with  scores  of  bottles  just  emptied  by  them! 

6.  About  the  middle  of  March,  1839,  I  had  one  of  the  most 
unfortunate  days  of  my  Roman  Catholic  priestly  life.  At  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  poor  Irishman  had  come  in  haste 
from  beyond  the  high  mountains,  between  Lake  Beauport  and  the 
river  Morency,  to  ask  me  to  go  and  anoint  a  dying  woman.  It 
took  me  ten  minutes  to  run  to  the  church,  put  the  "good  god"  in 
the  little  silver  box,  shut  the  whole  in  my  vest  pocket  and  jump 
into  the  Irishman's  rough  sleigh.  The  roads  were  exceedingly 
bad,  and  we  had  to  go  very  slowly.  At  7  p.  m.  we  were  yet 
more  than  three  miles  from  the  sick  woman's  house.  It  was 
very  dark,  and  the  horse  was  so  exhausted  that  it  was  impossible 
to  go  any  further  through  the  gloomy  forest.  I  determined  to 
pass  the  night  at  a  poor  Irish  cabin  which  was  near  the  road.  I 
knocked  at  the  door,  asked  hospitality,  and  was  welcomed  with 
that  warm-hearted  demonstration  of  respect  which  the  Roman 
Catholic  Irishman  knows,  better  than  any  other  man,  how  to  pay 
to  his  priests. 

The  shanty,  twenty-four  feet  long  by  sixteen  wide,  was  built 
with  round  logs,  between  which  a  liberal  supply  of  clay,  instead 
of  mortar  had  been  thrown,  to  prevent  the  wind  and  cold  from 
entering.  Six  fat,  though  not  absolutely  well-washed,  healthy 
boys  and  girls,  half-naked,  presented  themselves  around  their 
good  parents  as  the  living  witnesses  that  this  cabin,  in  spite  of  its 
ugly  appearance,  was  really  a  happy  home  for  its  dwellers. 

Besides  the  eight  human  beings  sheltered  beneath  that  hos- 
pitable roof,  I  saw,  at  one  end,  a  magnificent  cow  with  her  new- 
born calf,  and  two  fine  pigs.  These  two  last  boarders  were 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  family  only  by  a  branch  partition 
two  or  three  feet  high. 

"  Please  your  reverence,"  said  the  good  woman,  after  she  had 
prepared  our  supper,  "  excuse  our  poverty,  but  be  sure  that  we 
feel  happy  and  much  honored  to  have  you  in  our  humble  dwell- 
ing for  the  night.  My  only  regret  is  that  we  have  only  pota- 
toes, milk  and  butter  to  give  you  for  your  supper.  In  these 
backwoods,  tea,  sugar  and  wheat   four  are   unknown    luxuries." 


STARTLING    CONSEQUENCES    OF    TRANSUBSTANTIATION.    179 

I  thanked  that  good  woman  for  her  hospitality,  and  caused 
her  to  rejoice  not  a  little  by  assuring  her  that  good  potatoes, 
fresh  butter  and  milk,  were  the  best  delicacies  which  could  be 
offered  to  me  in  any  place.  I  sat  at  the  table  and  ate  one  of  the 
most  delicious  suppers  of  my  life.  The  potatoes  were  exceedingly 
well-cooked — the  butter  cream  and  milk  of  the  best  quality,  and 
my  appetite  was  not  a  little  sharpened  by  the  long  journey  over 
the  steep  mountains. 

I  had  not  told  these  good  people,  nor  even  my  driver,  that  I 
had  "  Le  bon  Dieu,"  the  good  god,  with  me  in  my  vest  pocket. 
It  would  have  made  them  too  uneasy,  and  would  have  added  too 
much  to  my  other  difficulties.  When  the  time  of  sleeping  arrived, 
I  went  to  bed  with  all  my  clothing,  and  slept  well;  for  I 
was  very  tired  by  the  tedious  and  broken  roads  from  Beauport 
to  these  distant  mountains. 

Next  morning,  before  breakfast  and  the  dawn  of  day,  I  was 
up,  and  as  soon  as  we  had  a  glimpse  of  light  to  see  our  way,  I 
left  for  the  house  of  the  sick  woman,  after  offering  a  silent  prayer. 

I  had  not  not  traveled  a  quarter  of  a  mile  when  I  put  my  hand 
into  my  vest  pocket,  and  to  my  indescribable  dismay,  I  found  that 
the  little  silver  box  containing  the  "good  god"  was  missing. 
A  cold  sweat  ran  through  my  frame.  I  told  my  driver  to  stop 
and  turn  bacfc  immediately,  that  I  had  lost  something  which 
might  be  found  in  the  bed  where  I  had  slept.  It  did  not  take 
five  minutes  to  retrace  our  way. 

On  opening  the  door  I  found  the  poor  woman  and  her  hus- 
band almost  besides  themselves,  and  distressed  beyond  measure. 
They  were  pale  and  trembling  as  criminals  who  expected  to  be 
condemned. 

"  Did  you  not  find  a  little  silver  box  after  I  left  ? "  I  said. 

"  O,  my  God !  "  answered  the  desolate  woman,  "  Yes,  I  have 
found  it,  but  would  to  God  I  had  never  seen  it.     There  it  is." 

"  But  why  do  you  regret  finding  it,  when  I  am  too  happy  to 
find  it  here,  safe  in  your  hands?"   I  replied. 

"  Ah  !  your  reverence,  you  do  not  know  what  a  terrible 
misfortune  has  just  happened  to  me  not  more  than  half  a  minute 
before  you  knocked  at  the  door." 


l8o  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

"What  misfortune  can  have  fallen  upon  you  in  so  shoit  a 
time,"  I  answered. 

"  Well,  please  your  reverence,  open  the  little  box  and  you 
will  understand  me." 

I  opened  it,  but  the  "  good  god "  was  not  in  it  !  !  Looking 
in  the  face  of  the  poor  distressed  woman,  I  asked  her,  "  What 
does  this  mean?     It  is  empty  !" 

"  It  means,"  answered  she,  "  that  I  am  the  most  unfortunate 
of  women  !  Not  more  than  five  minutes  after  you  had  left  the 
house,  I  went  to  your  bed  and  found  that  little  box.  Not 
knowing  what  it  was,  I  showed  it  to  my  children  and  to  my 
husband.  I  asked  him  to  open  it,  but  he  refused  to  do  it.  I 
then  turned  it  on  every  side,  trying  to  guess  what  it  could  contain; 
till  the  devil  tempted  me  so  much  that  I  determined  to  open  it. 
I  came  to  this  corner,  where  this  pale  lamp  is  used  to  remain  on 
that  little  shelf,  and  I  opened  it.  But,  O,  my  God;  I  do  not 
dare  to  tell  the  rest. " 

At  these  words  she  fell  on  the  floor  in  a  fit  of  nervous  excite- 
ment— her  cries  were  piercing,  her  mouth  was  foaming.  She 
was  cruelly  tearing  her  hair  with  her  own  hands.  The  shrieks 
and  lamentations  of  the  children  were  so  distressing  that  I  could 
hardly  prevent  myself  from  crying  also. 

After  a  few  moments  of  the  most  agonizing  anxiety,  seeing 
that  the  poor  woman  was  becoming  calm,  I  addressed  myself  to 
the  husband,  and  said:  "  Please  give  me  the  explanation  of  these 
strange  things  ? " 

He  could  hardly  speak  at  first,  but  as  I  was  very  pressing,  he 
told  me  with  a  trembling  voice:  "Please  your  reverence;  look 
into  that  vessel  that  the  children  use,  and  you  will  perhaps 
understand  our  desolation  !  When  my  wife  opened  the  little 
silver  box,  she  did  not  observe  the  vessel  was  there,  just  beneath 
her  hands.  In  the  opening,  what  was  in  the  silver  box  fell  into 
that  vase,  and  sank  !  We  were  all  filled  with  consternation 
when  you  knocked  at  the  door  and  entered. " 

I  felt  struck  with  such  unspeakable  horror  at  the  thought 
that  the  body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  my  Saviour,  Jesus 
Christ,  was  there,  sunk  into  that  vase,  that  I  remained  speechless, 


STARTLING     CONSEQUENCES    OF    TRANSUBSTANTIATION.     l8j 

and  for  a  long  time  did  not  know  what  to  do.  At  first  it  camt. 
to  my  mind  to  plunge  my  hands  into  the  vase  and  try  to  get  my 
Saviour  out  of  that  sepulchre  of  ignominy.  But  I  could  not 
muster  courage  to  do  so. 

At  last  I  requested  the  poor  desolated  family  to  dig  a  hole 
Ihree  feet  deep  in  the  ground,  and  deposit  it,  with  its  contents, 
and  I  left  the  house,  after  I  had  forbidden  them  from  ever  saying 
a  word  about  that  awful  calamity. 

7.  In  one  of  the  most  sacred  books  of  the  laws  and  regula- 
tions of  the  Church  of  Rome  (Missale  Romanism),  we  read, 
page  58,  "  If  the  priest  after  the  communion  vomit,  and  that 
in  the  vomited  matter  the  consecrated  bread  appears,  let  him 
swallow  what  he  has  vomited.  But  if  he  feels  too  much 
repugnance  to  swallow  it,  let  him  separate  the  body  of 
Christ  (the  consecrated  bread),  from  the  vomited  matter, 
till  it  be  entirely  corrupted,  and  then  throw  it  into  the 
sacrarium.  " 

8.  When  a  priest  of  Rome,  I  was  bound,  with  all  the 
Roman  Catholics,  to  believe  that  Christ  had  taken  His  own 
bodv,  with  his  own  hand  to  His  mouth  !  and  that  he  had  eaten 
Himself,  not  in  a  spiritual,  but  in  a  substantial,  material  way  ! 
After  eating  himself,  he  had  given  himself  to  each  one  of  his 
apostles,  who  then  ate  him  also  !  ! 

9.  Before  closing  this  chapter,  let  the  reader  allow  me  to 
ask  him,  if  the  world  in  its  tlarkest  ages  of  paganism  has  ever 
witnessed  such  a  system  of  idolatry,  so  debasing,  impious, 
ridiculous  and  diabolical  in  its  consequences  as  the  Church  of 
Rome  teaches  in  the  dogma  of  transubstantiation  ! 

When,  with  the  light  of  the  gospel  in  hand,  the  Christian 
goes  into  those  horrible  recesses  of  superstition,  folly  and  impiety, 
he  can  hardly  believe  what  his  eyes  see  and  his  ears  hear.  It 
seems  impossible  that  men  can  consent  to  worship  a  god  whom 
the  rats  can  eat  !  A  god  who  can  be  dragged  away  and  lost  in 
a  muddy  ditch  by  a  drunken  priest  !  A  god  who  can  be  eaten, 
vomited,  and  eaten  again  by  those  who  are  courageous  enough 
to  eat  again  what  they  have  vomited  !  ! 

The  religion  of  Rome  is   not  a  religion:  it  is  the  mockery, 


l82  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  destruction,  the  ignominious  carricature  of  religion.  The 
Church  of  Rome,  as  a  public  fact,  is  nothing  but  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  awful  prophecy :  "  Because  they  receive  not  the 
love  of  the  truth  that  they  might  be  saved,  God  shall  send  them 
strong  delusions  that  they  might  believe  a  lie."  (  2  Thess.  ii.  x., 
xi.) 


Chapter  XIX. 

TICASAGE  AND  LIPE  AT  ST.  CHABLES,  RIVIERRE  BOTEB. 

ON  the  24th  September,  1S33,  the  Rev,  Mr.  Casault,  secretary 
of  the  bishop  of  Quebec,  presented  to  me  the  official  letters 
which  named  me  the  vicar  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perras,  arch-priest, 
and  curate  of  St.  Charles,  Rivierre  Boyer,  and  I  was  soon  on 
my  way,  with  a  cheerful  heart,  to  fill  the  post  assigned  to  me 
by  my  superior. 

The  parish  of  St.  Charles  is  beautifully  situated  about  twenty 
miles  south-west  of  Quebec,  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  which  flows 
in  its  very  midst,  from  north  to  south.  Its  large  farm-houses 
and  barns,  neatly  white-washed  with  lime,  were  the  symbols  of 
peace  and  comfort.  The  vandal  axe  had  not  yet  destroyed  the 
centenary  forests  which  covered  the  country.  On  almost  every 
farm  a  splendid  grove  of  maples  had  been  reserved  as  the  witness 
of  the  intelligence  and  taste  of  the  people. 

I  had  often  heard  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perras,  as  one  of  the  most 
learned,  pious  and  venerable  priests  of  Canada.  I  had  even  been 
told  that  several  of  the  governors  of  Quebec  had  chosen  him  for 
the  French  teacher  of  their  children.  When  I  arrived  he  was 
absent  on  a  sick  call,  but  his  sister  received  me  with  every  mark 
of  refined  politeness.  Under  the  burden  of  her  five  and  fifty 
years  she  had  kept  all  the  freshness  and  amiability  of  youth. 
After  a  few  words  of  welcome,  she  showed  me  my  study  and 
sleeping  room.  They  were  both  perfumed  with  the  fragrance 
of  two  magnificent  bouquets  of  the  choicest  flowers,  on  the  top 
of  one  of  which  was  written  the  words:  "Welcome  to  the 
angel  \vhom  the  Lord  sends  to  us  as  his  messenger."  The  two 
rooms  were  the  perfection  of  neatness  and  comfort.  I  shut  the 
doors  and  fell  on  my  knees  to  thank  God  and  the  blessed  Virgin 

183 


184  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

for  having  given  me  such  a  home.  Ten  minutes  later  I  came 
back  to  the  large  parlor,  where  I  found  Miss  Perras  waiting  for 
me,  to  offer  me  a  glass  of  wine  and  some  excellent  "  pain  de 
savoie, "  as  it  was  the  universal  custom,  the*n,  to  do  in  every 
respectable  house.  She  then  told  me  how  her  brother,  the  curate^ 
and  herself  were  happy  when  they  heard  that  I  was  to  come 
and  live  with  them.  She  had  known  my  mother  before  her 
marriage,  and  she  told  me  how^  she  had  passed  several  happy 
days  in  her  company. 

She  could  not  speak  to  me  of  any  subject  more  interesting, 
than  my  mother;  for,  though  she  had  died  a  few  years  before, 
she  had  never  ceased  to  be  present  to  my  mind,  and  near  and 
dear  to  my  heart. 

Miss  Perras  had  not  spoken  long  when  the  curate  arrived. 
I  rose  to  meet  him,  but  it  is  impossible  to  adequately  express 
what  I  felt  at  that  moment.  The  Israelites  were  hardly  struck 
with  more  awe  when  they  saw  Moses  coming  down  from  Mount 
Sinai,  than  I  was  at  the  first  sight  I  had  of  that  venerable  man. 

Rev.  Mr.  Perras  was  then  about  sixty-five  years  old.  He 
was  a  tall  man — almost  a  giant.  No  army  officer,  no  king  ever 
bore  his  head  with  more  dignity.  But  his  beautiful  blue  eyes, 
which  were  the  embodiment  of  kindness,  tempered  the  dignity 
of  his  mien.  His  hair,  which  was  beginning  to  whiten,  had  not 
yet  lost  its  golden  lustre.  It  seemed  as  if  silver  and  gold  were 
mixed  on  his  head  to  adorn  and  beautify  it.  There  was  on  his 
face  an  expression  of  peace,  calm,  piety  and  kindness,  which 
entirely  won  my  heart  and  respect.  When,  with  a  smile  on 
his  lips,  he  extended  his  hands  towards  me,  I  felt  beside  myself, 
I  fell  on  my  knees  and  said:  "Mr,  Perras,  God  sends  me  to 
you  that  you  may  be  my  teacher  and  my  father.  You  will  have 
to  guide  my  first  and  inexperienced  steps  in  the  holy  ministry. 
Do  bless  me  and  pray  that  I  may  be  a  good  priest  as  you  are 
yourself. " 

That  unpremeditated  and  earnest  act  of  mine,  so  touched  the 
good  old  priest,  that  he  could  hardly  speak.  Leaning  towards 
me,  he  raised  me  up  and  pressed  me  to  his  bosom,  and  with  a 
voice  trembling  with  emotion   he  said,  "  May    God  bless  you. 


VICARAGE,    AND    LIFE    AT    ST.    CHARLES.  iSc 

my  dear  sir,  and  may  he  also  be  blessed  for  having  chosen  vou 
to  help  me  carry  the  burden  of  the  holy  ministry  in  my  old 
age. "  After  half-an-hour  of  the  most  interesting  conversation, 
he  showed  me  his  library,  which  was  very  large  and  composed 
of  the  best  books  which  a  priest  of  Rome  is  allowed  to  read; 
and  he  very  kindly  put  it  at  my  service. 

Next  morning,  after  breakfast,  he  handed  me  a  large  and 
neat  sheet  of  paper,  headed  by  these  latin  words: 

'^OliDO    DUCIT    AD    DEUM.  " 

It  was  the  rule  of  life  which  he  had  imposed  upon  himself,  to 
guide  all  the  hours  of  the  day  in  such  a  way  that  not  a  moment 
could  be  given  to  idleness  or  vain  pastime. 

"Would  you  be  kind  enough, "  he  said,  "to  read  this  and 
tell  me  if  it  suits  your  views  ?  I  have  found  great  spiritual  and 
temporal  benefits  in  following  these  rules  of  life,  and  would  be 
very  happy  if  my  dear  young  coadjutor  would  unite  with  me  in 
walking  in  the  ways  of  an  orderly,  Christian  and  priestly  life. 

I  read  this  document  with  interest  and  pleasure,  and  handed 
it  back  to  him  saying:  "  I  will  be  very  happy,  with  the  help  of 
God,  to  follow  with  you  the  wise  rules  set  down  here  for  a  holy 
and  priestly  life. " 

Thinking  that  these  rules  might  be  interesting  to  the  reader, 
I  give  them  here  in  full: 

1.  Rising, 5.30  a.  m. 

2.  Prayer  and  meditation 6  to  6.30  a.  m. 

3.  Mass,    hearing  confession  and  recitation  of 

brevarium 6.30  to  8  a.  m. 

4.  Breakfast 8  a.  m. 

5.  Visitation  of  the  sick,  and  reading  the  lives 

of  the  saints 8.30  to  10  a.  m. 

6.  Study      of      philosophical,      historical,     or 

theological   books 1 1  a.  m.  to  la. 

7.  Dinner 12  to  12.30. 

8.  Recreation  and  conversation 12.30  to  1.30. 

9.  Recitation  of  vespers 1.30  to  2  p.  m. 

10.  Study  of  history,  theology  or  philosophy  ....  2  to  4  p.  m. 

11.  Visit   to   the  holy   sacrament    and    reading 

"  Imitation  of  Jesus  Christ,  " 4  to  4.30  p.  nx. 

1 2.  Heariug    of     confessions,    or     visit    to    the 

»  sick,  or  study 4.30  to  6  p.  m. 

13-     Supper 6  to  6.30  p.m. 


lOb  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

14.  Recreation 6.30  to  8  p.  m-. 

15.  Chaplet — reading   of    the    Holy    Scriptures 

and  prayer 8  to  9  p.  m. 

16.  Going  to  bed 9  p.  m. 

Such  was  our  daily  life  during  the  eight  months  which  it 
was  my  privilege  to  remain  with  the  venerable  Mr.  Perras, 
except  that  Thursdays  were  invariably  given  to  visit  some  of 
the  neighboring  curates,  and  the  Sabbath  days  spent  in  hearing 
confessions,  and  performing  the  public  services  of  the  church. 

The  conversation  of  Mr,  Perras  was  generally  exceedingly 
interesting.  I  never  heard  from  him  any  idle,  frivolous  talking, 
as  it  is  so  much  the  habit  among  the  priests.  He  was  well 
versed  in  the  literature,  philosophy,  history  and  theology  of 
Rome.  He  had  personally  known  almost  all  the  bishops  and 
priests  of  the  last  fifty  years,  and  his  memory  was  well  stored 
with  anecdotes  and  facts  concerning  the  clergy,  from  almost 
the  days  of  the  conquest  of  Canada.  I  could  write  many- 
interesting  things,  were  I  to  publish  what  I  heard  from  him, 
concerning  the  doings  of  the  clergy.  I  will  only  give  two  or 
three  of  the  facts  of  that  interesting  period  of  the  church  in 
Canada. 

A  couple  of  months  before  my  arrival  at  St.  Charles,  the 
vicar  who  preceded  me,  called  Lajus,  had  publicly  eloped 
with  one  of  his  beautiful  penitents,  who,  after  three  months  of 
public  scandal,  had  repented  and  come  back  to  her  heart-broken 
parents.  About  the  same  time  a  neighboring  curate,  in  whom 
I  had  great  confidence,  compromised  himself  also,  with  one  of 
his  fair  parishioners,  in  a  most  shameful,  though  less  public  way. 
These  two  scandals,  which  came  to  my  knowledge  almost  at 
the  same  time,  distressed  me  exceedingly,  and  for  nearly  a  week 
I  felt  so  overwhelmed  with  shame,  that  I  dreaded  to  show  my 
face  in  public,  and  I  almost  regretted  that  I  ever  became  a  priest. 
My  nights  were  sleepless;  the  best  viands  of  the  table  had  lost 
their  relish.  I  could  hardly  eat  anything.  My  conversations 
with  Mr.  Perras  had  lost  their  charms.  I  even  could  hardly 
talk  with  him  or  anybody  else. 

"  Are  you  sick,  my  young  friend  ?  "  said  he  to  me  one  day. 

"  No,  sir,  I  am  not  sick,  but  I  am  sad. " 


VICARAGE,    AND    LIFE    AT    ST.    CHARLES.  187 

He  replied,  "Can  I  know  the  cause  of  your  sadness  ?  You 
used  to  be  so  cheerful  Und  happy  since  you  came  here.  I 
must  bring  you  back  to  your  former  happy  frame  of  mind. 
Please  tell  me  what  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  J  am  an  old  rnaa 
and  I  know  many  remedies  for  the  soul  as  w^ell  as  for  the 
body.  Open  your  heart  to  me,  and  I  hope  soon  to  see  that  dark 
cloud  which  is  over  you  pass  away." 

"  The  two  last  awful  scandals  given  by  the  priests, "  I 
asswered,  "are  the  cause  of  my  sadness.  The  news  of  the  fall 
of  these  two  confreres,  one  of  whom  seemed  to  me  so  respect- 
able, has  fallen  upon  me  like  a  thunderbolt.  Though  I  had 
heard  something  of  that  nature  when  I  was  a  simple  ecclesiastic 
in  the  college,  I  had  not  the  least  idea  that  such  was  the  life  of 
so  many  priests.  The  fact  of  the  human  frailty  of  so  many, 
is  really  distressing.  How  can  one  hope  to  stand  up  on  one's 
feet  when  he  sees  such  strong  men  fall  by  one's  side  ?  What 
will  become  of  our  holy  church  in  Canada,  and  all  over  the 
world,  if  her  most  devoted  priests  are  so  weak  and  have  so  little 
self-respect,  and  so  little  fear  of  God  ? " 

"My  dear  young  friend,"  answered  Mr.  Perras,  "Our 
holy  church  is  infallible.  The  gates  of  hell  can  not  prevail 
against  her;  but  the  assurance  of  her  perpetuity  and  infallibility 
does  not  rest  on  any  human  foundation.  It  does  not  rest  on 
the  personal  holiness  of  her  priests;  but  it  rests  on  the  promises 
«f  Jesus  Christ.  Her  perpetuity  and  infallibility  are  a  perpetual 
miracle.  It  requires  the  constant  working  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
keep  her  pure  and  holy,  in  spite  of  the  sins  and  scandals  of 
her  priests.  Even  the  clearest  proof  that  our  holy  church  has 
a  promise  of  perpetuity  and  infallibility,  is  drawn  from  the  very 
^ins  and  scandals  of  her  priests;  for  those  sins  and  scandals 
would  have  destroyed  her  long  ago,  if  Christ  was  not  in  the 
midst  to  save  and  sustain  her.  Just  as  the  ark  of  Noah  w^as 
viiraculously  saved  by  the  mighty  hand  of  God,  w^hen  the 
waters  of  the  deluge  would  otherwise  have  wrecked  it,  so  our 
holy  church  is  miraculously  prevented  from  perishing  in  the 
flootl  of  iniquities  by  which  too  many  priests  have  deluged  the 
world.      By  the  great  mercy  and  power  of  God,  the  more   the 


l88  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

waters  of  the  deluge  were  flowing  on  the  earth,  the  more  thfC 
ark  was  raised  towards  heaven  by  these  very  waters.  So  it 
is  with  our  holy  church.  The  very  sins  of  the  priests  make 
that  spotless  spouse  of  Jesus  Christ  fly  away  higher  and  higher 
towards  the  regions  of  holiness,  as  it  is  in  God.  Let,  therefore, 
your  faith  and  confidence  in  our  holy  church,  and  your  respect 
for  her,  remain  firm  and  unshaken  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
scandals.  Let  your  zeal  be  rekindled  for  her  glory  and  exten- 
sion, at  the  sight  of  the  unfortunate  confreres  who  yield  to  the 
attacks  of  the  enemy.  Just  as  the  valiant  soldier  makes  super- 
human efforts  to  save  the  flag,  when  he  sees  those  who  carried 
it  fall  on  the  battle-field.  Oh  !  you  will  see  more  of  our  flag- 
bearers  slaughtered  before  you  reach  my  age.  But  be  not 
disheartened  or  shaken  by  that  sad  sjDcctacle;  for  once  more 
our  holy  church  will  stand  forever,  in  spite  of  all  those  human 
miseries,  for  her  strength  and  her  infallibility  do  not  lie  in  men, 
but  in  Jesus  Christ,  whose  promises  will  stand  in  spite  of  all 
the  efforts  of  hell- 

"  I  am  near  the  end  of  my  course,  and  thanks  be  to  God,  my 
faith  in  our  holy  chui'ch  is  stronger  than  ever,  though  I  have 
seen  and  heard  many  things,  compared  with  which,  the  facts 
which  just  now  distress  you  are  mere  trifles.  In  order  the 
better  to  inure  you  to  the  conflict,  and  to  prepare  you  to  hear 
and  see  more  deplorable  things  than  what  is  now  troubling 
you,  I  think  it  is  my  duty  to  tell  you  a  fact  which  I  got  from 
the  late  Lord  Bishop  Plessis.  I  have  never  revealed  it  to  any- 
body, but  my  interest  in  you  is  so  great  that  I  will  tell  it  to  you, 
and  iny  confidence  in  your  wisdom  is  so  absolute,  that  I  am  sure 
you  will  never  abuse  it.  What  I  will  reveal  to  you  is  of  such 
a  nature  that  we  must  keep  it  among  ourselves,  and  never  let 
it  be  known  to  the  people,  for  it  would  diminish,  if  not  destroy, 
their  respect  and  confidence  in  us,  respect  and  confidence,  with- 
out which,  it  would  become  almost  impossible  to  lead  them. 

"  I  have  already  told  you  that  the  late  venerable  Bishop 
Plessis  was  my  personal  friend.  Our  intimacy  had  sprung  up 
when  we  were  studying  under  the  same  roof  in  the  seminary 
of  St.  Sulpice,  Montreal,  and   it   had  increased  year  after    jear 


VICARAGE    AND    I.IFE    AT    ST.    CHARLES.  i8q 

till  the  last  hour  of  his  life.  Every  summer,  when  he  had 
reached  the  end  of  the  three  months  of  episcopal  visitation  of 
his  diocese,  he  used  to  come  and  spend  eight  or  ten  days  of 
absolute  rest  and  enjoyment  of  private  and  solitary  life  with  me, 
in  this  parsonage.  The  two  rooms  you  occupy  were  his,  and 
he  told  me  many  times  that  the  happiest  days  of  his  episcopal 
life  were  those  passed  in  this  solitude. 

"  One  day  he  had  come  from  his  three  months'  visit,  more 
worn  out  than  ever,  and  when  I  sat  down  with  him  in  this 
parlor,  I  was  almost  frightened  by  the  air  of  distress  which 
covered  his  face.  Instead  of  finding  him  the  loquacious,  ami- 
able and  cheerful  guest  I  used  to  have  in  him,  he  was  taciturn, 
cast  down,  distressed.  I  felt  really  uneasy  for  the  first  time, 
in  his  presence,  but  as  it  was  the  last  hour  of  the  day,  I  supposed 
that  this  was  due  to  his  extreme  fatigue,  and  I  hoped  that  the 
rest  of  the  night  would  bring  about  such  a  change  in  my  ven- 
erable friend,  that  I  would  find  him  the  next  morning,  what 
he  used  to  be,  the  most  amiable  and  interesting  of  men. 

"  I  was,  myself,  completely  worn  out.  1  had  traveled 
nearly  thirty  miles  that  day,  to  go  to  receive  him  at  St.  Thomas, 
The  heat  was  oppressive,  the  roads  very  bad,  and  the  dust  awful. 
I  was  in  need  of  rest,  and  I  was  hardly  in  my  bed,  when  I  fell 
into  a  profound  sleep,  and  slept  till  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
I  was  then  suddenly  awakened  by  sobs  and  half-suppressed 
lamentations  and  prayers,  which  were  evidently  coming  from 
the  bishop's  room.  Without  losing  a  moment,  I  went  ana 
knocked  at  the  door,  inquiring  about  the  cause  of  these  sobs. 
Evidently  the  poor  bishop  had  not  suspected  that  I  could  hear 
him. 

"  '  Sobs  !  Sobs  ! '  he  answered,  '  What  do  you  mean  by  that. 
Please  go  back  to  your  room  and  sleep.  Do  not  trouble  your- 
self about  me,  I  am  well, '  and  he  absolutely  refused  to  open 
the  door  of  his  room.  The  remaining  hours  of  the  night,  of 
course,  were  sleepless  ones  for  me.  The  sobs  of  the  bishop 
were  more  suppressed,  but  he  could  not  sufficiently  suppress 
them  to  prevent  me  from  hearing  them.  The  next  morning 
his  eyes  were   reddened  with  weeping,   and    his  face   was   that 


190 


FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


of  one  who  had  suffered  intensely  all  the  night.  After  break- 
fast I  said  to  him:  "My  lord,  last  night  has  been  one  of 
desolation  to  your  lordship;  for  God's  sake,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  sacred  ties  of  friendship,  which  has  united  us  during 
so  many  years,  please  tell  me  what  is  the  cause  of  your  sorrow. 
It  will  become  less  the  very  moment  you  share  it  with  your 
friend." 

"  The  bishop  answered  me :  '  You  are  right  when  you 
think  that  I  am  under  the  burden  of  a  great  desolation;  but 
its  cause  is  of  such  a  nature,  that  I  cannot  reveal  it  even  to  you, 
my  dear  friend.  It  is  only  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
His  holy  mother,  that  I  must  go  to  unburden  mv  heart,  if 
God  does  not  come  to  my  help,  it  is  sure  that  I  must  die  from 
it.  But  I  will  carry  with  me  into  my  grave,  the  awful  mystery 
which  kills  me. ' 

"In  vain,  during  the  rest  of  the  day,  I  did  all  that  I  could  to 
persuade  Monseigneur  Plessis  to  reveal  the  cause  of  his  grief, 
I  failed.  At  last,  through  respect  for  him,  I  withdrew  to  my 
own  room,  and  left  him  alone,  knowing  that  solitude  is  some- 
times the  best  friend  of  a  desolated  mind.  His  lordship,  that 
evening,  withdrew  to  his  sleeping  room  sooner  than  usual,  and 
I  retired  to  ms'  room  much  later.  But  sleep  was  out  of  the 
question  for  me  that  night,  for  his  desolation  seemed  to  be  so 
great,  and  his  tears  so  abundant,  that  when  he  bade  me  '  good 
nio-ht, '  I  was  in  fear  of  finding  my  venerable,  and  more  than 
ever  dear  friend,  dead  in  his  bed  the  next  morning.  I  watched 
him,  without  closing  my  eyes,  from  the  adjoining  room,  from 
ten  o'clock  till  the  next  morning.  Though  it  was  evident  that 
he  was  making  great  efforts  to  suppress  his  sobs,  I  could  see  that 
his  sorrow  was  still  more  intense  that  night,  than  the  last  one, 
and  my  mental  agony  was  not  much  less  than  his,  during  those 
distressing  hours. 

"  But  I  formed  an  extreme  resolution,  which  I  put  into  effect 
the  very  moment  that  he  came  out  of  his  room  the  next  morning, 
to  salute  me. 

"'My  Lord, '  said  I,  '  I  thought  till  the  night  before  last, 
that   you   honored    me    with    your   friendship,  but  I  see   to-day 


VICARAGE,    AND    LIFE    AT    ST.    CHARLES.  I9I 

that  I  was  mistaken.  You  do  not  consider  me  as  your  friend, 
■^or  if  you  would  look  upon  me  as  a  friend  worthy  of  your 
confidence,  you  would  unburden  your  heart  unto  mine.  A  true 
friend  has  no  secret  from  a  true  friend.  What  is  the  use  of 
friendship  if  it  be  not  to  help  each  other  to  carry  the  burdens  of 
life  !  I  found  myself  honored  by  your  presence  in  my  house,  so 
long  as  I  considered  myself  as  your  own  friend.  But  now,  that 
I  see  I  have  lost  your  confidence,  please  allow  me  frankly  to  say 
to  your  lordship,  that  I  do  not  feel  the  same  at  your  presence 
here.  Besides,  it  seems  to  me  very  probable  that  the  terrible 
burden  which  you  want  to  carry  alone  will  kill  you,  and  that 
very  soon,  and  I  do  not  at  all  like  the  idea  of  finding  you  sud- 
denly dead  in  my  parsonage,  and  having  the  coroner  holding  his 
inquest  on  your  body,  and  making  the  painful  inquiries  which 
are  always  made  upon  one  suddenly  taken  by  death,  partic- 
ularly when  he  belongs  to  the  highest  ranks  of  society. 
Then,  my  lord,  be  not  offended  if  I  respectfully  request  your 
lordship  to  find  another  lodging  as  soon  as  possible.' 

"  My  words  fell  upon  the  bishop  like  a  thunderbolt.  He 
seemed  to  awaken  from  a  profound  sleep.  With  a  deep  sigh  he 
looked  in  my  face,  with  his  eyes  rolling  in  tears,  and  said: 

'"You  are  right,  Perras,  I  ought  never  to  have  concealed  my 
sorrow  from  such  a  friend  as  you  have  always  been  for  more 
than  half  a  century  to  me.  But  you  are  the  only  one  to  whom 
I  can  reveal  it.  No  doubt  your  priestly  and  Christian  heart 
will  not  be  less  broken  than  mine;  but  you  will  help  me  with 
your  prayers  and  wise  counsels  to  carry  it.  However,  before  I 
initiate  you  into  such  an  awful  mystery,  we  must  pray." 

"  We  then  knelt  down  and,  we  said  together  a  chaplet  to 
invoke  the  power  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  after  which  we  recited 
Psalm  li:  '  Misere  mihi.'     Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord  ! 

"  There,  sitting  by  me  on  this  sofa,  the  bishop  said :  '  My 
dear  Perras,  you  are  the  only  one  to  whom  I  could  reveal 
what  you  are  about  to  hear,  for  I  think  you  are  the  only  one 
who  can  hear  such  a  terrible  secret  without  revealing  it,  and 
because,  also,  you  are  the  only  friend  whose  advice  can  guide  me 
in  this  terrible  affliction. 


192 


FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


" '  You  know  that  I  have  just  finished  the  visit  of  my  immense 
diocese  of  Quebec.  It  has  taken  ine  several  years  of  hard  work? 
and  fatigue,  to  see  by  my  own  eyes,  and  know  by  myself,  the 
gains  and  losses — In  a  word,  the  strength  and  life  of  our  holy 
church.  I  will  not  speak  to  you  of  the  people.  They  are,  as  a 
general  thing,  truly  religious  and  faithful  to  the  church.  But 
the  priests.  O,  Great  God  !  will  I  tell  you  what  they  are  ?  My 
dear  Perras,  I  would  almost  die  with  joy,  if  God  would  tell  me 
that  I  am  mistaken.  But,  alas  !  I  am  not  mistaken.  The  sad, 
the  terrible  truth  is  this  (putting  his  right  hand  on  his  forehead,) 
the  priests!  Ah!  with  the  exception  of  you  and  three  others,  are 
infidels  and  atheists  !  O,  my  God  !  my  God  !  what  will  become 
of  the  church  in  the  hands  of  such  wicked  men  ! '  and  covering 
his  face  with  his  hands,  the  bishop  burst  into  tears,  and  for  one 
hour  could  not  say  a  word.      I  myself  remained  mute. 

"  At  first  I  regretted  having  pressed  the  bishop  to  reveal 
such  an  unexpected  mystery  of  iniquity.  But,  taking  counsel 
of  our  very  fathomless  humiliation  and  distress,  after  an  hour  of 
silence,  spent  in  pacing  the  walks  of  the  garden,  almost  unable 
to  look  each  other  in  the  face,  I  said :  '  My  lord,  what  you  have 
told  me  is  surely  the  saddest  thing  that  I  ever  heard ;  but  allow 
me  to  tell  you  that  your  sorrows  are  out  of  the  limits  of  your 
high  intelligence  and  your  profound  science.  If  you  read  the 
history  of  our  holy  church,  from  the  seventh  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  you  will  know  that  the  spotless  spouse  of  Christ  has 
seen  as  dark  days,  if  not  darker,  in  Italy,  France,  Spain  and 
Germany,  as  she  does  in  Canada,  and  though  the  saints  of  those 
days  deplored  the  errors  and  crimes  of  those  dark  ages,  they  have 
not  killed  themselves  with  their  vain  tears  as  you  are  doing.' 

"  Taking  the  bishop  by  the  hand,  I  led  him  to  the  library, 
and  opened  the  pages  of  the  history  of  the  church,  by  Cardinals 
Baronius  and  Henrion ;  I  showed  him  the  names  of  more  than 
fifty  Popes  who  had  evidently  been  atheists  and  infidels.  I 
read  to  him  the  lives  of  Borgia,  Alexander  VI.  and  a  dozen 
others,  who  would  surely  and  justly  be  hanged  to-day  by  the 
executioner  of  Quebec,  were  they,  in  that  city,  committing  one 
half  of   the   public    crimes   of   adultery,  murder,  debauchery  of 


VICARAGE,    AND    LIFE    AT    ST.    CHARLES.  IQ3 

every  kind,  which  they  committed  in  Rome,  Avignon,  Naples, 
etc.,  etc.  I  read  to  him  some  of  the  pubHc  and  undeniable 
crimes  of  the  successors  of  the  apostles,  and  of  the  inferior 
clergy,  and  I  easily  and  clearly  proved  to  him  that  his  priests, 
though  infidels  and  atheists,  were  angels  of  pity,  modesty,  purity 
and  religion,  when  compared  with  a  Borgia,  who  publicly  lived 
as  a  married  man  with  his  own  daughter,  and  had  a  child  by  her. 
He  agreed  with  me  that  several  of  the  Alexanders,  the  Johns, 
the  Piuses  and  the  Leos,  were  sunk  much  deeper  in  the  abyss  of 
every  kind  of  iniquity  than  his  priests. 

"  Five  hours  passed  in  so  perusing  the  sad  but  irrefutable 
pages  of  the  history  of  our  holy  church,  wrought  a  marvelous 
and  beneficial  change  in  the  mind  of  Monseigneur  Plessis. 

"  My  conclusion  was,  that  if  our  holy  church  had  been  able 
to  resist  the  deadly  influence  of  such  scandals  during  so  many 
centuries  in  Europe,  she  would  not  be  destroyed  in  Canada,  even 
by  the  legion  of  atheists  by  whom  she  is  served  to-day. 

"  The  bishop  acknowledged  that  my  conclusion  was  correct. 
He  thanked  me  for  the  good  I  had  done  him,  by  preventing  him 
from  despairing  of  the  future  of  our  holy  church  in  Canada,  and 
the  rest  of  the  days  which  he  spent  with  me,  he  was  almost  as 
cheerful  and  amiable  as  before. 

"  Now,  my  dear  young  friend,  "  added  Mr.  Perras,  "  I  hope 
you  will  be  as  reasonable  and  logical  in  your  religion  as  Bishop 
Plessis,  who  was  probably  the  greatest  man  Canada  has  ever 
had.  When  Satan  tries  to  shake  your  faith  by  the  scandals  you 
see,  remember  that  Stephen,  after  having  fought  with  his 
adversary, — the  Pope  Constantine  H.,  put  out  his  eyes  and 
condemned  him  to  die.  Remember  that  other  Pope,  who 
through  revenge  against  his  predecessor,  had  him  exhumed, 
brought  his  dead  body  before  judges,  then  charged  him  with 
the  most  horrible  crimes,  which  he  proved  by  the  testimony 
of  scores  of  eye-witnesses,  got  him  (the  dead  Pope),  to  be 
condemned  to  be  beheaded  and  dragged  with  ropes  through 
the  muddy  streets  of  Rome,  and  thrown  into  the  river  Tiber. 
Yes,  when  your  mind  is  oppressed  by  the  secret  crimes  of  the 
priests,  which  you    will    know,  either   through   the  confessional 


'94 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


or  by  public  rumor,  remember  that  more  than  twelve  Popes 
have  been  raised  to  that  high  and  holy  dignity  by  the  rich  and 
influential  prostitutes  of  Rome,  with  whom  they  were  publicly 
living  in  the  most  scandalous  way.  Remember  that  young  bas- 
tard, John  XL,  the  son  of  Pope  Sergius,  who  was  consecrated 
Pope,  when  only  twelve  years  old,  by  the  influence  of  his  prosti- 
tute mother,  Marosian,  but  who  was  so  horribly  profligate  that 
he  was  deposed  by  the  people  and  the  clergy  of  Rome. 

"  Well,  if  our  holy  church  has  been  able  to  pass  through  such 
storms  without  perishing,  is  it  notaliving  proof  that  Christ  is  her 
pilot,  that  she  is  imperishable  and  infallible  because  St.  Peter  is 
her  foundation,  '  Tu  es  Petrus  et  super  banc  petram  edificabo 
Ecclesiam  meam,  et  portae  inf  eri  non  prevalebunt  adversus  eam.'  " 

Oh,  my  God  !  what  shall  I  confess  to  my  confusion,  what 
tny  thoughts  were  during  that  conversation,  or  rather  that 
lecture  of  my  curate,  which  lasted  more  than  an  hour  !  Yes, 
to  thy  eternal  glory,  and  to  my  eternal  shame,  I  must  say  the 
truth.  When  the  priest  was  exhibiting  to  me  the  horrible 
unmentionable  crimes  of  so  many  of  our  Popes,  to  calm  my  fears 
and  strengthen  my  shaken  faith,  a  mysterious  voice  was  repeat- 
ing to  the  ears  of  my  soul,  the  dear  Saviour's  words:  "  A  good 
tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring 
forth  good  fruit.  Every  tree  that  bringeth  not  good  fruit  is 
hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire.  Wherefore,  by  their  fruits 
ye  shall  know  them, "  and  in  spite  of  myself  the  voice  of  my 
conscience  cried  in  thundering  tones  that  a  church,  whose  head 
and  members  were  so  horribly  corrupt,  could  not,  by  any  means, 
be  the  Church  of  Christ. 

But  the  most  sacred  and  imperative  law  of  my  church, 
which  I  had  promised  by  oaths,  was,  that  I  would  never  obey 
the  voice  of  my  conscience,  nor  follow  the  dictates  of  my 
private  judgment,  when  they  were  in  opposition  to  the  teachings 
of  my  church.  Too  honest  to  admit  the  conclusions  of  Mr. 
Perras,  which  were  evidently  the  conclusions  of  my  church,  I 
wastoocov^rardly  and  too  mean  to  bravely  express  my  own  mind, 
and  repeat  the  words  of  the  Son  of  God:  "  By  their  fruits  ye 
%hall  know  them  !     A  gfood  tree  cannot  bringr  forth  evil  fruit  ! " 


Chapter  XX. 
FAFremATJ  and  the  patriots,  in  1833-the   burning  op 

"I*E  OANADIEN"  BY  THE  OURATE  OF  ST.  CHARLES. 

THE  name  of  Louis  Joseph  Papineau  will  be  forever  dear  to 
the  French  Canadians;  for  whatever  may  be  the  political 
party  to  which  one  belongs  in  Canada,  he  cannot  deny  that  it 
is  to  the  ardent  patriotism,  the  indomitable  energy,  and  the 
remarkable  eloquence  of  that  great  patriot,  that  Canada  is  in- 
debted for  the  greater  part  of  the  political  reforms  which  promise 
in  a  near  future  to  raise  the  country  of  my  birth  to  the  rank  of  a 
great  and  free  nation. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  speak  of  the  political  parties  which 
divided  the  people  of  Canada  into  two  camps  in  1833.  The 
long  and  trying  abuses  under  which  our  conquered  race  was 
groaning,  and  which  at  last  brought  about  the  bloody  insurrec- 
tions of  1S37  ^^^  ^838,  are  matters  of  history,  which  do  not 
pertain  to  the  plea  of  this  work.  I  will  speak  of  Papineau,  and 
the  brilliant  galaxy  of  talented  young  men  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded  and  supported,  only  in  connection  with  their  difficul- 
ties with  the  clergy  and  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Papineau,  Lef  ontaine,  Bedard,  Cartier  and  others,  though  born 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  were  only  nominal  Romanists.  I  have 
been  personally  acquainted  with  every  one  of  them,  and  I  know 
they  were  not  in  the  habit  of  confessing.  Several  times  I  invited 
them  to  fulfil  that  duty,  which  I  considered,  then,  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  be  saved.  They  invariably  answered  me  with 
jests,  which  distressed  me;  for  I  could  see  that  they  did  not 
believe  in  the  efficacy  of  auricular  confession.  These  men  were 
honest  and  earnest  in  their  efforts  to  raise  their  countrymen  from 
the  humiliating  and  inferior  position  which  they  occupied  compared 


196  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

with  the  conquering  race.  They  well  understood  that  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  in  order  to  put  the  French  Canadians  on  a 
level  with  their  British  compatriots,  was  to  give  good  schools  to 
the  people;  and  they  bravely  set  themselves  to  show  the 
necessity  of  having  a  good  system  of  education,  for  the  country 
as  well  as  for  the  city.  But  at  the  very  first  attempt  they 
found  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  their  patriotic  views  in  the 
clergy.  The  priests  had  everywhere  the  good  common  sense 
to  understand  that  their  absolute  power  over  the  people  was 
due  to  its  complete  ignorance.  They  felt  that  that  power 
would  decrease  iit  the  same  proportion  that  light  and  education 
would  spread  among  the  masses.  Hence  the  almost  insur- 
mountable obstacles  put  by  the  clergy  before  the  patriots,  to 
prevent  them  from  reforming  the  system  of  education.  The 
only  source  of  education,  then  in  Canada,  with  the  exception  of 
the  colleges  of  Quebec,  Montreal  and  Nicolet,  consisted  in 
one  or  two  schools  in  the  principal  parishes,  entirely  under  the 
control  of  the  priests,  and  kept  by  their  most  devoted  servants, 
while  the  new  parishes  had  none  at  all.  The  greater  part  of 
these  teachers  knew  very  little  more,  and  required  nothing 
more  from  their  pupils,  than  the  reading  of  the  A,  B,  C,  and 
their  little  catechism.  When  once  admitted  to  the  first  com- 
munion, the  A,  B,C,  and  the  little  catechism  were  soon  forgotten, 
and  95  in  100  of  the  French  Canadian  people  were  not  even 
able  to  sign  their  names  !  In  many  parishes,  the  curate,  with 
his  school-teacher,  the  notary,  and  a  half-dozen  of  others,  were 
the  only  persons  w^ho  could  read  or  write  a  letter.  Papineau 
and  his  patriotic  friends  understood  that  the  French  Canadian 
people  were  doomed  to  remain  an  infei-ior  race  in  their  own 
country,  if  they  were  left  in  that  shameful  state  of  ignorance. 
They  did  not  conceal  their  indignation  at  the  obstacles  placed 
by  the  clergy  to  prevent  them  from  amending  the  system  of 
education.  Several  eloquent  speeches  were  made  by  Papineau, 
who  was  their  "  Parliament  Speaker, "  in  answer  to  the  clergy 
The  curates,  in  their  pulpits,  as  well  as  by  the  press,  tried  to 
show  that  Canada  had  the  best  possible  system  of  education — 
that  the  people  were  happy — that  too  much  education  would 


PAPINEAU    AND    THE    PATRIOTS    IX     1S33.  '97 

bring  into  Canada  the  bitter  fruits  which  had  grown  in  France, 
— infidelity,  revolution,  riots,  bloodshed;  that  the  people  were 
too  poor  to  pay  the  heavy  taxes  ^vhich  would  be  imposed  for 
the  new  system  of  education.  In  one  of  his  addresses,  Papineau 
answered  this  last  argument,  showing  the  immense  sums  of 
money,  foolishly  given  by  those  so-called  poor  people,  to  gild 
the  ceilings  of  the  church  (as  was  the  usage  then).  He  made  a 
calculation  of  the  tithes  paid  to  the  priests;  of  the  costly  images 
and  statues  of  saints,  which  were  to  be  seen  then,  around  all  the 
interior  of  the  churches,  and  he  boldly  said  that  the  priests  would 
do  better  to  induce  the  people  to  establish  goocf  schools,  and  pay 
respectable  teachers,  than  to  lavish  their  money  on  objects  which 
were  of  so  little  benefit. 

That  address,  which  was  reproduced  by  the  only  French 
paper  of  Quebec,  "  Le  Canadien, "  fell  upon  the  clergy  like  a 
hurricane  upon  a  rotten  house,  shaking  it  to  its  foundation. 
Everywhere  Papineau  and  his  party  were  denounced  as  infidels, 
more  dangerous  than  Protestants,  and  plans  were  immediately 
laid  down  to  prevent  the  people  from  reading  "  Le  Canadien, " 
the  only  French  paper  they  could  receive.  Not  more  than 
half  a  dozen  were  receiving  it  in  St.  Charles;  but  they  used  to 
read  it  to  their  neighbors,  who  gathered  on  Sabbath  afternoons 
to  hear  its  contents.  We  at  first  tried,  through  the  confessional, 
to  persuade  the  subscribers  to  reject  it,  under  the  pretext  that  it 
was  a  bad  paper;  that  it  spoke  against  the  priests  and  would 
finally  destroy  our  holy  religion.  But,  to  our  great  dismay,  our 
efforts  failed.  The  curates  then  had  recourse  to  a  more  effica- 
cious w^ay  of  preserving  the  faith  of  the  people. 

The  postmaster  of  St.  Charles  was,  then,  a  man  whom  Mr. 
Perras  had  got  educated  at  his  own  expense  in  the  seminary 
of  Quebec.  His  name  was  Chabot.  That  man  was  a  perfect 
machine  in  the  hands  of  his  benefactor.  Mr.  Perras  forbade 
him  to  deliver  any  more  of  the  numbers  of  that  journal  to  the 
subscribers,  when  there  would  be  anything  unfavorable  to  the 
clergy  in  its  columns.  "Give  them  to  me,"  said  he,  "that  I 
may  burn  them,  and  when  the  people  come  to  get  them,  give 
them  such  evasive  answers,  that  they  may  believe  that  it  is  the 


I9S  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

editor's  fault,  or  of  some  other  post-offices,  if  they  have  not 
received  it, "  From  that  day,  every  time  there  was  any  censure 
of  the  clergy,  the  poor  paper  was  consigned  to  the  flames.  One 
evening,  when  Mr.  Perras  had,  in  my  presence,  thrown  a  bundle 
of  these  papers  into  the  stove,  I  told  him:  "Please  allow  me 
to  express  to  you  my  surprise  at  this  act.  Have  w^e  really  the 
right  to  deprive  the  subscribers  of  that  paper,  of  their  property  ? 
That  paper  is  theirs,  they  have  paid  for  it.  How  can  we  take 
upon  ourselves  to  destroy  it  ^vithout  their  permission  !  Besides, 
you  know  the  old  proverb:  Les  plerres  parlent.  (Stones 
speak.)  If  it  were  known  by  our  people  that  we  destroy  their 
papers,  would  not  the  consequences  be  very  serious  ?  Now, 
Mr.  Perras,  you  know  my  sincere  respect  for  you,  and  I  hope  I 
do  not  go  against  that  respect  by  asking  you  to  tell  me  by  what 
right  or  authority  you  do  this  }  I  would  not  put  this 
question  to  you  if  you  \vere  the  only  one  who  does  it.  But  I 
know  several  others  who  do  just  the  same  thing.  I  will,  pro- 
bably, be  obliged,  ^vhen  a  curate,  to  act  in  the  same  manner, 
and  I  wish  to  know  on  Avhat  grounds  I  shall  be  justified  in 
acting  as  you  do.  " 

"  Are  we  not  the  spiritual  fathers  of  our  people, "  answered 
Mr.  Perras. 

I  replied,  "  Yes,  sir,  we  are  surely  the  spiritual  fathers  of 
our  people."  "  Then,"  rejoined  Mr.  Perras,  "  we  have  in  spirit- 
ual matters  all  the  rights  and  duties  which  temporal  fathers 
have,  in  temporal  things,  toward  their  children.  If  a  father 
sees  a  sharp  knife  in  the  hands  of  his  beloved  but  inexperienced 
child,  and  if  he  has  good  reasons  to  fear  that  the  dear  chiLd  may 
wound  himself,  nav,  destroy  his  own  life  w^ith  that  knife,  is  it 
not  his  duty,  before  God  and  man,  to  take  it  from  his  hands  and 
prevent  him  from  touching  it  any  more  ? " 

"  Yes,  "  I  answered,  "  but  allow  me  to  draw  your  attention 
to  a  little  difference  which  I  see  between  the  corporal  and  the 
spiritual  children  of  your  comparison.  In  the  case  you  bring 
forward,  of  a  father  who  takes  away  the  knife  from  the  hands 
of  a  young  and  inexperienced  child,  that  knife  has,  very  probably, 
been  bought   by   the   father.       It   has  been    paid   for  with   that 


PAPINEAU    AXD    THE    PATRIOTS    IX     1S33.  ^99 

father's  money.  It  is,  then,  the  father's  knife.  But  the  papers 
of  your  spiritual  children,  which  you  have  thrown  into  your 
stove,  have  been  paid  for  by  them,  and  not  by  you.  They  ar« 
theirs,  then,  before  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  and  they  are  not 
yours.  " 

I  saw  that  my  answer  had  cut  the  good  old  priest  to  the 
quick,  and  he  became  more  nervous  than  I  had  ever  seen  him. 
"I  see  that  you  are  young,"  answered  he;  "you  have  not  yet 
had  time  to  meditate  on  the  great  and  broad  principles  of  our 
holy  church.  I  confess  there  is  a  difference  in  the  rights  of  the 
two  children  to  which  I  had  not  paid  attention,  and  which,  at 
first  sight,  may  seem  to  diminish  the  strength  of  my  argument. 
But  I  have,  here,  an  argument  which  will  satisfy  you,  I  hope. 
Some  weeks  ago,  I  wrote  to  our  venerable  Bishop  Panet  about 
my  intention  of  burning  that  miserable  and  in^pious  paper,  "  Le 
Canadien,"  to  preAent  it  from  poisoning  the  minds  of  our  people 
against  us,  and  he  has  approved  me,  adding  the  advice,  to  be 
very  prudent,  and  to  act  so  secretly  that  there  would  be  no 
danger  in  being  detected.  Here  is  the  letter  of  the  holy  bishop, 
you  may  read  it,  if  you  like.  " 

"I  thank  you,"  I  replied,  "I  believe  that  what  you  say  in 
reference  to  that  letter  is  correct.  But  suppose  that  our  good 
bishop  has  made  a  mistake  in  advising  you  to  burn  those  papers, 
would  you  not  have  some  reasons  to  regret  that  burning,  should 
you,  sooner  or  later,  detect  that  mistake  ? " 

"  A  reason  of  regretting  to  follow  the  advice  of  my  superiors! 
Never  !  Never  ?  I  fear,  my  dear  young  friend,  that  you  do  not 
sufficiently  understand  the  duties  of  an  inferior,  and  the  sacred 
rights  of  superiors  in  our  holy  church.  Have  you  not  been  told 
by  your  superiors  in  the  college  of  Nicolet,  that  there  can  be  no 
sin  in  an  inferior,  who  obeys  the  orders  or  counsels  of  his 
legitimate  superiors  ?  " 

"  Yes  sir, "  I  answered,  "  the  Rev.  Mr.  Leprohon  has  told 
us  that,  in  the  college  of  Nicolet.  " 

"But,"  rejoined  Mr.  Perras,  "  vour  last  question  makes  me 
fear  that  you  have  forgotten  \vbat  vou  have  learned  there.  My 
dear  young  friend,  do  not  forget  mat  it  was  the  want  of  respect 


200  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

to  theii  ecclesiastical  superiors,  which  caused  the  apostacy  of 
Luther  and  Calvin,  and  damned  so  many  millions  of  heretics 
who  have  followed  them.  But  in  order  to  bring  your  rebellious 
mind  under  the  holy  yoke  of  a  perfect  submission  to  your 
superiors,  I  will  show  you,  by  our  greatest  and  most  approved 
theologian,  that  I  can  burn  these  papers,  without  doing  any- 
thing wrong  before  God. " 

He  then  went  to  his  library,  and  brought  me  a  volume  of 
Liguori,  from  which  he  read  to  me  the  following  Latin  words: 
Docet  Sanchez,  No.  19. — Parato  aliquem  occidere  licite  posse 
suaderi  ut  ab  eo  furetur,  vel  ut  fornicatur  (Page  419.)  "It  is 
allowed  to  commit  a  sin  of  a  lesser  degree,  in  order  to  prevent 
one  of  a  graver  nature. "  With  an  air  of  triumph  he  said,  "  Do 
you  see  now  that  I  am  absolutely  justifiable  in  destroying  these 
pestilential  papers^  According  to  those  principles  of  our  holy 
Church,  you  know  well  that  even  a  woman  is  allowed  to  commit 
the  sin  of  adultery  with  a  man  who  threatens  to  kill  her,  or  him- 
self, if  she  rebukes  him ;  because  murder  and  suicide  are  greater 
crimes,  and  more  irremediable  than  adultery.  So  the  burning 
of  those  papers,  though  a  sin,  if  done  through  malice,  or  without 
legitimate  reasons,  ceases  to  be  a  sin ;  it  is  a  holy  action  the 
moment  I  do  it,  to  prevent  the  destruction  of  our  holy  religion, 
and  to  save  immortal  souls." 

I  must  confess,  to  my  shame,  that  the  degrading  principles 
of  absolute  submission  of  the  inferior  to  the  superiors,  which 
flattens  everything  to  the  ground  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  had 
so  completely  wrought  their  deadly  work  on  me,  that  it  was  my 
wish  to  attain  to  that  supreme  perfection  of  the  priest  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  to  become  like  a  stick  in  the  hands  of  my 
superiors — like  a  corpse  in  their  presence.  But  my  God  was 
stronger  than  his  unfaithful  and  blind  servant,  and  he  never 
allowed  me  to  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  that  abyss  of  folly  and 
impiety.  In  spite  of  myself,  I  had  left  in  me  sufficient  manhood 
to  express  my  doubts  about  that  awful  doctrine  of  my  Church. 

"  I  do  not  want  to  revolt  against  my  superiors, "  I  answered, 
"  and  I  hope  God  will  prevent  me    from    falling   into  the    abyss 


PAPINEAU    AND    THE    PATRIOTS    IN     1833.  SOI 

vrhere  Luther  and  Calvin  lost  themselves.  I  only  respectfully 
request  you  to  tell  me,  if  you  w^ould  not  regret  the  burning  of 
these  papers,  in  case  you  would  know  that  Bishop  Panet  made 
a  mistake  in  granting  you  the  power  of  destroying  a  property 
which  is  neither  yours  nor  his — a  property  over  which  neither 
of  you  has  any  control  ?  " 

It  was  the  first  time  that  I  was  not  entirely  of  the  same  mind 
with  Mr.  Perras.  Till  then,  I  had  not  been  brave,  honest  or 
independent  enough  to  oppose  his  views  and  his  ipse  dixlt^ 
though  often  tempted  to  do  so.  The  desire  of  living  in  peace 
with  him;  the  sincere  respect  which  his  many  virtues  and  ven- 
erable age  commanded  in  me;  the  natural  timidity,  not  to  say 
cowardice,  of  a  young,  inexperienced  man,  in  the  presence  of  a 
learned  and  experienced  priest,  had  kept  me,  till  then,  in  perfect 
submission  to  the  views  of  my  aged  curate.  But  it  seemed  im- 
possible to  yield  any  longer,  and  to  bow  my  conscience  before 
principles,  which  seemed  to  me  then,  as  I  am  sure  they  are  now, 
subversive  of  everything  which  is  good  and  holy  among  men. 
I  took  the  big  Bible,  which  was  on  the  table,  and  I  opened  it  at 
the  history  of  Susanna,  and  I  answered:  "My  dear  Mr.  Perras, 
God  has  chosen  you  to  be  my  teacher,  and  I  have  learned  many 
things  since  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  be  with  you.  But  I 
have  much  more  to  learn,  before  I  know  all  that  your  books, 
and  your  long  experience  have  taught  you.  I  hope  you  will 
not  find  fault  with  me,  if  I  honestly  tell  you  that  in  spite  of 
myself,  there  is  a  doubt  in  my  mind  about  this  doctrine  of  our 
theologians,"  and  I  said:  "Is  there  anything  more  sublime,  in 
the  whole  Bible,  than  that  feeble  woman  Susanna,  in  the 
hands  of  those  two  infamous  men  }  With  a  diabolical  impudence 
and  malice,  they  threaten  to  destroy  her,  and  to  take  her  before 
a  tribunal  which  will  surely  condemn  her  to  the  most  ignoble 
death,  if  she  does  not  consent  to  satisfy  their  criminal  desires. 
She  is  just  in  the  position  alluded  to  by  Liguori.  What  will 
she  do  ?  Will  she  be  guided  by  the  principles  of  our  theologians? 
Will  she  consent  to  become  an  adulteress  in  order  to  prevent 
those  two  men  from  perjuring  themselves,  and  becoming 
murderers,  by  causing  her  to  be  stoned  to  death,  as  was  requiret' 


303  FIFTY    YEARS    IJ4    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

by  the  law  of  the  Jews  ?  No  !  She  raises  her  eyes  and  her  souJ 
towards  the  God  whom  she  loves  and  fears  more  than  anything 
in  the  world,  and  she  says:  "  I  am  straitened  on  every  side,  for  if 
I  do  this  thing  it  is  death  unto  me;  and  if  I  do  it  not,  I  cannot 
escape  your  hands.  It  is  better  for  me  to  fall  into  your  hands, 
and  not  to  do  it,  than  to  sin  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord."  Has  not 
God  Almighty  himself  shown  that  he  approved  of  that  heroic 
resolution  of  Susanna,  to  die  rather  than  commit  adultery.  Does 
He  not  show  that  He  planted.  Himself,  in  that  noble  soul,  the 
principle  that  it  is  better  to  die  than  break  the  laws  of  God 
when  he  brought  his  prophet  Daniel,  and  gave  him  a  super- 
natural wisdom  to  save  the  life  of  Susanna  ?  If  that  woman 
had  been  guided  by  the  principles  of  Ligouri,  which,  I  confess 
to  you  with  regret,  are  the  principles  accepted  everywhere  in 
our  Church  (principles  which  have  guided  you  in  the  burning  of 
"Le  Canadien, ")  she  would  have  consented  to  the  desires  of 
those  infamous  men.  Nay,  if  she  had  been  interrogated  by  her 
husband,  or  by  the  judges  on  that  action,  she  would  have  been 
allowed  to  swear  before  God  and  men,  that  she  was  not  guilty 
of  it.  Now,  my  dear  Mr.  Perras,  do  you  not  find  that  there  is 
some  clashing  between  the  Word  of  God,  as  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  the  teachings  of  our  Church,  through  the 
theologians  ?" 

Never  have  I  seen  such  a  sudden  change  in  the  face  and 
manners  of  a  man,  at  I  saw  in  that  hour.  That  Mr.  Perras, 
who  had,  till  then,  spoken  with  so  much  kindness  and  dignity, 
completely  lost  his  temper.  Instead  of  answering  me,  he  abruptly 
rose  to  his  feet,  and  began  to  pace  the  room  with  a  quick  step. 
After  some  time,  he  told  me:  "Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  forget  that 
when  you  were  ordained  a  priest,  you  sw^ore  that  you  would 
never  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  according 'to  your  own  fallible 
private  judgment;  you  solemnly  promised  that  you  would  take 
them  only  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy 
Fathers  speaking  to  you  through  your  superiors.  Has  not 
Ligouri  been  approved  by  the  Popes,  by  all  the  bishops  of  the 
Church  ?  We  have  then,  here,  the  true  doctrine  which  must 
;^uide  us.     But  instead  of  submitting  yourself  with  humility,  as 


PAPINEAU    AND    THE    PATRIOTS    IN     1S33.  *<^S 

Jl  becomes  a  young  and  inexp>erienced  priest,  you  boldly  appeal 
to  the  Scriptures,  against  the  decisions  of  Popes  and  bishops; 
against  the  voice  of  all  your  superiors,  speaking  to  you  through 
Liguori.  Where  will  that  boldness  end?  Ah!  I  tremble  for 
you  if  you  do  not  speedily  change ;  you  are  on  the  high  road  to 
heresy ! " 

These  last  words  had  hardly  fallen  from  his  lips  when  the 
clock  struck  9  p.  m.  He  abruptly  stopped  speaking,  and  said: 
"  This  is  the  hour  of  prayer."     We  knelt  and  prayed. 

I  need  not  say  that  that  night  was  a  sleepless  one  to  me.  I 
wept  and  prayed  all  through  its  long  dark  hours.  I  felt  that 
I  had  lost,  and  forever,  the  high  position  I  had  in  the  heart  of 
my  old  friend,  and  that  I  had  probably  compromised  myself, 
forever,  in  the  eyes  of  my  superiors,  who  were  the  absolute 
masters  of  my  destinies.  I  condemned  myself  for  that  inop- 
portune appeal  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  against  the  ipse  dixit  of 
my  superiors.  I  asked  God  to  destroy  in  me  that  irresistible 
tendency  by  which  I  was  constantly  going  to  the  Word  of  God 
to  know  the  truth,  instead  of  remaining  at  the  feet  of  my 
superiors,  with  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  as  the  only  fountain  of 
knowledge  and  light. 

But,  thanks  be  to  God,  that  blasphemous  prayer  was  never 
to  be  granted. 


Chapter  XXL 

OSANB   DINKEIt   OF   THB    PB£ESTS-THE    MANIAC    SISTER    OJP 
SEV.   KB.    FEBBAS. 

IT  was  the  custom  in  those  days,  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  to 
give  the  title  of  arch-priest  to  one  of  the  most  respectable 
and  able  priests,  among  twelve  or  fifteen  others,  by  whom  he  was 
surrounded.  That  title  was  the  token  of  some  superior  power, 
which  was  granted  him  over  his  confreres,  who,  in  consequence, 
should  consult  him  in  certain  difficult  matters. 

As  a  geneiAi  thing,  those  priests  lived  in  the  most  cordial 
and  fraternal  unity,  and  to  make  the  bond  of  that  union  stronger 
and  more  pleasant,  they  were,  in  turn,  in  the  habit  of  giving  a 
grand  dinner  every  Thursday. 

In  1834  these  dinners  were  really  state  affairs.  Several 
days  in  advance,  preparations  were  made  on  a  grand  scale,  to 
collect  everything  that  could  please  the  tastes  of  the  guests.  The 
best  wines  were  purchased.  The  fattest  turkeys,  chickens,  lambs, 
or  sucking  pigs  were  hunted  up.  The  most  delicate  pastries 
were  brought  from  the  city,  or  made  at  home,  at  any  cost.  The 
rarest  and  most  costly  fruits  and  desserts  were  ordered.  There 
was  a  strange  emulation  among  those  curates,  who  would  surpass 
his  neighbors.  Several  extra  hands  were  engaged  some  days 
before,  to  help  the  ordinary  servants  to  prepare  the  "  Grand 
Dinner.  " 

The  second  Thursday  of  May,  1834,  was  Mr.  Perras'  turn, 
and  at  twelve  o'clock,  noon,  we  were  fifteen  priests  seated  around 
the  table. 

I  must  here  render  homage  to  the  sobriety  and  perfect  moral 
habits  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Perras.  Though  he  took  his  social  glass 
of  wine,  as  was   the  univeral    usage  at  that   time,  I  never  saw 

204 


GRAND    DINNER    OF    THE    PRIESTS. 


305 


him  drink  more  than  a  couple  of  glasses  at  the  same  meal.  1 
wish  I  could  say  the  same  thing  of  all  those  who  were  at  thia 
table  that  day. 

Never  did  I  see,  before  nor  after,  a  table  covered  with  so 
many  tempting  and  delicate  viands.  The  good  curate  had  sur- 
passed himself,  and  I  would  hardly  be  believed,  were  I  to  give 
the  number  of  dishes  and  covers,  plates  et  entreplates^  which 
loaded  the  table.  I  will  only  mention  a  splendid  salmon,  which 
was  the  first  brought  to  Quebec  that  year,  for  which  Mr.  Amiot, 
the  purveyor  of  the  priests  around  the  capital,  had  paid  twelve 
dollars.         * 

There  was  only  one  lady  at  that  dinner,  Miss  Perras,  sister 
of  the  curate.  However,  she  was  not  at  all  embarrassed  by 
finding  herself  alone  among  those  jolly  celebataires,  and  she 
looked  like  a  queen  at  the  head  of  the  table.  Her  sweet  and 
watchful  eyes  were  everywhere  to  see  the  wants  of  her  guests. 
She  had  an  amiable  word  for  every  one  of  them.  With  the 
utmost  grace  she  pressed  the  Rev.  Mr.  A.  to  try  that  wing  of 
turkey — she  was  so  gently  remonstrating  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  B. 
for  his  not  eating  more,  and  she  was  so  eloquent  in  requesting 
them  all  to  taste  of  this  dish,  or  of  that;  which  was  quite  a  new 
thing  in  Canada.  And  her  young  chickens!  who  could  refuse 
to  accept  one  of  them,  after  she  had  told  their  story :  how,  three 
months  before,  in  view  of  this  happy  day,  she  had  so  cajoled  the 
big  black  hen  to  watch  over  sixteen  eggs  in  the  kitchen;  what 
a  world  of  trouble  she  had,  when  the  little  dog  was  coming  in, 
and  she  (the  hen)  was  rushing  at  him!  how,  many  times,  she 
had  to  stop  the  combatants  and  force  them  to  live  in  peace!  and 
what  desolation  swept  over  her  mind,  when,  in  a  dark  night,  the 
rats  had  dragged  into  their  holes  three  of  her  newly-hatched 
chickens!  how  she  had  got  a  cat  to  destroy  the  rats;  and  how 
in  escaping  Scylla,  she  was  thrown  upon  Charybdis,  when  three 
days  after,  the  cat  made  his  dinner  of  two  of  her  dear  little 
chickens;  for  which  crime,  committed  in  open  day,  before 
several  witnesses,  the  sentence  of  death  was  passed  and  executed, 
without  benefit  of  clergv. 

Now,  where  would  they  find  young   chickens  in  the  month 


3o6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  May,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Quebec,  when  the  snow  had 
scarcely  disappeared  ? 

These  stories,  given  with  an  art  which  no  pen  can  reproduce, 
w^ere  not  finished  before  the  deHcate  chickens  had  disappeared 
in  the  hungry  mouths  of  the  cheerful  guests. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  these  dinners  was  the 
levity,  the  absolute  w^ant  of  seriousness  and  gravity.  Not  a 
word  was  said  in  my  presence,  there,  which  could  indicate  that 
these  men  had  anything  else  to  do  in  this  world  but  to  eat  and 
drink,  tell  and  hear  merry  stories,  laugh  and  lead  a  jolly  life. 

I  was  the  youngest  of  those  priests.  Only  a  few  months 
before,  I  was  in  the  Seminary  of  Nicolet,  learning  from  my 
grave  old  superior,  lessons  of  priestly  life,  very  different  from 
what  I  had  there  under  my  eyes.  I  had  not  yet  forgotten  the 
austere  preaching  of  self-denial,  mortification,  austerity  and 
crucifixion  of  the  flesh,  which  were  to  fill  up  the  days  of  a 
priest  ! 

Though,  at  first,  I  was  pleased  with  all  I  saw,  heard  and 
tasted;  though  I  heartily  laughed  with  the  rest  of  the  guests, 
at  their  bon  mots^  their  spicy  stories  about  their  fair  penitents, 
or  at  the  funny  caricatures  they  drew  of  each  other,  as  well  as 
of  absent  ones,  I  felt,  by  turns,  uneasy.  Now  and  then  the 
lessons  of  priestly  life,  received  from  the  lips  of  my  venerable 
and  dear  Mr.  Leprohon,  were  knocking  hard  at  the  door  of  my 
conscience.  Some  words  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  which,  more 
than  others,  had  adhered  to  my  memory,  were  also  making  a 
strange  noise  in  my  soul.  My  own  common  sense  was  telling 
me  that  this  was  not  quite  the  way  Christ  taught  his  disciples 
to  live. 

I  made  a  great  effort  to  stifle  those  troublesome  voices. 
Sometimes  I  succeeded,  and  then  I  became  cheerful;  but  a 
moment  after  I  was  overpowered  by  them,  and  I  felt  chilled,  as 
if  I  had  perceived  on  the  walls  of  the  festive  room,  the  finger  of 
my  angry  God,  writing,  "  mene,  mene,  tekel  upharsin.  " 
Then  all  my  cheerfulness  vanished,  and  I  felt  so  miserable  that, 
in  spite  of  all  my  efforts  to  look  happy,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Paquette, 
curate  of  St.  Gervais,  observed  it  on  my  face.      That   priest  was 


GRAND    DINNER    OF    THE    PRIESTS.  Z&J 

probably  the  one  who  most  enjoyed  everything  of  that  feast. 
Under  the  snowy  mantle  of  sixty-five  years,  he  had  kept  the 
warm  heart  and  the  joviality  of  youth.  He  was  considered  one 
of  our  most  wealthy  curates,  and  he  richly  deserved  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  the  most  epicurean  of  them  all.  He  was  a  perfect 
cook,  and  with  his  chaplet  or  his  breviarium  in  hand,  he  used  to 
pass  a  great  part  of  the  day  in  his  kitchen,  giving  orders  about 
broiling  this  beefstake,  or  preparing  this  fricassee,  and  that  gravy 
a  la  Francais.  He  was  loved  by  all  his  confreres,  but  partic- 
ularly by  the  young  priests,  who  were  the  objects  of  his  constant 
attentions.  He  had  always  been  exceedingly  kind  to  me,  and 
when  in  his  neighborhood,  I  dare  say  that  my  most  pleasant  hours 
were  those  passed  in  his  parsonage. 

Looking  at  me  in  the  very  moment  when  my  whole  in- 
tellectual being  was,  in  spite  of  myself,  under  the  darkest  cloud, 
he  said:  "  My  dear  little  Father  Chiniquy,  are  you  falling  into 
the  hands  of  some  blue  devils,  when  we  are  all  so  happy?  You 
were  so  cheerful  half  an  hour  ago  !  What  is  the  matter  with 
you  now?  Are  you  sick?  You  look  as  grave  and  anxious  as 
Jonah,  when  in  the  big  whale's  stomach  !  What  is  the  matter 
with  you?  Has  any  of  your  fair  penitents  left  you,  to  go  to 
confess  to  another,  lately  ?  " 

At  these  funny  questions,  the  dining-room  was  shaken  with 
the  convulsive  laughter  of  the  priests.  I  wished  I  could  join  in 
with  the  rest  of  my  confreres;  for  it  seemed  to  me  very  clear 
that  I  was  making  a  fool  of  myself  by  this  singularity  of 
demeanor.  But  there  was  no  help  for  it;  for  a  moment  before 
I  had  seen  that  the  servant  girls  had  blushed;  they  had  been 
scandalized  by  a  very  improper  word  from  the  lips  of  a  young 
priest,  about  one  of  his  young  female  penitents;  a  word  which  he 
would,  surely,  never  had  uttered,  had  he  not  drank  too  much 
wine/  I  answered :  "  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
interest.  I  find  myself  much  honored  to  be  here  in  your  midst ;  but 
as  the  brightest  days  are  not  without  clouds,  so  it  is  with  us  all  some- 
times. I  am  young,  and  without  experience ;  I  have  not  yet  learned 
to  look  at  certain  things  in  their  proper  light.  When  older,  I  hope 
I  shall  be  wiser,  and  not  make  an  ass  of    myself  as  I  do  to-day." 


3o8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  Tah  !  Tah  !  Tah  ! "  said  old  Mr.  Paquette,  "  this  is  not  the 
hour  of  dark  clouds  and  blue  devils.  Be  cheerful,  as  it  behooves 
your  age.  There  will  be  hours  enough  in  the  rest  of  your  life 
for  sadness  and  sombre  thoughts.  This  is  the  hour  for  laugh- 
ing and  being  merry.  Sad  thoughts  for  to-morrow. "  And 
appealing  to  all,  he  asked,  "  Is  not  this  correct,  gentlemen?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  unanimously  rejoined  all  the  guests. 

"  Now,"  said  the  old  priest,  "  you  see  that  the  verdict  of  the 
jury  is  unanimously  in  my  favor  and  against  you.  Give  up 
those  airs  of  sadness,  which  do  not  answer  in  the  presence  of 
those  bottles  of  champagne.  Your  gravity  is  an  anachronism 
when  we  have  such  good  wines  before  us.  Tell  me  the  reason 
of  your  grief,  and  I  pledge  myself  to  console  you,  and  make  you 
happy  as  you  were  at  the  beginning  of  the  dinner.  " 

"  I  would  have  liked  better  that  you  should  have  continued 
to  enjoy  this  pleasant  hour  without  noticing  me, "  I  answered. 
"  Please  excuse  me  if  I  do  -Jot  trouble  you  with  the  causes  of  my 
personal  folly. " 

"  Well,  well,"  said  Mr.  Paquette,  "I  see  it;  the  cause  of 
your  trouble  is  that  we  have  not  yetdr»nk  together  a  single  glass 
of  sherry.  Fill  your  glass  with  that  wine,  and  it  will  surely 
drown  the  blue  devil,  which  I  see  at  its  bottom.  " 

"  With  pleasure,"  I  said,  "  I  feel  much  honored  to  drink  with 
you,"  and  I  put  some  drops  of  wine  into  my  glass.  "  Oh  !  oh  ! 
what  do  I  see  you  doing  there?  Only  a  few  drops  in  your  glass! 
This  will  not  even  wet  the  cloven  feet  of  the  blue  devil  which  is 
tormenting  you.  It  requires  a  full  glass,  an  overflowing  glass, 
to  drown  and  finish  him.  Fill,  then,  your  glass  with  that 
precious  wine — the  best  I  ever  tasted  in  my  whole  life.  " 

"  But  I  cannot  drink  more  than  those  few  drops,"  I  said. 

"  Why  not?  "  he  repHed. 

"  Because,  eight  days  before  her  death,  my  mother  wrote 
me  a  letter,  requesting  me  to  promise  her  that  I  would  never 
drink  more  than  two  glasses  of  wine  at  the  same  meal.  I  gave 
her  that  promise  in  my  answer,  and  the  very  day  she  got  my 
pledge,  she  left  this  world  to  convey  it,  w^ritten  on  her  heart, 
into  heaven,  to  the  feet  of  her  God  ! " 


GRAND    DINNER    OF    THK    PRIKSTS. 


*09 


"  Keep  that  sacred  pledge,  "  answered  the  old  curate ;  "  but 
*ell  me  why  you  are  so  sad  when  we  are  so  happy  ?  " 

"  You  already  know  part  of  my  reasons — if  I  had  drank  as 
much  wine  as  my  neighbor,  the  vicar  of  St.  Gervais,  I  would 
probably  have  filled  the  room  with  my  shouts  of  joy,  as  he  does ; 
but  you  see  now  that  the  hands  of  my  deceased,  though  always 
dear  mother,  are  on  my  glass  to  prevent  me  from  filling  it  any 
more,  for  I  have  already  drank  two  glasses  of  wine.  " 

"But  your  sadness  in  such  a  circumstance  is  so  strange,  that 
we  would  all  like  to  know  its  cause. " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  all  the  priests.  "  You  know  that  we  like 
you,  and  we  deeply  feel  for  you.  Please  tell  us  the  reason  of 
this  sadness." 

I  then  answered,  "It  would  be  better  for  me  to  keep  my 
own  secret,  for  I  know  I  will  make  a  fool  of  myself  here;  but 
as  you  are  unanimous  in  requesting  me  to  give  you  the 
reasons  of  the  mental  agony  through  which  I  am  just  passing, 
you  will  have  them. 

"  You  well  know  that,  through  very  singular  circumstances, 
I  have  been  prevented,  till  this  day,  from  attending  any  of  your 
grand  dinners.  Twice  I  had  to  go  to  Quebec  on  these  occasions, 
sometimes  I  was  not  well  enough  to  be  present — several  times  I 
was  called  to  visit  some  dying  person,  and  at  other  times  the 
weather,  or  the  roads  were  too  bad  to  travel ;  this,  then,  is  the 
first  grand  dinner,  attended  by  you  all,  that  I  have  the  honor  of 
attending. 

"  But  before  going  any  further,  I  must  tell  you  that  during 
the  eight  months  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  sit  at  Rev.  Mr. 
Perras'  table,  I  have  never  seen  anything  which  could  make  me 
suspect  that  my  eyes  would  see,  and  my  ears  would  hear  such 
things  in  this  parsonage  as  have  just  taken  place.  Sobriety, 
moderation,  truly  evangelical  temperance  in  drink  and  food  were 
the  invariable  rule.  Never  a  woi'd  Was  said  which  could  make 
our  poor  servant  girls,  or  the  angels  of  God  blush.  Would 
to  God  that  I  had  not  been  here  to-day  !  For  I  tell  you, 
honestly,  that  I  am  scandalized  by  the  epicurean  table  which  is 
before    us;  by   the    enormous    quantity    of    delicate  viands  and 


310  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  incredible  number  of  bottles  of  most  costly  wines,  emptied 
at  this  dinner. 

"  However,  I  hope  I  am  mistaken  in  my  appreciation  of  what 
I  have  seen  and  heard — I  hope  you  are  all  right  and  that  I  am 
wrong.  I  am  the  youngest  of  you  all.  It  is  not  my  business  to 
teach  you,  but  it  is  my  duty  to  be  taught  by  you. 

"Now,  I  have  given  you  my  mind,  because  you  so  pressingly 
requested  me  to  do  it,  as  honestly  as  human  language  will  allow 
me  to  do.  I  have  the  right,  I  hope,  to  request  you  to  tell  me, 
as  honestly,  if  I  am,  and  in  what  I  am,  wrong  or  right!" 

"Ohl  ho!  my  dear  Chiniquy,"  replied  the  old  curate,  "you 
hold  the  stick  by  the  wrong  end.  Are  we  not  the  children  of 
God?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  I  answered,  "we  are  the  children  of  God." 

"  Now,  does  not  a  loving  father  give  what  he  considers  the 
best  part  of  his  goods  to  his  beloved  children?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  I   replied. 

"  Is  not  that  loving  father  pleased  when  he  sees  hiis  beloved 
children  eat  and  drink  the  good  things  he  has  prepared  for  them  ?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  was  my  answer. 

"  Then,"  rejoined  the  logical  priest,  "  the  more  we,  the  be- 
loved children  of  God,  eat  of  these  delicate  viands,  and  drink  of 
those  precious  wines,  which  our  Heavenly  Father  puts  into  our 
hands,  the  more  he  is  pleased  with  us.  The  more  we,  the  most 
beloved  ones  of  God,  are  merry  and  cheerful,  the  more  he  is 
himself  pleased  and  rejoiced  in  his  heavenly  kingdom. 

"  But  if  God,  our  Father,  is  so  pleased  with  what  we  have 
eaten  and  drunk  to-day,  why  are  you  so  sad  ?  " 

This  masterpiece  of  argumentation  was  received  by  all 
(except  Mr.  Perras),  with  convulsive  cries  of  approbation,  and 
repeated  "bravo!  bravo!  " 

"  I  was  too  mean  and  cowardly  to  say  what  I  felt.  I  tried 
to  conceal  my  increased  sadness  under  the  forced  smiles  of  my 
lips,  and  I  followed  the  whole  party,  who  left  the  table,  and 
went  to  the  parlor  to  drink  a  cup  of  coffee.  It  was  then  half- 
past  one  p.  m.  At  two  o'clock  the  whole  party  went  to  the 
church,  where,  after  kneeling  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 


GRAND    DINNER    OF    THE    PRIESTS.  211 

their  wafer  God,  they  fell  on  their  knees  at  the  feet  of  each  other, 
to  confess  their  sins,  and  get  their  pardon,  in  the  absolution  of 
their  confessors ! 

At  three  p.  m.  they  were  all  gone,  and  I  remained  alone  with 
my  venerable  old  curate  Perras.  After  a  few  moments  of  silence^ 
I  said  to  him:  "My  dear  Mr.  Perras,  I  have  no  words  to  express 
to  you  my  regret  for  what  I  have  said  at  your  table.  I  beg 
your  pardon  for  every  word  of  that  unfortunate  and  unbecom- 
ing conversation,  into  which  I  was  dragged  in  spite  of  myself; 
you  know  it.  It  does  not  do  for  a  young  priest,  as  I  am,  to 
criticise  those  whom  God  hiis  put  so  much  above  him  by  their 
science,  their  age  and  their  virtues.  But  I  was  forced  to  give 
my  mind,  and  I  have  given  it.  When  I  requested  Mr.  Paquette 
to  tell  me  in  what  I  might  be  wrong,  I  had  not  the  least  idea 
that  we  would  hear,  from  the  lips  of  one  of  our  veterans  in  the 
priesthood,  the  blasphemous  jokes  he  has  uttered.  Epicurus 
himself  would  have  blushed,  had  he  been  among  us,  in  hearing 
the  name  of  God  connected  vv^ith  such  deplorable  and  awful 
impieties." 

Mr.  Perras  answered  me:  "Far  from  being  displeased  with 
what  I  have  heard  from  you  at  this  dinner,  I  must  tell  you  that 
you  have  gained  much  in  my  esteem  by  it.  I  am,  myself, 
ashamed  of  that  dinner.  We  priests  are  the  victims,  like  the  rest 
of  the  world,  of  the  fashions,  vanities,  pride  and  lust  of  ^hat 
world  against  which  we  are  sent  to  preach.  The  expenditure 
we  make  at  those  dinners  is  surely  a  crime,  in  the  face  of  the 
misery  of  the  people  by  whom  we  are  surrounded.  This  is  the 
last  dinner  I  give  with  such  foolish  extravagance.  The  next  time 
my  neighbors  will  meet  here,  I  will  not  expose  them  to  stagger 
on  their  legs,  as  the  greater  part  of  them  did  when  they  rose 
from  the  table.  The  brave  words  you  have  uttered  have  done 
me  good.  They  will  do  them  good  also;  for  though  they  had 
all  eaten  and  drunk  too  much,  they  were  not  so  intoxicated  as 
not  to  remember  what  you  have  said." 

Then,  pressing  my  hand  in  his,  he  said,  "  I  thank  you  my 
good  little  Father  Chiniquy  for  the  short  but  excellent  sermon 
you  have  given  us.     It  will   not  be  lost.     You  have  drawn  my 


212  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

tears  when  you  have  shown  us  your  saintly  mother  going  to  the 
feet  of  God  in  heaven,  with  your  sacred  promise  written  in  her 
heart.  Oh!  you  must  have  had  a  good  mother!  I  knew  her 
when  she  was  very  young.  She  was  then,  already,  a  very 
remarkable  girl,  for  her  wisdom  and  the  dignity  of  her  manners." 

Then  he  left  me  alone  in  the  parlor,  and  he  went  to  visit  a 
Mck  man  in  one  of  the  neighboring  houses. 

When  alone  I  fell  on  my  knees,  to  pray  and  weep.  My  soul 
»vas  filled  with  emotions  which  it  is  impossible  to  express.  The 
remembrance  of  my  beloved  inother  whose  blessed  name  had 
fallen  from  my  lips  when  her  sacred  memory  filled  my  mind  with 
the  light  and  strength  I  needed  in  that  hour  of  trial — the  gluttony 
and  drunkenness  of  those  priests,  whom  I  was  accustomed  to  re- 
spect and  esteem  so  much — their  scandalous  conversation — 
their  lewd  expressions — and  more  than  all,  their  confessions  to 
each  other  after  two  such  hours  of  profanity  and  drinking,  were 
more  than  I  could  endure.  I  could  not  contain  myself,  I  wept 
over  myself,  for  I  felt  also  the  burden  of  my  sins,  and  I  did  not 
find  myself  much  better  than  the  rest,  though  I  had  not  eaten 
or  drunk  quite  so  much  as  several  of  them — I  wept  over  my 
friends,  whom  I  had  seen  so  w^eak;  for  they  were  my  friends.  I 
loved  them,  and  I  know  they  loved  me.  I  wept  over  my  church, 
which  was  served  by  such  poor,  sinful  priests.  Yes!  I  wept 
there,  when  on  my  knees,  to  my  heart's  content,  and  it  did  me 
good.  But  my  God  had  another  trial  in  store  for  his  poor  un- 
faithful servant. 

I  had  not  been  ten  minutes  alone,  sitting  in  my  study,  when 
I  heard  strange  cries,  and  such  a  noise  as  if  a  murderer  were  at 
work  to  strike  his  victim.  A  door  had  evidently  been  broken 
ofjen,  up  stairs,  and  some  one  was  running  down  stairs  as  if  one 
was  wanting  to  break  down  everything.  The  cries  of  "  Murder, 
murder!"  reached  my  ears,  and  the  cries  of  "  Oh!  my  God!  my 
God!  where  is  Mr.  Perras?"  filled  the  air. 

I  quickly  ran  to  the  parlor  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  and 
there  I  found  myself  face  to  face  with  a  woman  absolutely  naked! 
Her  long  black  hair  was  flowing  on  her  shoulders;  her  face  was 
pale  as  death — her  dark  eyes  fixed  in  their  sockets.   She  stretched 


GRAND    DINNER    OF    THE    PRIESTS. 


213 


her  hands  toward  me  with  a  horrible  shriek,  and  before  I  could 
move  a  step,  terrified,  and  almost  paralyzed  as  I  was,  she  seized 
my  tw^o  arms  w^ith  her  hands,  with  such  a  terrible  force  as  if  my 
arms  had  been  grasped  in  a  vise.  My  bones  were  cracking  under 
her  grasp,  and  my  flesh  was  torn  by  her  nails.  I  tried  to  escape, 
but  it  was  impossible.  I  soon  found  myself  as  if  nailed  to  the 
wall,  unable  to  move  any  further.  I  cried  then  to  the  utmost 
compass  of  my  voice  for  help.  But  the  living  spectre  cried  still 
louder:  "You  have  nothing  to  fear.  Be  quiet.  I  am  sent  by 
God  Almighty  and  the  blessed  virgin  Mary,  to  give  you  a  mes- 
sage. The  priests  whom  I  have  known,  without  a  single  excp- 
tion,  are  a  band  of  vipers:  they  destroy  their  female  penitents 
through  auricular  confession.  They  have  destroyed  me,  and 
killed  my  female  child!  Do  not  follow  their  example!"  Then 
she  began  to  smg,  with  a  beautiful  voice,  to  a  most  touching  tune, 
a  kind  of  poem  she  had  composed  herself,  which  I  secretly  got 
afterward  from  one  of  her  servant  maids,  the  translation  of  which 
is  as  follows: 

"  Satan's  priests  have  defiled  my  heart! 
Damned  my  soul!  murdered  my  child! 

O  my  child!  my  darling  child! 
From  thy  place  in  heaven,  dost  thou  see 

Thy  guilty  mother's  tears? 
Canst  thou  come  and  press  me  in  thine  arms? 

Mj  child!  my  darling  child! 
Will  never  thy  smiling  face  console  me?  " 

When  she  was  singing  these  words,  big  tears  were  rolling 
lo,f  n  her  pale  cheeks,  and  the  tone  of  her  voice  was  so  sad  that 
she  could  have  melted  a  heart  of  stone.  She  had  not  finished 
her  song  when  I  cried  to  the  girl:  "I  am  fainting,  for  God's 
sake  bring  me  some  water!"  The  water  was  only  passed  to  my 
lips,  I  could  not  drink.  I  was  choked,  and  petrified  in  the  pres- 
ence of  that  living  phantom !  I  could  not  dare  to  touch  her  in 
any  way  with  my  hands.  I  felt  horrified  and  paralyzed  at  the 
sight  of  that  livid,  pale,  cadaverous,  naked  spectre.  The  j>oor 
servant  girl  had  tried  in  vain,  at  my  request,  to  drag  her  away 
from  me.  She  had  struck  her  with  terror,  by  crying,  "  If  yott 
touch  me,  I  will  instantly  strangle  you!" 


314  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"Where  is  Mr.  Perras?  Where  is  Mr.  Perras  and  the  other 
servants?  For  God's  sake  call  them,"  I  cried  out  to  the  servant 
girl,  who  was  trembling  and  beside  herself. 

"  Miss  Perras  is  running  to  the  church  after  the  curate,"  she 
answ^ered,  and  I  do  not  know  where  the  other  girl  is  gone." 

In  that  instant  Mr.  Perras  entered,  rushed  toward  his  sister, 
and  said,  "  Are  you  not  ashamed  to  present  yourself  naked  be- 
fore such  a  gentleman?"  and  with  his  strong  arms  he  tried  to 
force  her  to  give  me  up. 

Turning  her  face  towards  him,  with  tigress  eyes,  she  cried 
out,  "Wretched  brother!  what  have  you  done  with  my  child? 
I  see  her  blood  on  your  hands!" 

When  she  was  struggling  with  her  brother,  I  made  a  sudden 
and  extreme  effort  to  get  out  of  her  grasp;  and  this  time  I  suc- 
ceeded: but  seeing  that  she  wanted  to  throw  herself  again  upon 
me,  I  jumped  through  a  window  which  w^as  opened. 

Quick  as  lightning  she  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  her  brother, 
and  jumped  also  through  the  window  to  run  after  me.  She 
would,  surely,  have  overtaken  me ;  for  I  had  not  run  two  rods, 
when  I  fell  headlong,  with  my  feet  entangled  in  my  long,  black, 
priestly  robe.  Providentially,  two  strong  men,  attracted  by  my 
cries,  came  to  my  rescue.  They  wrapped  her  in  a  blanket,  taken 
there  by  her  sister,  and  brought  her  back  into  the  upper  cham- 
bers, where  she  remained  safely  locked,  under  the  guard  of  two 
strong  servant  maids. 

The  history  of  that  woman  is  sad  indeed.  When  in  her 
priest-brother's  house,  when  young  and  of  great  beauty,  she  was 
seduced  by  her  father  confessor,  and  became  mother  of  a  female 
child,  which  she  loved  with  a  real  mother's  heart.  Sbe  deter- 
mined to  keep  it  and  bring  it  up.  But  this  did  not  meet  the  views 
of  the  curate.  One  night,  while  the  mother  was  sleeping,  the 
child  had  been  taken  away  from  her.  The  awakening  of  the  un- 
fortunate mother  was  terrible.  When  she  understood  that 
she  could  never  see  her  child  any  more,  she  filled  the  parson- 
age with  her  cries  and  lamentations,  and,  at  first,  refused  to  take 
any  food,  in  order  that  she  might  die.  But  she  soon  became  a 
maniac. 


GRAND    DINNER    OF    THE     PRIESTS.  215 

Mr.  Perras,  too  much  attached  to  his  sister  to  send  her  to  a 
lunatic  asylum,  resolved  to  keep  her  in  his  own  parsonage,  which 
was  very  large.  A  room  in  its  upper  part  had  been  fixed  in 
such  a  way  that  her  cries  could  not  be  heard,  and  where  she 
would  have  all  the  comfort  possible  in  her  sad  circumstances. 
Two  servant  maids  were  engaged  to  take  care  of  her.  All  this 
was  so  well  arranged,  that  I  had  been  eight  months  in  that  par- 
sonage, without  even  suspecting  that  there  was  such  an  unfortu- 
nate being  under  the  same  roof  with  me.  It  appears  that  occa- 
sionally, for  many  days,  her  mind  was  perfectly  lucid,  when  she 
passed  her  time  in  praying,  and  singing  a  kind  of  poem  which 
she  had  composed  herself,  and  which  she  sang  while  holding  me 
in  her  grasp.  In  her  best  moments  she  had  fostered  an  invin- 
cible hatred  for  the  priests  whom  she  had  known.  Hearing  her 
attendants  often  speak  of  me,  she  had,  several  times,  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  see  me,  which,  of  course,  had  been  denied 
her.  Before  she  had  broken  her  door,  and  escaped  from  the 
hands  of  her  keeper,  she  had  passed  several  days  in  saying  that 
she  had  received  from  God  a  message  for  me  which  she  would 
deliver,  even  if  she  had  to  pass  on  the  dead  bodies  of  all  in  the 
house. 

Unfortunate  victim  of  auricular  confession!  How  manf 
others  could  sing  the  sad  words  of  thy  song, 

"  Satan's  priest's  have  defiled  my  heart, 
Damned  nij  soul!  murdered  my  child! " 


Chapter  XXII. 

I  AM  APPOINTED  VICAS  OF  THE  CURATE  OF  OHASIiB6BOX7BaH 
—THE  PIETT,  lilVES  AND  DEATHS  OF  FATHEBS  BBDABD  AKD 
PEBRAS. 

THE  grand  dinner  previously  described  had  its  natural  results. 
Several  of  the  guests  were  hardly  at  home,  when  they 
complained  of  various  kinds  of  sickness,  and  none  was  so  severely 
punished  as  my  friend  Paquette,  the  curate  of  St.  Gervais.  He 
came  very  near  dying,  and  for  several  weeks  was  unable  to  work. 
He  requested  the  bishop  of  Quebec  to  allow  me  to  go  to  his 
help,  which  I  did  to  the  end  of  May,  when  I  received  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 

Charlesbourgh,  May  25th,  1834. 

Rkv.  Mr.  C.  Chiniquy: 

My  Dear  Sir:  My  Lord  Panet  has  again  chosen  me,  this  year,  to  ac- 
company him  in  his  episcopal  visit.  I  have  consented,  with  the  condition 
that  you  should  take  my  place,  at  the  head  of  my  dear  parish,  during  my 
absence.  For  I  will  have  no  anxiety  when  I  know  that  my  people  are  in 
the  hands  of  a  priest  who,  though  so  young,  has  raised  himself  so  high  in 
the  esteem  of  all  those  who  know  him. 

Please  come  as  soon  as  possible  to  meet  me  here,  that  I  may  tell  you 
many  things  which  wili  make  your  ministry  more  easy  and  blessed  in 
Charlesbourgh . 

His  Lordship  has  promised  me  that  when  you  pass  through  Quebec,  h« 
will  give  ^ou  all  the  powers  you  want  to  administer  my  parish,  as  if  you 
were  its  curate  during  my  absence. 

Your  devoted  brother-priest,  and  friend  in  the  love  and 
heart  of  Jesus  and  Mary, 

ANTOINE  BEDARD. 

1  felt  absolutely  confounded  by  that  letter.  I  was  so  young 
and  so  deficient  in  the  qualities  required  for  the  high  position  to 


FATHERS  BEDARD  AND  PERRAS,  31^ 

which  I  was  so  unexpectedly  called.  I  know  it  was  against  the 
usages  to  put  a  young  and  untried  priest  in  such  a  responsible 
post.  It  seemed  evident  to  me  that  my  friends  and  my  superiors 
had  strangely  exaggerated  to  themselves  my  feeble  capacity. 

In  my  answer  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bedard,  I  respectfully  remon- 
strated against  such  a  choice.  But  a  letter  received  from  the 
bishop  himself,  ordering  me  to  go  to  Charlesbourgh,  without  de- 
lay, to  administer  that  parish  during  the  absence  of  its  pastor, 
soon  forced  me  to  consider  that  sudden  and  unmerited  elevation 
as  a  most  dangerous,  though  providential  trial,  of  my  young 
ministry.  Nothing  remained  to  be  done  by  me  but  to  accept 
the  task  in  trembling,  and  with  a  desire  to  do  my  duty.  My 
heart,  however,  fainted  within  me,  and  I  shed  bitter  tears  of 
anxiety.  When  entering  into  that  parish  for  the  first  time,  t 
saw  its  magnitude  and  importance.  It  seemed,  then,  more  than 
ever  evident  to  me  that  the  good  Mr.  Bedard,  and  my  venerable 
superiors,  had  made  a  sad  mistake  in  putting  such  a  heavy  bur- 
den on  my  young  and  feeble  shoulders.  I  was  hardly  twenty- 
four  years  old,  and  had  not  more  than  nine  months'  experience 
of  the  ministry. 

Charlesbourgh  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  important 
parishes  of  Canada.  Its  position,  so  near  Quebec,  at  the  feet  of 
the  Laurentide  Mountains,  is  peculiarly  beautiful.  It  has  an  al- 
most complete  command  of  the  city,  and  of  its  magnificent  port, 
where  not  less  than  900  ships  then  received  their  precious  cargoes 
of  lumber.  On  our  left,  numberless  ranges  of  white  houses  ex- 
tended as  far  as  the  Falls  of  Montmorency.  At  our  feet  the 
majestic  St.  Lawrence,  dashing  its  rapid  waters  on  the  beautiful 
"Isle  d'Orleans."  To  the  right  the  parishes  of  Lorette,  St.  Foy, 
St.  Roch,  etc.,  with  their  high  church  steeples,  reflected  the  sun's 
glorious  beams:  and  beyond,  the  impregnable  citadel  of  Quebec, 
with  its  tortuous  ranges  of  black  walls,  its  numerous  cannon  and 
its  high  towers,  like  fearless  sentinels,  presented  a  spectacle  of 
remarkable  grandeur. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Bedard  welcomed  me  on  my  arrival  with 
words  of  such  kindness  that  my  heart  was  melted  and  my  mind 
confounded.     He  was  a  man  about  sixty-five  years  of  age,  short 


2l8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

in  stature,  with  a  well-formed  breast,  large  shoulders,  bright  eyes, 
and  a  face  where  the  traits  of  indomitable  energy  were  coupled 
with  an  expression  of  unsurpassed  kindness. 

One  could  not  look  on  that  honest  face  without  saying  to 
himself:  "I  am  with  a  really  good  and  upright  man!"  Mr. 
Bedard  is  one  of  the  few  priests  in  whom  I  have  found  a  true 
honest  faith  in  the  Church  of  Rome.  With  an  irreproachable 
character,  he  believed  with  a  child's  faith  all  the  absurdities 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  teaches,  and  he  lived  according  to 
his  honest  and  sincere  faith. 

Though  the  actions  of  our  daily  lives  were  not  subjected  to 
a  regular  and  inexorable  rule  in  Charlesbourgh's  as  in  St. 
Charles'  parsonage,  there  was  yet  far  more  life  and  earnestness 
in  the  performance  of  our  ministerial  duties. 

There  was  less  reading  of  learned,  theological,  philosoph- 
ical and  historical  books,  but  much  more  real  labor  in  Mr. 
Bedard's  than  in  Mr.  Perras'  parish:  there  was  more  of  the  old 
French  aristocracy  in  the  latter  priest,  and  more  of  the  good 
religious  Canadian  habitant  in  the  former.  Though  both  could 
be  considered  as  men  of  the  most  exalted  faith  and  piety  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  their  piety  was  of  a  different  character.  In 
Mr.  Perras'  religion  there  was  real  calmness  and  serenity,  while 
the  religion  of  Mr.  Bedard  had  more  of  a  flash  of  lightning 
and  the  noise  of  thunder.  The  private  religious  conversations 
with  the  curate  of  St.  Charles  were  admirable,  but  he  could  not 
speak  common  sense  for  ten  minutes  when  preaching  from  his 
pulpit.  Only  once  did  he  preach  while  I  was  his  vicar,  and  then 
he  was  not  half  through  his  sermon  before  the  greater  part  of 
his  auditors  were  soundly  sleeping.  But  who  could  hear  the 
sermons  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bedard  without  feeling  his  heart  moved 
and  his  soul  filled  with  terror?  I  never  heard  anything  more 
thrilling  than  his  words  when  speaking  of  the  judgments  of  God 
and  the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  Mr.  Perras  never  fasted, 
except  on  the  days  appointed  by  the  church:  Mr.  Bedard  con- 
demned himself  to  fast  besides  twice  every  week.  The  former 
never  drank,  to  my  knowledge,  a  single  glass  of  rum  or  any 
other  strong  drink,  except  his  two  glasses  of  wine  at  dinner;  but 


FATHERS    BEDARD    AND    PERRAS.  2I9 

the  latter  never  failed  to  drink  full  glasses  of  rum  three  times  a 
day,  beside  two  or  three  glasses  of  wine  at  dinner.  Mr.  Perras 
slept  the  whole  night  as  a  guiltless  child;  Mr.  Bedard,  almost 
every  night  when  I  was  with  him,  rose  up,  and  lashed  himself 
in  the  most  merciless  manner  with  leather  thongs,  at  the  end  of 
vs«hich  were  small  pieces  oi  lead.  When  inflicting  upon  himself 
those  terrible  punishments,  he  used  to  recite,  by  heart,  the  fifty- 
first  Psalm,  in  Latin,  "  Miserere  mihi  Deus  secundam  magnam 
misericordiam  tuam"  (Have  mercy  upon  me,  O,  Lord,  according 
to  thy  loving  kindness);  and  though  he  seemed  to  be  unconscious 
of  it,  he  prayed  with  such  a  loud  voice,  that  I  heard  every  word 
he  uttered;  he  also  struck  his  flesh  with  such  violence,  that  I 
could  count  all  the  blows  he  administered. 

One  day  I  respectfully  remonstated  against  such  a  cruel 
self-infliction  as  ruining  his  health  and  breaking  his  constitution. 
"Cher  petit  Frere"  (dear  little  brother),  he  answered,  "  Our 
health  and  constitution  cannot  be  impaired  by  such  penances, 
but  they  are  easily  and  commonly  ruined  by  our  sins.  I  am  one 
of  the  healthiest  men  of  my  parish,  though  I  have  inflicted  upon 
myself  those  salutary  and  too  well-merited  chastisements  for 
many  years.  Though  I  am  old,  I  am  still  a  great  sinner.  I 
have  an  implacable  and  indomitable  enero'  in  my  depraved 
heart,  which  I  cannot  subdue  except  by  punishing  my  flesh. 
If  I  do  not  do  those  penances  for  my  numberless  transgressions, 
vvho  will  do  them  for  me?  If  I  do  not  pay  the  debts  I  owe  to 
';he  justice  of  God,  who  will  pay  them  for  me?" 

"  But,"  I  answered,  "  Has  not  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  paid 
our  debts  on  Calvary  ?  Has  he  not  saved  and  redeemed  us  all 
by  his  death  on  the  cross?  Why,  then,  should  you  or  I  pay 
igain  to  the  justice  of  God  that  which  has  been  so  perfectly  and 
absolutely  paid  by  our  Saviour?  " 

"Ah!  my  dear  young  friend,"  quickly  replied  Mr.  Bedard, 
"that  doctrine  you  hold  is  Protestant,  which  has  been  condemned 
by  the  Holy  Council  of  Trent.  Christ  has  paid  our  debts,  cer- 
tainly ;  but  not  in  such  an  absolute  way  that  there  is  nothing 
more  to  be  paid  by  us.  Have  you  never  paid  attention  to  what 
St.  Paul  says,  in  his  Epistle  to   the  Colossians.     I  fill  up  that 


220  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

which  is  behind  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  the  flesh  for  his 
body's  sake,  which  is  the  Church.  Though  Christ  could  have 
entirely  and  absolutely  paid  our  debts,  if  it  had  been  his  will,  it 
is  evident  that  such  was  not  his  holy  will — he  left  something 
behind,  which  Paul,  you,  I,  and  every  one  of  his  disciples,  should 
take  and  suffer  in  our  flesh  for  his  Church.  When  we  have 
taken  and  accomplished  in  our  flesh  what  Christ  has  left  behind, 
then  the  surplus  of  our  merits  goes  to  the  treasury  of  the  Church. 
For  instance,  when  a  saint  has  accomplished  in  his  flesh  what 
Christ  has  left  behind  for  his  perfect  sanctification,  if  he  accom- 
plishes more  than  the  justice  of  God  requires,  that  surplus  of 
merits  not  being  any  use  to  him,  is  put  by  God  into  the  grand 
and  common  treasure,  where  it  makes  a  fund  of  merits  of  infinite 
value,  from  which  the  Pope  and  the  bishops  draw  the  indulg- 
ences which  they  scatter  all  over  the  world  as  the  dew  from 
heaven.  By  the  mercy  of  God,  the  penances  which  I  impose 
upon  myself,  and  the  pains  I  suffer  from  these  flagellations, 
purify  my  guilty  soul,  and  raising  me  up  from  this  polluting 
world,  they  bring  me  nearer  and  nearer  to  my  God  every  day. 
I  am  not  yet  a  saint,  unfortunately,  but  if  by  the  mercy  of  God, 
and  my  penances  united  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  I  arrive  at 
the  happy  day  when  all  my  debts  shall  be  paid,  and  my  sins 
cleansed  away,  then  if  I  continue  those  penances  and  acquire 
new  merits,  more  than  I  need,  and  if  I  pay  more  debts  than  I 
owe  to  the  justice  of  God,  this  surplus  of  merits  which  I  shall 
have  acquired  will  go  to  the  rich  treasure  of  the  Church,  from 
which  she  will  draw  merits  to  enrich  the  multitude  of  good  souls 
who  cannot  do  enough  for  themselves  to  pay  their  own  debts, 
and  to  reach  that  point  of  holiness  which  will  deserve  a  crown  in 
heaven.  Then,  the  more  we  do  penance  and  inflict  pains  on  our 
bodies,  by  our  fastings  and  floggings,  the  more  we  feel  happy  in 
the  assurance  of  thus  raising  ourselves  more  and  more  above  the 
dust  of  this  sinful  world,  of  approaching  more  and  more  to  that 
state  of  holiness  of  which  our  Saviour  spoke  when  he  said: 
'  Be  holy  as  I  am  holy  myself. '  We  feel  an  unspeakable  joy 
when  we  know  that  by  those  self-inflicted  punishments  we 
acquire  incalculable  merits,  which  enrich  not  only  ourselves,  but 


FATHERS    BEDARD    AND    PERRAS.  22> 

onr  holy  Church,  by  filling  her  treasures  for  the  benefit  and  sal- 
vation of  the  souls  for  which  Christ  died  on  Calvary." 

When  Mr.  Bedard  was  feeding  my  soul  with  these  husks,  he 
was  speaking  with  great  animation  and  sincerity.  Like  myself, 
he  was  far  away  from  the  Good  Father's  house.  He  had  never 
tasted  of  the  bread  of  the  children.  Neither  of  us  knew  anything 
of  the  sweetness  of  that  bread.  We  had  to  accept  those  husks 
as  our  only  food,  though  it  did  not  remove  our  hunger. 

I  answered  him :  "  What  you  tell  me  here  is  what  I  find  in 
all  our  ascetic  books  and  theological  treatises,  and  in  the  lives  of 
all  our  saints.  I  can  hardly  reconcile  that  doctrine  with  what  I 
read  this  morning  in  the  2d  chapter  of  Ephesians.  Here  is  the 
verse  in  my  New  Testament:  '  But  God,  who  is  rich  in  mercy, 
for  his  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were 
dead  in  sins,  he  has  quickened  us  together  with  Christ.  By  grace 
ye  are  saved ;  for  by  grace  ye  are  saved,  through  faith,  and  not 
of  ourselves,  it  is  this  gift  of  God;  not  of  works,  lest  any  man 
should  boast.  ' 

"  Now,  my  dear  and  venerable  Mr.  Bedard,  allow  me  re- 
spectfully to  ask,  how  it  is  possible  that  your  salvation  is  only  by 
grace,  if  you  have  to  purchase  it  every  day  by  tearing  your  flesh 
and  lashing  your  body  in  such  a  fearful  manner?  Is  it  not  a 
strange  favor — a  very  singular  grace — which  reddens  your  skin 
with  your  blood,  and  bruises  your  flesh  every  night?  " 

"  Dear  little  brother,"  answered  Mr.  Bedard, "  when  Mr.  Per- 
ras  spoke  to  me,  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop,  with  such  de- 
served eulogium  of  your  piety,  he  did  not  conceal  that  you  had 
a  very  dangerous  defect,  which  was  to  spend  too  much  time  in 
reading  the  Bible,  in  preference  to  every  other  of  our  holy  books. 
He  told  us  more  than  this.  He  said  that  you  had  a  fatal  ten- 
dency to  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  too  much  according  to 
your  own  mind,  and  in  a  sense  which  is  rather  more  Protestant 
than  Catholic.  I  am  sorry  to  see  that  the  curate  of  St.  Charles 
was  but  too  correct  in  what  he  told  us  of  you.  But,  as  he  added 
that,  though  your  reading  too  much  the  Holy  Scriptures  brought 
some  clouds  in  your  mind,  yet  when  you  were  with  him,  you 
always  ended  by  yielding  to  the  sense  given  by  our  holy  Church, 


232  FIFTY    YKARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 

This  did  not  prevent  me  from  desiring  to  have  you  in  my  place 
during  my  absence,  and  I  hope  we  will  not  regret  it,  for  we  are 
sure  that  our  dear  young  Chiniquy  will  never  be  a  traitor  to  our 
holy  Church." 

These  words,  which  were  given  with  a  great  solemnity, 
mixed  with  the  good  manners  of  the  most  sincere  kindness, 
went  through  my  soul  as  a  two-edged  sword.  I  felt  an  inex- 
pressible confusion  and  regret,  and,  biting  my  lips,  I  said:  "I 
have  sworn  never  to  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  except 
according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  and 
with  the  help  of  God,  I  will  fulfil  my  promise.  I  regret  ex- 
ceedingly to  have  differed  for  a  moment  from  you.  You  are 
my  superior  by  your  age,  your  science  and  your  piety.  Please 
pardon  me  that  momentary  deviation  from  my  duty,  and  pray 
that  I  may  be  as  you  are — a  faithful  and  a  fearless  soldier  of  our 
holy  Church  to  the  end.  " 

At  that  moment  the  niece  of  the  curate  came  to  tell  us  that 
the  dinner  was  ready.  We  went  to  the  modest,  though  exceed- 
ingly well-spread  table,  and  to  my  great  pleasure,  that  painful 
conversation  was  dropped.  We  had  not  sat  at  the  table  five 
minutes,  when  a  poor  man  knocked  at  the  door  and  asked  a 
piece  of  bread  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  and  Mary.  Mr.  Bedard 
rose  from  the  table,  went  to  the  poor  stranger, and  said:  "Come, 
my  friend,  sit  between  me  and  our  dear  little  Father  Chiniquy. 
Our  Saviour  was  the  friend  of  the  poor:  he  was  the  father  of 
the  widow  and  the  orphan,  and  we,  his  priests,  must  walk  after 
him.  Be  not  troubled;  make  yourself  at  home.  Though  I  am 
the  curate  of  Charlesbourgh,  I  am  your  brother.  It  may  be 
that  in  heaven  you  will  sit  on  a  higher  throne  than  mine,  if  you 
love  our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  holy  mother,  Mary,  more 
than  I  do.  " 

With  these  words,  the  best  things  that  were  on  the  table 
were  put  by  the  good  old  priest  on  the  plate  of  the  poor  stranger, 
who,  with  some  hesitation,  finished  by  doing  honor  to  the  excel- 
lent viands. 

After  this,  I  need  not  say  that  Mr.  Bedard  was  charitable  to 
the  poor;  he  always  treated  them   as  his  best  friends.     So  also 


FATHERS    BEDARD    AND    PERRAS.  233 

was  my  former  curate  of  St.  Charles;  and,  though  his  charity 
was  not  so  demonstrative  and  fraternal  as  that  of  Mr.  Bedard,  I 
had  never  yet  seen  a  poor  man  go  out  of  the  parsonage  of  St. 
Charles  whose  breast  ought  not  to  have  been  filled  with  grati- 
tude and  joy. 

Mr.  Bedard  was  as  exact  as  Mr.  Perras  in  confessing  once, 
and  sometimes  twice,  every  week;  and,  rather  than  fail  in  that 
humiliating  act,  they  both,  in  the  absence  of  their  common  con- 
fessors, and  much  against  my  feelings,  several  times  humbly 
knelt  at  my  youthful  feet  to  confess  to  me. 

These  two  remarkable  men  had  the  same  views  about  the 
immorality  and  the  want  of  religion  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
priests.  Both  have  told  me,  in  their  confidential  conversations, 
things  about  the  secret  lives  of  the  clergy  which  would  not  be 
believed  were  I  to  publish  them ;  and  both  repeatedly  said  that 
auricular  confession  was  the  daily  source  of  unspeakable  deprav- 
ities between  the  confessors  and  their  female,  as  well  as  male 
penitents;  but  neither  of  them  had  sufficient  light  to  conclude 
from  those  deeds  of  depravity  that  auricular  confession  was  a 
diabolical  institution.  They  both  sincerely  believed,  as  I  did  then, 
that  the  institution  was  good,  necessary  and  divine,  and  that  it 
was  a  source  of  perdition  to  so  many  priests  only  on  account  of 
their  want  of  faith  and  piety;  and  principally  from  their  neglect 
of  prayers  to  the  Virgin  Mary. 

They  did  not  give  me  those  terrible  details  with  a  spirit  of 
criticism  against  our  weak  brethren.  Their  intention  was  to 
warn  me  against  the  dangers,  which  were  as  great  for  me  as  for 
others.  They  both  invariably  finished  those  confidences  by  in- 
viting me  more  and  more  to  pray  constantly  to  the  mother  of 
God,  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  to  watch  over  myself,  and 
avoid  remaining  alone  with  a  female  penitent,  advising  me 
also  to  treat  my  own  body  as  my  most  dangerous  enemy,  by 
reducing  it  into  subjection  to  the  law,  and  crucifying  it  day  and 
night. 

Mr.  Bedard  had  accompanied  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  in  his 
episcopal  visits  during  many  years,  and  had  seen  with  his  eyes 
the  un '-'*->«•=  V  *  ie  plague,  which  was  then,  as   it  is  now,  de- 


224  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

vouring  the  very  vitals  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  very  sel- 
dom spoke  to  me  of  those  things  without  shedding  tears  of  com- 
passion over  the  guilty  priests.  My  heart  and  my  soul  were 
also  filled  with  an  unspeakable  sadness  when  hearing  the  details 
of  such  iniquities.  I  also  felt  struck  with  terror  lest  I  might 
perish  myself,  and  fall  into  the  same  bottomless  abyss. 

One  day  I  told  him  what  Mr.  Perras  had  revealed  to  me 
about  the  distress  of  Bishop  Plessis,  when  he  had  found  that 
only  three  priests  besides  Mr.  Perras  believed  in  God,  in  his 
immense  diocese.  I  asked  him  if  there  w^as  not  some  exaggera- 
tion in  this  report.  He  answered,  after  a  profound  sigh:  "My 
dear  young  friend,  the  angel  could  not  find  ten  just  men  in 
Sodom — my  fear  is  that  they  would  not  find  more  among  the 
priests  !  The  more  you  advance  in  age,  the  more  you  will  see 
that  awful  truth — Ah!  let  those  who  stand,  fear,  lest  they  fall!" 

After  these  last  words  he  burst  into  tears,  and  went  to  church 
to  pray  at  the  feet  of  his  wafer  god  ! 

The  revelations  which  I  received  from  those  worthy  priests 
did  not  in  any  way  shake  my  faith  in  my  Church.  She  even 
became  dearer  to  me;  just  as  a  dear  mother  gains  in  the  affection 
and  devotedness  of  a  dutiful  son  as  her  trials  and  affliction  in- 
crease. It  seemed  to  me  that  after  this  knowledge  it  was  my 
duty  to  do  more  than  I  had  ever  done  to  show  my  unreserved 
devotedness,  respect  and  love  to  my  holy  and  dear  mother,  the 
Church  of  Rome,  out  of  w^hich  (I  sincerely  believed  then)  there 
was  no  salvation.  These  revelations  became  to  me,  in  the 
good  providence  of  God,  like  the  light-houses  raised  on  the  hid- 
den and  dreadful  rocks  of  the  sea,  to  warn  the  pilot  during  the 
dark  hours  of  the  night  to  keep  at  a  distance,  if  he  does  not  want 
to  perish. 

Though  these  two  priests  professed  to  have  a  most  profound 
love  and  respect  for  the  Holy  Scriptures,  they  gave  very  little 
time  to  their  study,  and  both  several  times  rebuked  me  for  pass- 
ing too  many  hours  in  their  perusal ;  and  repeatedly  warned  me 
against  the  habit  of  constantly  appealing  to  them  against  certain 
practices  and  teachings  of  our  theologians.  As  good  Roman 
Catholic  priests,  they  had  no  right  to  go  to  the   Holy  Scriptures 


FATHERS    BKDARD    AND    PKRRAS. 


225 


alone  to  know  what  "  the  Lord  saith ! "  The  traditions  of  the 
Church  were  the  fountains  of  science  and  light  !  Both  of  them 
often  distressed  me  with  the  facility  with  which  they  buried  out 
of  view,  under  the  dark  clouds  of  their  traditions,  the  clearest 
texts  of  Holy  Scripture  which  I  used  to  quote  in  defence  of  my 
positions  in  our  conversations  and  debates. 

They  both,  with  an  equal  zeal,  and  unfortunately  with  too 
much  success,  persuaded  me  that  it  was  right  for  the  Church  to 
ask  me  to  swear  that  I  would  never  interpret  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, except  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy 
Fathers.  But  when  I  showed  them  that  the  Holy  Fathers  had 
never  been  unanimous  in  anything  except  in  differing  from  one 
another  on  almost  every  subject  they  had  treated ;  when  I  dem- 
omstrated  by  our  Church  historians  that  some  Holy  Fathers  had 
very  different  views  from  ours  on  many  subjects,  they  never 
answered  my  questions,  except  by  silencing  me  by  the  text:  "  If 
he  does  not  hear  the  Church  let  him  be  as  a  heathen  or  a  publi- 
can," and  by  giving  me  long  lectures  on  the  danger  of  pride  and 
self-confidence. 

Mr.  Bedard  had  many  opportunities  of  giving  me  his  views 
about  the  submission  which  an  inferior  owes  to  his  superiors. 
He  was  of  one  mind  with  Mr.  Perras  and  all  the  theologians 
who  had  treated  that  subject.  They  both  taught  me  that  the 
inferior  must  blindly  obey  his  superior,  just  as  the  stick  must 
obey  the  hand  that  holds  it;  assuring  me  at  the  same  time  that 
the  inferior  was  not  responsible  for  the  errors  he  commits  when 
obeying  his  legitimate  superior. 

Mr.  Bedard  and  Mr.  Perras  had  a  great  love  for  their 
Saviour,  Jesus;  but  the  Jesus  Christ  whom  they  loved  and 
respected  and  adored  was  not  the  Christ  of  the  Gospel,  but  the 
Christ  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

Mr.  Perras  and  Mr.  Bedard  had  a  great  fear,  as  well  as  a 
sincere  love  for  their  God,  while  yet  they  professed  to  make 
him  every  morning  by  the  act  of  consecration.  They  also  most 
sincerely  believed  and  preached  that  idolatry  was  one  of  the 
greatest  crimes  a  man  could  commit,  but  they  themselves  were 
every  day  w^orshipping   an   idol   of   their  own   creating.     They 


2»6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

were  forced  by  their  Church  to  renew  the  awful  iniquity  of 
Aaron,  with  this  difference  only,  that  while  Aaron  made  his 
gods  of  melted  gold,  and  molded  them  into  a  figure  of  a  calf, 
they  made  theirs  of  flour,  baked  between  two  heated  and  well- 
poKshed  irons,  and  in  the  form  of  a  crucified  man. 

When  Aaron  spoke  of  his  golden  calf  to  the  people,  he  said: 
**  These  are  thy  gods,  O,  Israel,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt."  So,  likewise,  Mr.  Bedard  and  Mr.  Perras, 
showing  the  wafer  to  the  deluded  people,  said :  "  Ecce  agnus 
Die  qui  toUit  peccata  mundi!"  ("Behold  the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world ! " 

These  two  sincere  and  honest  priests  placed  the  utmost  con- 
fidence also  in  relics  and  scapularies.  I  have  heard  both  say  that 
no  fatal  accident  could  happen  to  one  who  had  a  scapulary  on 
his  breast — no  sudden  death  would  overtake  a  man  who  was 
faithful  about  keeping  those  blessed  scapularies  about  his  person. 
Both  of  them,  nevertheless,  died  suddenly,  and  that  too  of  the 
saddest  of  deaths.  Mr.  Bedard  dropped  dead  on  the  19th  of 
May,  1837,  ^^  ^  great  dinner  given  to  his  friends.  He  was  in  the 
act  of  swallowing  a  glass  of  that  drink  of  which  God  says: 
"  Look  not  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red,  when  it  giveth  its 
color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth  itself  aright.  At  the  last  it 
biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like  an  adder." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Perras,  sad  to  say,  became  a  lunatic  in  1845^ 
and  died  the  39^2  of  July,  1847,  in  a  fit  of  delirium. 


Chapter  XXIIL 

THE  CHOLSBA  KORBUS  OF  1834— ADMIRABLB  OOURAGB  Ain> 
SEIiP-DENIAL  OP  THE  PRIESTS  OP  HOME  DURING  THAT 
EPIDEMIC. 

I  HAD  not  been  more  than  three  weeks  the  administrator  of 
the  parish  of  Charlesbourgh,  when  the  terrible  words,  "The 
cholera  morbus  is  in  Quebec!"  sent  a  thrill  of  terror  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  Canada. 

The  cities  of  Quebec  and  Montreal,  with  many  surrounding 
country  places,  had  been  decimated  in  1832  by  the  same  terrible 
scourge.  Thousands  upon  thousands  had  fallen  its  victims; 
families  in  every  rank  of  society  had  disappeared;  for  the  most 
skillful  physicians  of  both  Europe  and  America  had  been  unable 
to  stop  its  march  and  ravages.  But  the  year  1S33  had  passed 
without  hearing  almost  of  a  single  case  of  that  fatal  disease:  we 
had  all  the  hope  that  the  justice  of  God  was  satisfied,  and  that 
He  would  no  more  visit  us  with  that  horrible  plague.  In  this, 
however,  we  were  to  be  sadly  disappointed. 

Charlesbourgh  is  a  kind  of  suburb  of  Quebec,  the  greatest 
part  of  its  inhabitants  had  to  go  within  its  walls  to  sell  their 
goods  several  times  every  week.  It  was  evident  that  we  were 
to  be  among  the  first  visited  by  that  messenger  of  a  just,  but 
angry  God.  I  will  never  forget  the  hour  after  I  had  heard: 
"The  cholera  is  in  Quebec!"  It  was,  indeed,  a  most  solemn 
hour  to  me.  At  a  glance,  I  measured  the  bottomless  abyss  which 
was  dug  under  my  feet.  We  had  no  physicians,  and  there  was 
no  possibility  of  having  any  one — for  they  were  to  have  more 
w^ork  than  they  could  do  in  Quebec.  I  saw  that  I  w^ould  have 
to  be  both   the   body  and   the  soul-physician   of  the   numberless 

rictims  of  this  terrible  disease. 

327 


228  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  tortures  of  the  dying,  the  cries  of  the  widows  and  of  the 
orphans,  the  almost  unbearable  stench  of  the  houses  attacked  by 
the  scourge,  the  desolation  and  the  paralyzing  fears  of  the  whole 
people,  the  fatherless  and  motherless  orphans  by  w^hom  I  was 
to  be  surrounded,  the  starving  poor  for  whom  I  would  have  to 
provide  food  and  clothing  when  every  kind  or  work  and  indus- 
try w^as  stopped ;  but  above  all,  the  crowds  of  penitents  whom 
the  terrors  of  an  impending  death  would  drag  to  my  feet  to 
make  their  confessions,  that  I  might  forgive  their  sins,  passed 
through  my  mind  as  so  many  spectres.  I  fell  on  my  knees, 
with  a  heart  beating  with  emotions  that  no  pen  can  describe, 
and  prostrating  myself  before  my  too  justly  angry  God,  I  cried 
for  mercy;  with  torrents  of  tears  I  asked  Him  to  take  away  my 
life  as  a  sacrifice  for  my  people,  but  to  spare  them :  raising  my 
eyes  towards  a  beautiful  statue  of  Mary,  whom  I  believed  to  be 
then  the  Mother  of  God,  I  supplicated  her  to  appease  the  wrath 
of  her  Son. 

1  was  still  on  my  knees,  when  several  knocks  at  the  door 
told  me  that  some  one  wanted  to  speak  to  me — a  young  woman 
was  there,  bathed  in  tears  and  pale  as  death,  who  said  to  me : 
•'  My  father  has  just  returned  from  Quebec,  and  is  dying  from 
the  cholera — please  come  quick  to  hear  his  confession  before  he 
expires ! " 

No  tongue  will  ever  be  able  to  tell  half  of  the  horrors  which 
strike  the  eyes  and  the  mind  the  first  time  one  enters  the  house 
of  a  man  struggling  in  the  agonies  of  death  from  cholera.  The 
other  diseases  seem  to  attack  only  one  part  of  the  body  at  once, 
but  the  cholera  is  like  a  furious  tiger,  whose  sharp  teeth  and  nails 
tear  his  victim  from  head  to  feet  without  sparing  any  part.  The 
hands  and  the  feet,  the  legs  and  the  arms,  the  stomach,  the 
breast  and  the  bowels  are  at  once  tortured.  I  had  never  seen 
anything  so  terrific  as  the  fixed  eyes  of  that  first  victim  whom  I 
had  to  prepare  for  death.  He  was  already  almost  as  cold  as  a 
piece  of  ice.  He  was  vomiting  and  ejecting  an  incredible 
quantity  of  a  watery  and  blackish  matter,  which  filled  the  house 
with  an  unbearable  smell.  With  a  feeble  voice  he  requested 
me  to  hear  the  confession  of  his  sins,  and   I   ordered  the  family 


THE    CHOLERA    MORBUS    OF     1834.  229 

to  withdraw  and  leave  me  alone,  that  they  might  not  hear  the 
sad  story  of  his  transgressions.  But  he  had  not  said  five  words 
before  he  cried  out:  "  Oh  my  God!  what  horrible  cramps  in  my 
leg!  For  God's  sake,  rub  it."  And  when  I  had  given  up  hear- 
ing his  confesssion  to  rub  the  leg,  he  cried  out  again:  "Oh!  w^hat 
horrible  cramps  in  my  arms! — in  my  feet! — in  my  shoulders! — 
in  my  stomach!"  And  to  the  utmost  of  my  capacity  and  my 
strength,  I  rubbed  his  arms,  his  feet,  his  shoulders,  his  breast, 
till  I  felt  so  exhausted  and  covered  with  perspiration,  that  I 
feared  I  should  faint.  During  that  time  the  fetid  matter  ejected 
from  his  stomach,  besmeared  me  almost  from  head  to  foot.  I 
called  for  help,  and  two  strong  men  continued  with  me  to  rub 
the  poor  dying  man. 

It  seemed  evident  that  he  could  not  live  very  long;  his  suf- 
ferings looked  so  horrible  and  unbearable!  I  administered  him 
the  sacrament  of  extreme-unction.  But  I  did  not  leave  the  house 
after  that  ceremony,  as  it  is  the  custom  of  the  priests.  It  was 
the  first  time  that  I  had  met  face  to  face  with  that  giant  which 
had  covered  so  many  nations  with  desolation  and  ruin,  caused  so 
many  torrents  of  tears  to  flow,  I  had  heard  so  much  of  him! 
I  knew  that,  till  then,  nothing  had  been  able  to  stop  his  forward 
march!  He  had  scornfully  gone  through  the  obstacles  which 
the  most  powerful  nations  had  placed  before  him  to  retard  his 
progress.  He  had  mocked  the  art  and  the  science  of  the  most 
skillful  physicians  all  over  the  world !  In  a  single  step,  he  had 
gone  from  Moscow  to  Paris! — and  in  another  step  he  had 
crossed  the  bottomless  seas  which  the  hands  of  the  Almighty 
have  spread  between  Europe  and  America!  That  king  of 
terrors,  after  piling  in  their  graves,  by  millions,  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  old  and  the  young,  whom  he  had  met  on  his  march 
through  Asia,  Africa,  Europe  and  America,  was  now  before 
me!  Nay,  he  was  torturing,  before  my  eyes,  the  first  victim  he 
had  chosen  among  my  people!  But  the  more  I  felt  powerless 
in  the  presence  of  that  mighty  giant,  the  more  I  wanted  to  see 
him  face  to  face.  I  had  as  a  secret  pleasure,  a  holy  pride,  in 
daring  him.  I  wanted  to  tell  him:  "I  do  not  fear  you!  You 
mercilessly  attack   my  people,  but  with  the  help  of   God,  in  the 


230  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

strength  of  the  One  who  died  on  Calvary  for  me,  and  who  told 

me  that  nothing  was  more  sweet  and  glorious  than  to  give  my 
life  for  my  friends,  I  will  meet  and  fight  you  everywhere  when 
you  attack  any  one  of  those  sheep  who  are  dearer  to  to  me  than 
my  own  life!" 

Standing  by  the  bedside  of  the  dying  m'an,  whilst  I  rubbed 
his  limbs  to  alleviate  his  tortures,  I  exhorted  him  to  repent.  But 
I  closely  watched  that  hand  to  hand  battle — that  merciless  and 
unequal  struggle  between  the  giant  and  his  poor  victim.  His 
agony  was  long  and  terrible,  for  he  was  a  man  of  great  bodily 
strength.  But  after  several  hours  of  the  most  frightful  pains, 
he  quietly  breathed  his  last.  The  house  was  crowded  with  the 
neighbors  and  relations,  who,  forgetful  of  the  danger  of  catching 
the  disease,  had  come  to  see  him.  We  all  knelt  and  prayed  for 
the  departed  soul,  after  which  I  gave  them  a  few  words  about 
the  necessity  of  giving  up  their  sins  and  keeping  themselves  ready 
to  die  and  go  at  the  Master's  call. 

I  then  left  that  desolated  house  with  feelings  of  distress  which 
no  pen  can  portray.  When  I  got  back  to  the  parsonage,  after 
praying  and  weeping  alone  in  my  closet,  I  took  a  bath,  and 
washed  myself  with  vinegar  and  a  mixture  of  camphor,  as  a  pre- 
ventive against  the  epidemic.  The  rest  of  the  day,  till  ten  at 
night,  was  spent  in  hearing  the  confessions  of  a  great  number  of 
people  whom  the  fear  of  death  had  dragged  around  my  confes- 
sional box  that  I  might  forgive  their  sins.  This  hearing  of  con- 
fession was  interrupted  only  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  when  I  was 
called  to  the  cemetery  to  bury  the  first  victim  of  the  cholera  in 
Charlesbourgh.  A  great  number  of  people  had  accompanied 
the  corpse  to  his  last  resting-place :  the  night  was  beautiful,  the 
atmosphere  balmy,  and  the  moon  and  stars  had  never  appeared 
to  me  so  bright.  The  stillness  of  the  night  was  broken  only  by 
the  sobs  of  the  relations  and  friends  of  the  deceased.  It  was  one 
of  the  best  opportunities  God  had  ever  given  me  of  exhorting 
the  people  to  repentance.  I  took  for  my  text:  " Therefore,  be 
ye  also  ready;  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not,  the  Son  of 
Man  Cometh."  The  spectacle  of  that  grave,  filled  by  a  man  who 
twenty-four   hours  before,  was  full   of   health  and  life  in  the 


THE    CHOLERA    MORBUS    OF     1S34.  241 

midst  of  his  happy  family,  was  speaking  more  eloquently  than 
the  words  of  my  lips,  to  show  that  we  must  be  always  ready. 
And  never  any  people  entered  the  threshold  of  their  homes  with 
more  solemn  thoughts  than  those  to  whom  I  spoke,  that  night, 
in  the  midst  of  the  graveyard. 

The  history  of  that  day  is  the  history  of  the  forty  days  which 
followed — for  not  a  single  one  of  them  passed  without  my  being 
called  to  visit  a  victim  of  the  cholera — more  than  one  hundred 
people  were  attacked  by  the  terrible  disease,  nearly  forty  of 
whom  died! 

I  cannot  sufficiently  thank  my  merciful  God  for  having  pro- 
tected me  in  such  a  marvelous  way  that  I  had  not  a  single  hour 
of  disease  during  those  two  months  of  hard  labors  and  sore  trials. 
I  had  to  visit  the  sick  not  only  as  a  priest,  but  as  physician  also; 
for  seeing,  at  first,  the  absolute  impossibility  of  persuading  any 
physician  from  Quebec  to  give  up  their  rich  city  patients  for  our 
more  humble  farmers,  I  felt  it  was  my  duty  to  make  myself  as 
expert  as  I  could  in  the  art  of  helping  the  victims  of  that  cruel 
and  loathsome  disease :  I  studied  the  best  authors  on  that  subject, 
consulted  the  most  skillful  physicians,  got  a  little  pharmacy  which 
would  have  done  honor  to  an  old  physician,  and  I  gave  my  care 
and  my  medicine  gratis.  Very  soon  the  good  people  of  Charles- 
bourgh  put  as  much,  if  not  more  confidence,  in  my  medical  care, 
as  in  any  other  of  the  best  physicians  of  the  country.  More  than 
once,  I  had  to  rub  the  limbs  of  so  many  patients  in  the  same  day, 
that  the  skin  of  my  hands  was  taken  away,  and  several  times  the 
blood  come  out  from  the  wounds.  Dr.  Painchaud,  one  of  the 
ablest  physicians  of  Quebec,  who  was  ray  personal  friend,  told 
me  after,  that  it  was  a  most  extraordinarv  thing  that  I  had  not 
fallen  a  victim  to  that  disease. 

I  would  never  have  mentioned  what  I  did,  in  those  never-to- 
be-forgotten  days  of  the  cholera  of  1834,  when  one  of  the  most 
horrible  epidemics  which  the  world  has  ever  seen  spread  desola- 
tion and  death  almost  all  over  Canada,  if  I  had  been  alone  to 
work  as  I  did;  but  I  am  happy  and  proud  to  say  that,  without  a 
single  exception,  the  French  Canadian  priests,  whose  parishes 
were  attacked  by  that  pestilence,  did  the  same.     I  could  name 


232  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OP'    ROMK. 

hundreds  of  them  who,  during  several  months,  also,  day  after 
day  and  night  after  night,  bravely  met  and  fought  the  enemy, 
and  fearlessly  presented  their  breasts  to  its  blows.  I  coidd  even 
name  scores  of  them  who  heroically  fell  and  died  when  facing 
the  foe  on  that  battlefield! 

We  must  be  honest  and  true  towards  the  Roman  Catholic 
priests  of  Canada.  Few  men,  if  even  any,  have  shown  more 
courage  and  self-denial  in  the  hour  of  danger  than  they  did.  1 
have  seen  them  at  work  during  the  two  memorable  years  of 
1832  and  1834,  with  a  courage  and  self-denial  worthy  of  the  ad- 
miration of  heaven  and  earth.  Though  they  knew  well  that  the 
most  horrible  tortures  and  death  might  be  the  price  of  their  de- 
votedness,  I  have  not  known  a  single  one  of  them  who  ever 
shrank  before  the  danger.  At  the  first  appeal,  in  the  midst  of 
the  darkest  and  stormiest  nights,  as  well  as  in  the  light  of  the 
brightest  days,  they  were  always  ready  to  leave  their  warm  and 
comfortable  beds  to  run  to  the  rescue  of  the  sick  and  dying. 

But,  shall  we  conclude  from  that,  as  the  priests  of  Rome 
want  us  to  do,  that  their  religion  is  the  true  and  divine  religion 
of  Christ?  Must  we  believe  that  because  the  priests  are  brave 
admirably  brave,  and  die  the  death  of  heroes  on  the  battlefields 
they  are  the  true,  the  only  priests  of  Christ,  the  successors  of  the 
apostles — the  ministers  of  the  religion  out  of  which  there  is  no 
salvation?     No! 

Was  it  because  his  religion  was  the  divine  and  only  true  one 
that  the  millionaire  Stephen  Gerard,  when  in  1793  Philadelphia 
was  decimated  by  a  most  frightful  epidemic,  went  from  house  to 
house,  visiting  the  sick,  serving,  washing  them  with  his  own 
hands,  and  even  helping  to  put  them  into  thier  coffins?  I  ask  it 
again,  is  it  because  his  religion  was  the  divine  religion  of  Jesus 
that  that  remarkable  man,  during  several  months,  lived  among 
the  dying  and  the  dead,  to  help  them,  when  his  immense  fortune 
allowed  him  to  put  a  whole  world  between  him  and  the  danger? 
No;  for  every  one  knows  that  Stephen  Gerard  was  a  deist,  who 
did  not  believe  in  Christ. 

Was  it  because  they  followed  the  true  religion  that,  in  the 
last   war   between    Russia   and    Turkey,    a   whole    regiment   of 


THE    CHOLERA     MORBUS    OF     1834.  333 

Turks  heroically  ran  to  a  sure  death  to  obey  the  order  of  their 
general,  who  commanded  them  to  charge  bayonets  on  a  Russian 
battery,  which  was  pouring  upon  them  a  real  hail  of  bullets  and 
canisters  ?     No  !  surely  no  ! 

These  Turks  were  brave,  fearless,  heroic  soldiers,  but  noth- 
ing more.  So  the  priests  of  the  Pope,  who  expose  themselves, 
in  the  hour  of  danger,  are  brave,  fearless,  heroic  soldiers  of  the 
Pope — but  they  are  nothing  more. 

Was  it  because  they  were  good  Christians  that  the  soldiers:, 
of  a  French  regiment,  at  Austerlitz,  consented  to  be  slaughtered 
to  the  last,  at  the  head  of  a  bridge  where  Napoleon  had  ordered 
them  to  remain,  with  these  celebrated  words:  "Soldiers  !  stand 
there  and  fight  to  the  last;  you  will  all  be  killed;  but  you  will 
save  the  army,  and  we  will  gain  the  day  !" 

Those  soldiers  were  admirably  well  disciplined — they  loved 
their  flag  more  than  their  lives — they  knew  only  one  thing  in  the 
world:  "  Obcv  the  command  of  Napoleon  !"  They  fought  like 
giants  and  died  like  heroes.  So  the  priests  are  a  well-disciplined 
band  of  soldiers;  they  are  trained  to  love  their  church  more 
than  their  own  life;  they  also  know  only  one  thing:  "Obey 
your  superior,  the  Pope  !"  they  fight  the  battle  of  their  church 
like  giants,  and  they  die  like  heroes  ! 

Who  has  not  read  the  history  of  the  renowned  French  man- 
of-war,  the  "  Tonnant  ?''  When  she  had  lost  her  masts,  and  was 
so  crippled  by  the  red  bullets  of  the  English  fleet  that  there  was 
no  possibility  of  escape,  what  did  the  soldiers  and  mariners  of 
that  ship  answer  to  the  cries  of  "  Surrender  !  "  which  came  from 
the  English  admiral  ?     "  We  die,  but  do  not  surrender  !  " 

They  all  went  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  perished  rather 
than  see  their  proud  banners  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  foe  ! 

Is  it  because  those  French  warriors  were  good  Christians 
that  they  preferred  to  die  rather  than  give  up  their  flag  ?  No  ! 
But  they  knew  that  the  eyes  of  their  country,  the  eyes  of  the 
whole  world  were  upon  them.  Life  became  to  them  a  trifle:  it 
became  nothing  when  placed  in  the  balance  against  what  they 
considered  their  honor,  and  the  honor  of  their  fair  and  noble 
country ; — nay,  life  became  an    undesirable   thing,  when   it  \r«>^ 


234  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

weighted  against  the  glory  of  dying  at  the  post  of  duty  and 
honor. 

So  it  is  with  the  priest  of  Rome.  He  knows  that  the  eyes 
of  his  people,  and  of  his  superiors — the  eyes  of  his  whole  church 
are  upon  him.  He  knows  that  if  he  shrinks  in  the  hour  of 
danger,  he  will  forever  lose  their  confidence  and  their  esteem; 
that  he  will  lose  his  position  and  live  the  life  of  a  degraded  man  ! 
Death  seems  preferable  to  such  a  life. 

Besides,  it  is  not  only  in  the  gospel  of  Christ  that  we  read: 
"  This  is  my  commandment,  that  ye  love  one  another,  as  I  have 
loved  you.  "  "  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends."  Our  great  God  has  written 
these  words  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  children  of  Adam.  He  has 
written  them  in  the  very  heart  of  humanity.  These  words  are 
engraven  in  the  hearts  of  the  Turks  of  Canstantinople,  as  well 
as  in  the  hearts  of  the  priests  of  Canada.  They  are  engraven  in 
the  hearts  of  the  Esquimaux  of  the  icy  regions  of  Greenland,  as 
well  as  in  the  hearts  of  the  refined  citizens  of  Paris. 

Hence,  in  the  midst  of  the  wreck  of  almost  all  the  other 
virtues,  we  find  a  spark  of  that  sacred  fire,  kept  alive,  everywhere. 
For  again,  God  Almighty  himself  has  breathed  that  spark  of  fire 
and  life  into  the  heart  of  man  when  he  made  him  in  his  own 
image.  We  find  that  spark  of  holy  and  inextinguishable  fire  of 
love  and  life  even  among  the  most  depraved  nations.  For  that 
nation  must  infallibly  perish  and  disappear  the  day  it  has  lost  it 
entirely.  This  is  the  reason  why,  even  arriong  the  degraded 
idolaters  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  we  find  acts  of  admirable 
devotedness  and  self-sacrifice.  Read  the  history  of  the  Iroquois, 
written  by  the  Jesuit  Father,  Charlevoix,  and  you  will  see  how 
the  savages  of  our  forests  often  raised  themselves  to  the  very 
stature  of  giants  at  the  approach  of  death,  when  the  honor  of 
their  nations,  or  the  interests  of  their  friends,  or  their  own 
reputation  was  at  stake.  No  men  have  ever  carried  the  con- 
tempt of  pain  and  death  so  far,  perhaps,  as  the  heathen  Iroquois 
of  this  continent. 

Yes  !  let  the  people  of  Canada  read  the  history  of  "  La 
Nouvelle  France,"  and  they  will  cease  from  presenting  to  us  the 


'}{£    CHOLERA    MORBUS    OF 


1834- 


»35 


courage  of  their  priests  as  an  indication  of  the  divinity  of  their 
religion.  For  there  they  will  see  that  the  worshippers  of  the 
wooden  gods  of  the  forests  have  equalled,  if  not  surpassed,  in 
courage  and  self-denial  in  the  face  of  death,  the  courage  and 
self-denial  of  the  priests  of  the  wafer  god  of  Rome. 


Chapter  XXIV. 

i  ah  named  a  vioab  of  st.  boch,  auebeo  0it7-the  sbv. 
mb.  tett7-tebtni:j:.ian-genebal  oabgk)-the  seal 
sej:ns. 

IN  the  beginning  of  September,  1834,  the  Bishop  Synaie 
gave  me  the  enviable  position  of  one  of  the  vicars  of  St. 
Roch,  Quebec,  where  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tetu  had  been  curate  for 
about  a  year.  He  was  one  of  the  seventeen  children  of  Mr. 
Francis  Tetu,  one  of  the  most  respectable  and  wealthy  farmers 
of  St.  Thomas.  Such  was  the  amiability  of  character  of  my  new 
curate,  that  I  never  saw  him  in  bad  humor  a  single  time  during 
the  four  years  that  it  was  my  fortune  to  work  under  him  in  that 
parish.  And  although  in  my  daily  intercourse  with  him  I  some- 
times unintentionally  sorely  tried  his  patience,  I  never  heard  an 
jinkind  word  proceed  from  his  lips. 

He  was  a  fine-looking  man,  tall  and  well-built,  large  fore- 
iiead,  blue  eyes,  a  remarkably  fine  nose  and  rosy  lips,  only  a 
little  too  feminine.  His  skin  was  very  white  for  a  man,  but  his 
fine  short  whiskers,  which  he  knew  so  well  how  to  trim,  gave 
to  his  whole  mien  a  manly  and  pleasant  appearance. 

He  v^^as  the  finest  penman  I  ever  saw;  and  by  far  the  most 
skillful  skater  of  the  country.  Nothing  could  surpass  the  agility 
and  perfection  with  which  he  used  to  write  his  name  on  the  ice 
with  his  skates.  He  was  also  fond  of  fast  horses,  and  knew,  to 
perfection,  how  to  handle  the  most  unmanageable  steeds  of  Que- 
bec. He  really  looked  like  Phaeton  when,  in  a  light  and  beau- 
tiful buggy,  he  held  the  reins  of  the  fiery  coursers  which  the 
rich  bourgeois  of  the  city  liked  to  trust  to  him  once  or  twice  a 
week,  that  he  might  take  a  ride  with  one  of  his  vicars  to  the 

»a6 


NAMED    VIC:AR    OF    ST.    ROCH. 


237 


surrounding  country.  Mr.  Tetu  was  also  fond  of  fine  cigars 
and  choice  chewing  tobacco.  Like  the  late  Pope  Pius  IX.,  he 
also  constantly  used  the  snuff-box.  He  would  have  been  a 
pretty  good  preacher,  had  he  not  been  born  with  a  natural  hor- 
ror of  books.  I  very  seldom  saw  in  his  hands  any  other  books 
than  his  breviary,  and  some  treatises  on  the  catechism;  a  book 
in  his  hands  had  almost  the  effect  of  opium  on  one's  brains,  it 
put  him  to  sleep.  One  day,  when  I  had  finished  reading  a 
volume  of  Tertullian,  he  felt  much  interested  in  what  I  said  of 
the  eloquence  and  learning  of  that  celebrated  Father  of  the 
Church,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  read  it.  I  smilingly  asked 
him  if  he  were  more  than  usual  in  need  of  sleep.  He  seriously 
answered  me  that  he  really  wanted  to  read  that  work,  and  that 
he  wished  to  begin  its  study  just  then.  I  lent  him  the  volume, 
and  he  went  immediately  to  his  room  in  order  to  enrich  his  mind 
with  the  treasures  of  eloquence  and  wisdom  of  that  celebrated 
writer  of  the  primitive  church.  Half  an  hour  after,  suspecting 
what  would  occur,  I  went  down  to  his  room,  and  noiselessly 
opening  the  door,  I  found  my  dear  Mr.  Tetu  sleeping  on  his 
soft  sofa,  and  snoring  to  his  heart's  content,  while  Tertullian 
was  lying  on  the  floor!  I  ran  to  the  rooms  of  the  other  vicars, 
and  told  them :  "  Come  and  see  how  our  good  curate  is  study- 
ing Tertullian!  " 

There  is  no  need  to  say  that  we  had  a  hearty  laugh  at  his 
expense.  Unfortunately,  the  noise  we  made  awoke  him,  and 
we  then  asked  him:     "  What  do  you  think  of  Tertullian.?'* 

He  rubbed  his  eyes,  and  answered,  "Well!  well!  what  is 
the  matter.?  Are  you  not  four  very  wicked  men  to  laugh  at  the 
human  frailties  of  your  curate?"  We  for  awhile  called  him 
Father  Tertullian. 

Another  day  he  requested  me  to  give  him  some  English 
lessons.  For,  though  my  knowledge  of  English  was  then  very 
limited,  I  was  the  only  one  of  five  priests  who  understood  and 
could  sj^eak  a  few  words  of  that  language.  I  answered  him 
that  it  would  be  as  pleasant  as  it  was  easy  for  me  to  teach  the 
little  I  knew  of  it,  and  I  advised  him  to  subscribe  for  the  "  Que- 
bec   Gazette,"  that    I    might   profit    by    the  interesting  matter 


338  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

•which  that  paper  used  to  give  to  its  readers;  and  at  the  same 
time  I  should  teach  him  to  read  and  understand  its  contents. 

The  third  time  that  I  went  to  his  room  to  give  him  his  lesson, 
he  gravely  asked  me:  "  Have  you  ever  seen  '  General  Cargo?  ' " 

I  was  at  first  puzzled  by  that  question,  and  answered  him : 
**  I  never  heard  that  there  was  any  military  officer  by  the  name 
of  '  General  Cargo.'  How  do  you  know  that  there  is  such  a 
general  in  the  world?" 

He  quickly  answered:  "There  is  surely  a  '  General  Cargo  ' 
somewhere  in  England  or  America,  and  he  must  be  very  rich; 
for  see  the  large  number  of  ships  \vhich  bear  his  name,  and  have 
entered  the  port  of  Quebec  these  last  few  days!  " 

Seeing  the  strange  mistake,  and  finding  his  ignorance  so 
wonderful,  I  burst  into  a  fit  of  uncontrollable  laughter.  I  could 
not  answer  a  word,  but  cried  at  the  top  of  my  voice:  "  General 
Cargo  !  General  Cargo  !  " 

The  poor  curate,  stunned  by  my  laughing,  looked  at  me  in 
amazement.  But,  unable  to  understand  its  cause,  he  asked  me: 
*' Why  do  you  laugh?"  But  the  more  stupefied  he  was,  the 
more  I  laughed,  unable  to  say  anything  but  "  General  Cargo  ! 
General  Cargo  ! " 

The  three  other  vicars,  hearing  the  noise,  hastily  came  from 
their  rooms  to  learn  its  cause,  and  get  a  good  laugh  also.  But  I 
was  so  completely  beside  myself  with  laughing,  that  I  could  not 
answer  their  questions  in  any  other  way  than  by  crying, 
"General  Cargo!  General  Cargo!" 

The  puzzled  curate  tried  then  to  give  them  some  explanation 
of  that  mystery,  saying* with  the  greatest  naivete:  "I  cannot 
see  why  our  little  Father  Chiniquy  is  laughing  so  convulsively. 
I  put  him  a  very  simple  question  when  he  entered  my  room  to 
give  me  my  English  lesson.  I  simply  asked  him  if  he  had  ever 
seen  '  General  Cargo,'  who  has  sent  so  many  ships  to  our  ports 
these  last  few  days,  and  added  that  that  general  must  be  very 
rich,  since  he  has  so  many  ships  on  the  sea!  "  The  three  vicars 
saw  the  point,  and  without  being  able  to  answer  him  a  word, 
they  burst  into  such  fits  of  laughter  that  the  poor  curate  felt 
more  than  ever  puzzled. 


NAMED    VICAR    OF    ST.    ROCH. 


239 


"  Are  you  crazy  ? "  he  said,  "  What  makes  you  laugh  so 
when  I  put  to  you  such  a  simple  question?  Do  you  not  know 
anything  about  that  '  General  Cargo,'  who  surely  must  live 
somewhere,  and  be  very  rich,  since  he  sends  so  many  vessels  to 
our  port  that  they  fill  nearly  two  columns  of  the  '  Quebec 
Gazette?'" 

These  remarks  of  the  poor  curate  brought  such  a  new  storm 
of  irrepressible  laughter  from  us  all  as  we  never  experienced  in 
our  whole  lives.  It  took  us  some  time  to  sufficiently  master  our 
feelings  to  tell  him  that  "  General  Cargo"  was  not  the  name  of 
anv  individual,  but  only  the  technical  words  to  say  that  the  ship* 
were  laden  with  general  goods. 

The  next  morning  the  young  and  jovial  vicars  gave  the  story 
to  their  friends,  and  the  people  of  Quebec  had  a  hearty  laugh  at 
the  expense  of  our  friend.  From  that  time  we  called  our  good 
curate  by  the  name  of  "  General  Cargo, "  and  he  was  so  good- 
natured  that  he  joined  with  us  in  joking  at  his  own  expense'.  It 
would  require  too  much  space  vreve  I  to  publish  all  the  comic 
blunders  of  that  good  man,  so  I  shall  give  only  one  more. 

On  one  of  the  coldest  days  in  January,  1835,  ^  merchant  of 
seal  skins  came  to  the  parsonage  with  some  of  the  best  specimens 
of  his  merchandise,  that  we  might  buy  them  to  make  overcoats. 
For  in  those  days  the  overcoats  of  buffalo  or  raccoon  skins  were 
not  yet  thought  of.  Our  richest  men  used  to  have  beaver  over- 
coats, but  the  rest  of  the  people  had  to  be  contented  with  Canada 
seal  skins ;  a  beaver  overcoat  could  not  be  had  for  less  than  $200. 

Mr.  Tetu  was  anxious  to  buy  his  skins;  his  only  difficulty 
was  the  high  price  asked  by  the  merchant.  For  nearly  an  hour 
he  had  turned  over  and  over  again  the  beautiful  skins,  and  had 
spent  all  his  eloquence  on  trying  to  bringdown  their  price, when 
the  sexton  arrived,  and  told  him,  respectfully:  "Mr.  le  Cure, 
there  are  a  couple  of  people  waiting  for  you  with  a  child  to  be 
baptized."  "  Very  well,"  said  the  curate,  "  I  will  go  immedi- 
ately;" and  addressing  the  merchant,  he  said:  "Please  wait  a 
moment;  I  will  not  be  long  absent." 

In  two  minutes  after,  the  curate  had  donned  the  surplice, 
and  was  going  at  full  speed  through  the  prayers  and  ceremonie* 


240  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

of  Baptism.  For,  to  be  fair  and  true  towards  Mr.  Tetu  (and  I 
might  say  the  same  thing  of  the  greatest  part  of  the  priests  I 
have  known),  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  he  was  very  exact 
in  all  his  ministerial  duties ;  yet  he  w^as  in  this  case  going  through 
them  by  steam,  if  not  by  electricity.  He  was  soon  at  the  end. 
But,  after  the  sacrament  was  administered,  we  were  enjoined, 
then,  to  repeat  an  exhortation  to  the  godfathers  and  godmothers, 
from  the  ritual  which  we  all  knew  by  heart,  and  which  began 
with  these  words:  "Godfather  and  godmothers:  you  have 
brought  a  sinner  to  the  church,  but  you  will  take  back  a  saint!  " 

As  the  vestry  was  full  of  people  who  had  come  to  confess, 
Mr.  Tetu  thought  that  it  was  his  duty  to  speak  with  more  em- 
phasis than  usual  in  order  to  have  his  instructions  heard  and  felt 
by  everyone.  But  instead  of  saying,  "  Godfather  and  god- 
mother, you  have  brought  a  sinner  to  the  church,  you  will  take 
back  a  saint!"  he,  with  great  force  and  unction,  said:  "God- 
father and  godmother,  you  have  brought  a  sinner  to  the  church, 
you  will  take  back  a  seal  skin  I " 

No  words  can  describe  the  uncontrollable  burst  and  roar  of 
laughter  among  the  crowd,  when  they  heard  that  the  baptized 
child  was  just  changed  into  a  "  seal  skin."  Unable  to  contain 
themselves,  or  do  any  serious  thing,  they  left  the  vestry  to  go 
home  and  laugh  to  their  heart's  content. 

But  the    most    comic  part    of    this     blunder  w^as  the  sang^ 

froid  and  the  calmness   with   w^hich   Mr.   Tetu,  turning  towards 

me,  said:     "  Will  you  be   kind  enough  to  tell   me  the  cause  of 

that  indecent  and    universal    laughing    in    the   midst  of  such  a 

solemn  action  as  the  baptism  of  this  child  ?  " 

I  tried  to  tell  him  his  blunder;  but  for  some  time  it  was 
impossible  to  express  myself.  My  laughing  propensities  were 
so  much  excited,  and  the  convulsive  laughter  of  the  whole  mul- 
titude made  such  a  noise,  that  he  would  not  have  heard  me 
had  I  been  able  to  answ^er  him.  It  w^as  only  when  the  greatest 
part  of  the  crowd  had  left  that  I  could  reveal  to  Mr.  Tetu  that 
he  had  changed  the  baptized  baby  into  a  "  seal  skin ! "  He 
heartily  laughed  at  his  own  blunder,  and  calmly  went  back 
to  buy  his  seal  skins.       The  next  day  the  storv  went  from  house 


NAMED     \'1CAR    OF    ST.    ROCH. 


241 


to   house   in   Quebec,  and    caused    everywhere  such  a  laugh  as 
they  had  not  had  since  the  birth  of  "  General  Cargo." 

That  priest  was  a  good  type  of  the  greatest  part  of  the 
priests  of  Canada:  Fine  fellows — social  and  jovial  gentlemen 
— as  fond  of  smoking  their  cigars  as  of  chewing  their  tobacco 
and  using  their  snuff;  fond  of  fast  horses;  repeating  the  pray- 
ers of  their  breviary  and  going  through  the  ^performance  of 
their  ministerial  duties  with  as  much  speed  as  possible.  With  a 
good  number  of  books  in  their  libraries,  but  knowing  nothing  of 
them  but  the  titles;  possessing  the  Bible,  but  ignorant  of  its 
contents;  believing  that  they  had  the  light,  when  they  were  in 
awful  darkness;  preaching  the  most  monstrous  doctrines  as 
the  gospel  of  truth ;  considering  themselves  the  only  true 
Christians  in  the  world,  when  they  worshipped  the  most  con- 
temptible idols  made  with  hands.  Absolutely  ignorant  of  the 
Word  of  God,  while  they  proclaimed  and  believed  themselves 
to  be  the  lights  of  the  world.  Unfortunate,  blind  men,  lead- 
ing the  blind  into  the  ditch! 


Chapter  XXV. 

SIMONY-STRANGE  AND  SACRILEGIOUS  TRAFFIC  IN  THE 
SO-CALLED  BODY  AND  BLOOD  OF  CHRIST-ENORMOUS 
SUMS  OF  MONEY  MADE  BY  THE  SALE  OF  MASSES-THE 
SOCIETY  OF  THREE  MASSES  ABOLISHED  AND  THE  SOCIETY 
OF  ONE  MASS  ESTABLISHED. 

IN  one  of  the  pleasant  hours  which  we  used  invariably  to  pass 
after  dinner,  in  the  comfortable  parlor  of  our  parsonage,  one 
of  the  vicars,  Mr.  Louis  Parent,  said  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tetu: 
"  I  have  handed  this  morning  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  to 
the  bishop,  as  the  price  of  the  masses  which  my  pious  penitents 
have  requested  me  to  celebrate,  the  greatest  part  of  them  for  the 
souls  in  purgatory.  Every  week  I  have  to  do  the  same  thing, 
just  as  each  of  you,  and  every  one  of  the  hundreds  of  priests  in 
Canada  have  to  do.  Now,  I  would  like  to  know  how  the 
bishops  can  dispose  of  all  these  masses,  and  what  they  do  with 
the  large  sums  of  money  which  go  into  their  hands  f loiu  every 
part  of  the  country  to  have  masses  said.  This  question  vexes 
me,  and  I  would  like  to  know  your  mind  about  it." 

The  good  curate  answered  in  a  joking  manner,  as  usual: 
« If  the  masses  paid  into  our  hands,  which  go  to  the  bishop,  are 
all  celebrated,  purgatory  must  be  emptied  twice  a  day.  For  I 
have  calculated  that  the  sums  given  for  those  masses  in  Canada 
cannot  be  less  than  $4,000  every  day,  and,  as  there  are  three 
times  as  many  Catholics  in  the  United  States  as  here,  and  as 
those  Irish  Catholics  are  more  devoted  to  the  souls  in  purgatory 
than  the  Canadians,  there  is  no  exaggeration  in  saying  that  they 
give  as  much  as  our  people;  $16,000  at  least  will  thus  be  given 
every   day  in  these   two   countries  to  throw   cold   water  on  the 

burning  flames  of  that  fiery  prison.     Now,  these  $16,000  given 

242 


SIMONY, 


243 


every  day,  multiplied  by  the  365  days  of  the  year,  make  the 
handsome  sum  of  $5,840,000  paid  for  that  object  in  low  masses, 
every  year.  But,  as  we  all  know,  that  more  than  twice  as  much 
is  paid  for  high  masses  than  for  the  low,  it  is  evident  that  more 
than  $10,000,000  are  expended  to  help  the  souls  of  purgatory 
end  their  tortures  every  twelve  months,  in  North  America  alone. 
If  those  millions  of  dollars  do  not  benefit  the  good  souls  in  pur- 
gatory, they  at  all  events  are  of  some  benefit  to  our  pious  bishops 
and  holy  popes,  in  whose  hands  the  greatest  part  must  remain 
till  the  day  of  judgment.  For  there  is  not  a  sufficient  number  of 
priests  in  the  world  to  say  all  the  masses  which  are  paid  for  by 
the  people.  I  do  not  know  any  more  than  you  do  about  what 
the  bishops  do  with  those  millions  of  dollars;  they  keep  that 
among  their  secret  good  works.  But  it  is  evident  there  is  a 
serious  mystery  here.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  Yankee 
and  the  Canadian  bishops  swallow  those  huge  piles  of  dollars  as 
sweet  oranges;  or  that  the}'  are  a  band  of  big  swindlers,  who 
employ  smaller  ones,  called  Revs.  Tetu,  Baillargeon,  Chiniquy, 
Parent,  etc.,  to  fill  their  treasuries.  But,  if  you  want  to  know 
my  mind  on  that  delicate  subject,  I  will  tell  you  that  the  least 
we  think  and  speak  of  it,  the  better  it  is  for  us.  Every  time  my 
thoughts  turn  to  those  streams  of  money  which  day  and  night 
flow  from  the  small  purses  of  our  pious  and  unsuspecting  people 
into  our  hands,  and  from  ours  into  those  of  the  bishops,  I  feel  as 
if  I  were  choking.  If  I  am  at  the  table  I  can  neither  eat  nor 
drink,  and  if  in  my  bed  at  night,  I  cannot  sleep.  But  as  I  like 
to  eat,  drink  and  sleep,  I  reject  those  thoughts  as  much  as  possible, 
and  I  advise  you  to  do  the  same  thing." 

The  other  vicars  seemed  inclined,  with  Mr.  Parent,  to  accept 
that  conclusion;  but,  as  I  had  not  said  a  single  word,  they  re- 
quested me  to  give  them  m}'  views  on  that  vexatious  subject, 
which  I  did  in  the  following  brief  words : 

"  There  are  many  things  in  our  holy  church  which  look  like 
dark  spots;  but  I  hope  that  this  is  due  only  to  our  ignorance. 
No  doubt  these  very  things  would  look  as  white  as  snow,  were 
we  to  see  and  know  them  just  as  they  are.  Our  holy  bishops, 
with  the  majority  of  the   Catholic  priests  of  the    United    States 


244 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


and  Canada,  cannot  be  that  band  of  thieves  and  swindlers  whose 
phantoms  chill  the  blood  of  our  worthy  curate.  So  long  as  we 
do  not  know  what  the  bishops  do  with  those  numberless  masses 
paid  into  their  hands,  I  prefer  to  believe  that  they  act  as  honest 
men." 

I  had    hardly    said   these    few   words,  when   I  was  called  to 
visit  a  sick  parishioner,  and  the  conversation  was  ended. 

Eight    days    later,   I    was   alone    in    my    room,  reading    the 
*"■  L'ami  de  la  Religion  et  du  Roi,"  a  paper  which  I  received  from 
Paris,  edited  by   Picot.     My   curiosity  was  not  a  little  excited, 
when  T  read,  at  the  head  of  a  page,  in  large  letters:  "Admirable 
Pietv  of  the   French    Canadian   People."     The  reading   of  that 
page  made  me  shed   tears  of  shame,  and   shook   my   faith   to  its 
foundation.     Unable  to   contain    myself,  T  ran   to   the   rooms  of 
the  curate  and    the  vicars,  and  said  to  them :     "  A  few  days  ago 
we  tried,  but  in  vain,  to  find  what  becomes  of  the  large  sums  of 
money    which   pass   from    the    people,  through    our   hands,  into 
those   of  the   bishop,  to  say   masses;  but   here   is   the  answer,  I 
have   the    key  to  that   mystery,  which  is  worthy   of  the   darkest 
ao-es  of  the   Church.     I  wish  I  were  dead,  rather  than  see  with 
my   own  eyes  such   abominations."     We    then  read    that    long 
chapter,  the  substance  of  which  was  that  the  venerable  bishops 
of  Quebec  had  sent  not   less  than  one  hundred   thousand  francs, 
at   difTerent  times,  to  the   priests  of  Paris,  that   they  might  say 
four  hundred  thousand  masses  at  five  cents  each!     Here  we  had 
the  sad  evidence  that  our  bishops  had  taken  four  hundred   thou- 
sand  francs  from  our  poor  people,  under   the   pretext  of  saving 
the  souls  from  purgatory!     That  article  fell  upon  us  as  a  thunder- 
bolt.    For  a  long  time  we  looked   at  each  other  without  being 
able  to  utter  a  single  word;  our   tongues  were  as  paralyzed   by 
our  shame;  we  felt  as  vile  criminals  when  detected  on  the  spot. 
At  last,  Baillargeon,  addressing  the  curate,  said:     "Is  it  pos- 
sible that  our  bishops  are  swindlers,  and  we,  their  tools  to  defraud 
our  people?     What  would   that   people  say,  if  they  knew   that 
not  only  we  do  not  say  the  masses  for  which  they  constantly  fill 
our  hands  with  their  hard-earned  money,  but  that  we  send  those 
masses  to  be  said  in  Paris  for  five  cents!       What   will   our  good 


SIMONY. 


245 


people  think  of  us  all  when  they  know  that  our  bishop  pockets 
twenty  cents  out  of  each  mass  they  ask  us  to  celebrate  according 
to  their  wishes." 

The  curate  answered:  "  It  is  very  lucky  that  the  people  do 
not  know  that  sharp  operation  of  our  bishops,  for  they  would 
surely  throw  us  all  into  the  river.  Let  us  keep  that  shameful 
trade  as  secret  as  possible.  For  what  is  the  crime  of  simony  if 
this  be  not  an  instance  of  it?" 

I  replied:  "  How  can  you  hope  to  keep  that  traffic  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ  a  secret,  when  not  less  than  40,000 
copies  of  this  paper  are  circulated  in  France,  and  more  than  100 
copies  come  to  the  United  States  and  Canada?  The  danger  is 
greater  than  you  suspect;  it  is  even  at  our  doors.  Is  it  not  on 
account  of  such  public  and  undeniable  crimes  and  vile  tricks  of 
the  clergy  of  France  that  the  French  people  in  general,  not 
only  have  lost  almost  every  vestige  of  religion,  but,  not  half  a 
century  ago,  condemned  all  the  priests  and  bishops  of  France  to 
death  as  public  malefactors? 

"  But  that  sharp  mercantile  operation  of  our  bishops  takes  a 
still  darker  color,  when  we  consider  that  those  'five-cent  masses* 
which  are  said  in  Paiis  are  not  worth  a  cent.  For  who  among 
us  is  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  priests  of 
Paris  are  infidels,  and  that  many  of  them  live  publicly  with 
concubines?  Would  our  people  put  their  money  in  our  hands 
if  we  were  honest  enough  to  tell  them  that  their  masses  would 
be  said  for  five  cents  in  Paris  by  such  priests?  Do  we  not 
deceive  them  when  we  accept  their  money,  under  the  well 
understood  condition  that  we  shall  offer  the  holy  sacrifice 
according  to  their  wishes?  But,  instead  of  that,  we  get  it  sent 
to  France,  to  be  disposed  of  in  such  a  criminal  way.  But,  if 
you  allow  me  to  speak  a  little  more,  I  have  another  strange 
fact  to  consider  with  you,  which  is  closely  connected  with  this 
simonical  operation." 

"Yes!  speak,  speak!"  answered  all  four  priests. 

I  then  resumed:  "  Do  you  remember  how  you  were  enticed 
into  the  »  Three  Masses  Society? '  Who  among  us  had  the  idea 
that  the  new  obli<Tations  we  were  then  assuming  were  such   that 


246  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

the  greatest  part  of  the  year  would  be  spent  in  saying  masses 
for  the  priests,  and  that  it  would  thus  become  impossible  to 
satisfy  the  pious  demands  of  the  people  who  support  us?  We 
already  belonged  to  the  societies  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary 
and  of  St.  !Michael,  which  raised  to  five  the  number  of  masses 
we  had  to  celebrate  for  the  dead  priests.  Dazzled  by  the  idea 
that  we  would  have  two  thousand  masses  said  for  us  at  our 
death,  we  bit  at  the  bait  presented  to  us  by  the  bishop  as 
hungry  fishes,  without  suspecting  the  hook.  The  result  is  that 
we  have  had  to  say  165  masses  for  the  33  priests  who  died  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  which  means  that  each  of  us  has  to  pay 
$41.00  to  the  bishop  for  masses  which  he  has  had  said  in  Paris 
for  $8.00.  Each  mass  which  we  celebrate  for  a  dead  priest 
here,  is  a  mass  which  the  bishop  sends  to  Paris,  on  which  he 
gains  twenty  cents.  Then  the  more  priests  he  enrolls  in  his 
society  of  '  Three  Masses,'  the  more  twenty  cents  he  pockets 
from  us  and  from  our  pious  people.  Hence  his  admirable  zeal 
to  enroll  every  one  of  us.  It  is  not  the  value  of  the  money 
which  our  bishop  so  skilfully  got  from  our  hands  which  I 
consider,  but  I  feel  desolate  when  I  see  that  by  these  societies  we 
become  the  accomplices  of  his  simonical  trade.  For,  being  forced 
the  greatest  part  of  the  year  to  celebrate  the  holy  sacrifice  for 
the  benefit  of  the  dead  priests,  we  cannot  celebrate  the  masses 
for  which  we  are  daily  paid  by  the  people,  and  are  therefore 
forced  to  transfer  them  into  the  hands  of  the  bishop,  who  sends 
them  to  Paris,  after  spiriting  away  twenty  cents  from  each  of 
them.  However,  why  should  we  lament  over  the  past?  It  is 
1^  more  within  our  reach.  There  is  no  remedy  for  it.  Let  us 
then  learn  from  the  past  errors  how  to  be  wise  in  the  future." 

Mr.  Tetu  answered:  "You  have  shown  us  our  error.  Now, 
can  you  indicate  any  remedy?" 

"  I  cannot  say  that  the  remedy  we  have  in  hand  is  one  off 
those  patented  medicines  which  will  cure  all  the  diseases  of  cm' 
sickly  church  in  Canada,  but  I  hope  it  will  help  to  bring  a  speedy 
convalescence.  That  remedy  is  to  abolish  the  society  of  '  Three 
Masses,'  and  to  establish  another  of  '  One  Mass,'  which  will  be 
said  at  the  death  of  every   priest.      In    that    way    it  is   true   that 


SIMONY. 


247 


instead  of  2,000  masses,  we  shall  have  only  1,300  at  our  death. 
But  if  1,200  masses  do  not  open  to  us  the  gates  of  heaven,  it  is 
because  we  shall  be  in  hell.  By  that  reduction  we  shall  be 
enabled  to  say  more  masses  at  the  request  of  our  people,  and 
shall  diminish  the  number  of  five-cent  masses  said  by  the  priests 
of  Paris  at  the  request  of  our  bishop.  If  you  take  my  advice, 
we  will  immediately  name  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tetu  president  of  the 
new  society,  Mr.  Parent  will  be  its  treasurer,  and  I  consent  to 
act  as  your  secretary,  if  you  like  it.  When  our  society  is  organ- 
ized, we  will  send  our  resignations  to  the  president  of  the  other 
society,  and  we  shall  immediately  address  a  circular  to  all  the 
priests,  to  give  them  the  reason  for  the  change,  and  respectfully 
ask  them  to  unite  with  us  in  this  new  society,  in  order  to  dimin- 
ish the  number  of  masses  which  are  celebrated  by  the  five-cent 
priests  of  Paris." 

Within  two  hours  the  new  society  was  fully  organized,  the 
reasons  of  its  formation  written  in  a  book,  and  our  names  were 
sent  to  the  bishop,  with  a  respectful  letter  informing  him  that 
we  were  no  more  members  of  the  '  Three  Masses  Society.'  That 
letter  was  signed,  "  C.  Chiniquy,  Secretary."  Three  hours  later, 
I  received  the  following  note  from  the  bishop's  palace; 

"  My  Lord  Bishop  of  Quebec  wants  to  see  you  immediately  upon  Im- 
portant affairs.     Do  not  fail  to  come  without  delay.      Truly  yours, 

"  Charles  F.  Cazeault,  Sec'y." 

I  showed  the  missive  to  the  curate  and  the  vicars,  and  told 
them:  "A  big  storm  is  raging  on  the  mountain;  this  is  the  first 
peal  of  thunder — the  atmosphere  looks  dark  and  heavy.  Pray 
for  me  that  I  may  speak  and  act  as  an  honest  and  fearless  priest, 
when  in  the  presence  of  the  bishop." 

In  the  first  parlor  of  the  bishop's  palace  I  met  my  personal 
friend,  Secretary  Cazeault.  He  said  to  me:  "My  dear  Chiniquy, 
you  are  sailing  on  a  rough  sea — you  must  be  a  lucky  mariner  if 
you  escape  the  wreck.  The  bishop  is  very  angry  at  you;  but  be 
not  discouraged,  for  the  right  is  on  your  side."  He  then  kindly 
opened  the  door  of  the  bishop's  parlor,  and  said:  "My  lord, 
Mr.  Chiniquy  is  here,  waiting  for  your  orders." 

"  Let  him  come,  sir,"  answered  the  bishop* 


248  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  entered  and  threw  myself  at  his  feet,  as  it  is  the  usage  of 
the  priests.  But,  stepping  hackward,  he  told  me  in  a  most 
excited  manner:  "  I  have  no  benediction  for  you  till  you  give  me 
a  satisfactory  explanation  of  your  strange  conduct." 

I  arose  to  my  feet  and  said:  "My  lord,  what  do  you  want 
from  me  ? " 

"  I  want  you,  sir,  to  explain  to  me  the  meaning  of  this  letter 
signed  by  you  as  secretary  of  a  new-born  society  called,  '  One 
Mass  Society.' "     At  the  same  time  he  showed  me  my  letter. 

I  answered  him:  "My  lord,  the  letter  is  in  go6d  French — 
your  lordship  must  have  understood  it  well.  I  cannot  see  how 
any  explanation  on  my  part  could  make  it  clearer." 

"  What  I  want  to  know  from  you,  is  what  you  mean,  and 
what  is  your  object  in  leaving  the  old  and  respectable  '  Three 
Masses  Society?'  Is  it  not  composed  of  your  bishops  and  of  all 
the  priests  of  Canada?  Did  you  not  find  yourself  in  sufficiently 
good  company?  Do  you  object  to  the  prayers  said  for  the  souls 
in  purgatory  ?  " 

I  replied :  "  My  lord,  I  will  answer  by  revealing  to  your 
lordship  a  fact  which  has  not  sufficiently  attracted  your  attention. 
The  great  number  of  masses  which  we  have  to  say  for  the  souls 
of  the  dead  priests  makes  it  impossible  for  us  to  say  the  masses 
for  which  the  people  pay  into  our  hands;  we  are,  then,  forced 
to  transfer  this  money  into  your  hands;  and  then  instead  of 
having  these  holy  sacrifices  offered  by  the  good  priests  of  Can- 
ada, your  lordship  has  recourse  to  the  priests  of  France,  where 
you  get  them  said  for  five  cents.  We  see  two  great  evils  in  this: 
First — Our  masses  are  said  by  priests  in  whom  we  have  not  the 
least  confidence ;  and  though  the  masses  they  say  are  very  cheap, 
they  are  too  dearly  purchased ;  for  between  you  and  me,  we  can 
say  that,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  masses  said  by  the  priests 
of  France,  particularly  of  Paris,  are  not  worth  one  cent.  The 
second  evil  is  still  greater,  for  in  our  eyes,  it  is  one  of  the  greatest 
crimes  which  our  holy  church  has  always  condemned,  the 
crime  of  simony." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,"  indignantly  replied  the  bishop,  "  that 
I  am  guilty  of   the  crime  of  simony?" 


SIMONY. 


249 


"  Yes!  my  lord;  it  is  just  what  I  mean  to  say,  and  I  do  not 
see  how  your  lordship  does  not  understand  that  the  trade  in 
masses  by  which  you  gain  400,000  francs  on  a  spiritual  mer- 
chandise, which  you  get  for  100,000,  is  not  simony." 

"You  insult  me!  You  are  the  most  impudent  man  I  ever 
saw.  If  you  do  not  retract  what  you  have  said,  I  will  suspend 
and  excommunicate  you! " 

"  My  suspension  and  my  excommunication  will  not  make  the 
position  of  your  lordship  much  better.  For  the  people  will 
know  that  you  harve  excommunicated  me  because  I  protested 
against  your  trade  in  masses.  They  will  know  that  you  pocket 
twenty  cents  on  every  mass,  and  that  you  get  them  said  for  five 
cents  in  Paris  by  priests,  the  greatest  part  of  whom  live  with 
concubines,  and  you  will  see  that  there  will  be  only  one  voice  in 
Canada  to  bless  me  for  my  protest  and  to  condemn  you  for  your 
simoniacal  trade  on  such  a  sacred  thing  as  the  holy  and  tremen- 
dous sacrifice  of  the  body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

I  uttered  these  words  with  such  perfect  calmness  that  the 
bishop  saw  that  I  had  not  the  least  fear  of  his  thunders.  He 
began  to  pace  the  room,  and  he  heaped  on  my  devoted  head  all 
the  epithets  by  which  I  could  learn  that  I  was  an  insolent,  rebel- 
ious  and  dangerous  priest. 

"  It  is  evident  to  me,"  said  he,  "  that  you  aim  to  be  a  reformer, 
a  Luther,  au  petit  pied,  in  Canada.  But  you  will  never  be  any- 
thing else  than  a  monkey  !  " 

I  saw  that  my  bishop  was  beside  liimself,  and  that  my  per- 
fect calmness  added  to  his  irritation.  I  answered  him :  "  If 
Luther  had  never  done  anything  worse  than  I  do  to-day,  he 
ought  to  be  blessed  by  God  and  man.  I  respectfully  request 
your  lordship  to  be  calm.  The  subject  on  which  I  speak  to  you 
is  more  serious  than  you  think.  Your  lordship,  by  asking 
twenty-five  cents  for  a  mass  which  can  be  said  for  five  cents, 
does  a  thing  which  you  would  condemn  if  it  were  done  by 
another  man.  You  are  digging  under  your  own  feet,  and  under 
the  feet  of  your  priests  the  same  abyss  in  which  the  Church  of 
France    nearly    perished,    not    half    a    century    ago.       You    arc 


350  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

destroying  with  your  own  hands  every  vestige  of  rehgion  in  the 
hearts  of  tiie  people,  who  will  sooner  or  later  know  it.  I  am 
your  best  friend,  your  most  respectful  priest,  when  I  fearlessly 
tell  you  this  truth  before  it  is  too  late.  Your  lordship  knows 
that  he  has  not  a  priest  who  loves  and  cherishes  him  more  than  T 
do — God  knows,  it  is  because  I  love  and  respect  you,  as  my  own 
father,  that  I  profoundly  deplore  the  illusions  which  prevent 
you  from  seeing  the  terrible  consequences  that  will  follow,  if  our 
pious  people  learn  that  you  abuse  their  ignorance  and  their  good 
faith,  by  making  them  pay  twenty-five  cents  for  a  thing  which 
costs  only  five.  Woe  to  your  lordship!  Woe  to  me,  woe  to 
our  holy  church,  the  day  that  our  people  know  that  in  our  holy 
religion  the  blood  of  Christ  is  turned  into  merchandise  to  fill  the 
treasury  of  the  bishops  and  pope!" 

It  was  evident  that  these  last  words,  said  with  most  perfect 
self-possession,  had  not  all  been  lost.  The  bishop  had  become 
calmer.  He  answered  me  :  "  You  are  young  and  without  ex- 
perience :  your  imagination  is  easily  fed  with  phantoms.  When 
you  know  a  little  more,  you  will  change  your  mind  and  will  have 
more  respect  for  your  superiors.  I  hope  your  present  error  is 
only  a  momentary  one.  I  could  punish  you  for  this  freedom 
with  which  you  have  dared  to  speak  to  your  bishop,  but  I  pre- 
fer to  warn  you  to  be  more  respectful  and  obedient  in  future. 
Though  I  deplore  for  your  sake  that  you  have  requested  me  to 
take  away  your  name  from  the  '  Three  Masses  Society,'  you  and 
the  four  simpletons  who  have  committed  the  same  act  of  folly 
are  the  only  losers  in  the  matter.  Instead  of  two  thousand 
masses  said  for  the  deliverance  of  your  souls  from  the  flames  of 
purgatory,  you  will  have  only  twelve  hundred.  But,  be  sure  of 
it,  there  is  too  much  wisdom  and  true  piety  in  my  clergy  to  follow 
your  example.  You  will  be  left  alone,  and,  I  fear,  covered  with 
ridicule.     For  they  will  call  you  the  '  little  reformer.' " 

I  answered  the  bishop :  "  I  am  young,  it  is  true,  but  the 
truths  I  have  said  to  your  lordship  are  as  old  as  the  gospel.  I 
have  such  confidence  in  the  infinite  merits  of  the  holy  sacrifice 
of  the  mass,  that  I  sincerely  believe  that  twelve  hundred  masses 
-aid  by  good   priests  are  enough  to  cleanse  my   soul    and    extin- 


SIMONY. 


251 


guish  the  flames  of  purgatory.  But,  besides,  I  prefer  twelve 
hundred  masses  said  by  one  hundred  sincere  Canadian  priests,  to 
a  million  said  by  the  five-cent  priests  of  Paris." 

These  last  words,  spoken  with  a  tone  half  serious,  half  jocose, 
brought  a  change  on  the  face  of  my  bishop.  I  thought  it  was 
a  good  moment  to  get  my  benediction  and  take  leave  of  him.  I 
>ook  my  hat,  knelt  at  his  feet,  obtained  his  blessing  and  left. 


Chapter  XXVI. 

OONTINTTATIOIT  OF   THE    TBADE    IN   UASSSB. 

THE  hour  of  my  absence  had  been  one  of  anxiety  for  the 
curate  and  the  vicars.  But  my  prompt  return  filled  thenti 
with  joy. 

"  What  news!"  they  all  exclaimed. 

"  Good  news,"  I  answered ;  "  the  battle  has  been  fierce  but 
short.  We  have  gained  the  day;  and  if  we  are  only  true  to  our- 
selves, another  great  victory  is  in  store  for  us.  The  bishop  is  so 
sure  that  we  are  the  only  ones  who  think  of  that  reform,  that  he 
will  not  move  a  finger  to  prevent  the  other  priests  from  follow- 
ing us.  This  security  will  make  our  success  infallible.  But  we 
must  not  lose  a  moment.  Let  us  address  our  circular  to  every 
priest  in  Canada." 

One  hour  later  there  were  more  than  twenty  writers  at  work, 
and  before  twenty-four  hours,  more  than  three  hundred  letters 
were  carried  to  all  the  pi"iests,  giving  them  the  reasons  why  we 
should  try,  by  all  fair  means,  to  put  an  end  to  the  shameful 
simoniacal  trade  in  masses  which  was  going  on  between  Canada 
and  France. 

The  week  was  scarcely  ended,  when  letters  came  from  ne;irl\' 
all  the  curates  and  vicars  to  the  bishop,  respectfully  requesting  him 
i  to  withdraw  his  name  from  "  The  Society  of  the  Three  Masses." 
;  JDnly  fifty  refused  to  comply  with  our  request. 

Our  victory  was  more  complete  than  we  had  expected.  But 
the  bishop  of  Quebec,  hoping  to  regain  his  lost  ground,  imme- 
diately wrote  to  the  bishop  of  Montreal,  my  Lord  Telemesse,  to 

come  to  his  help  and  show  us  the  enormity  of  the  crime  we  had 

252 


THE    TRADE    IN    MASSES. 


253 


committed,  in  rebelling  against  the  will  of  our  ecclesiastical 
superiors. 

A  few  days  later,  to  my  great  dismay,  I  received  a  short  and 
very  cold  note  from  the  bishop's  secretary,  telling  me  that  their 
lordships,  the  bishops  of  Montreal  and  Quebec,  wanted  to  see 
me  at  the  palace,  without  delay.  I  had  never  seen  the  bishop  of 
Montreal,  and  my  surprise  and  disappomtment  were  great  in 
iinding  myself  in  the  presence  of  a  man,  mv  idea  of  whom  w^as 
of  gigantic  proportions,  when  in  reality  he  was  very  small.  But 
I  felt  exceedingly  well  pleased  by  the  admirable  mixture  of  firm- 
ness, intelligence  and  honesty  of  his  whole  demeanor.  His  eyes 
were  jiiercing  as  the  eagle's;  but  when  fixed  on  me,  I  saw  in  them 
the  marks  of  a  noble  and  honest  heart. 

The  motions  of  his  head  were  rapid,  his  sentences  short,  and 
Itc  seemed  to  know  only  one  line — the  straight  one — when  ap- 
proaching a  subject  or  dealing  with  a  man.  He  had  the  merited 
reputation  of  being  one  of  the  most  learned  and  eloquent  men 
of  Canada.  The  bishop  of  Quebec  had  remained  on  his  sofa 
and  left  the  bishop  of  Montreal  to  receive  me.  I  fell  at  his  feet 
and  asked  his  blessing,  which  he  gave  me  in  the  most  cordial 
way.  Then,  putting  his  hand  upon  my  shoulder,  he  said  in  a 
Quaker  style :  "  I?;  it  possible  that  thou  art  Chiniquy — that  young 
priest  who  makes  so  much  noise?  How  can  such  a  small  man 
make  so  much  noise?" 

Tliere  being  a  smile  on  his  countenance  as  he  uttered  these 
words,  I  saw  at  once  that  there  was  no  anger  or  bad  feeling  in 
his  heart.  I  replied:  "  My  lord,  do  you  not  know  that  the  most 
precious  pearls  and  perfumes  are  put  up  in  the  smallest  vases.'"' 

The  bishop  saw  that  this  was  a  compliment  to  his  address; 
he  smilingly  replied:  "  Well,  well,  if  thou  art  a  noisy  priest, 
thou  art  not  a  fool.  But  tell  me,  why  dost  thou  want  to  destroy 
our  '  Three  Mass  Society '  and  establish  that  new  one  on  its  ruins, 
in  spite  of  thy  superiors?" 

"  My  lord,  my  answer  will  be  as  respectful,  short  and  plain  as 
possible.  I  have  left  the  '  Three  Mass  Society  '  because  it  was 
my  right  to  do  it,  without  anybody's  permission,  I  hope  our 
venerable  Canadian  bishoos  do  not  wish  to  be  served  by  slaves!" 


254  FIFTY    YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

*  I  do  not  say,"  replied  the  bishop,  "  that  thou  wert  bound  in 
conscience  to  remain  in  the  'Three  Mass  Society;'  but,  can  I 
know  why  thou  hast  left  such  a  respectable  association,  at  the 
head  of  which  thou  seest  thy  bishops  and  the  most  venerable 
priests  in  Canada?" 

"  I  will  again  be  plain  in  my  answer,  my  lord.  If  your  lord- 
ship wants  to  go  to  hell  with  your  venerable  priests  by  spiriting 
away  twenty  cents  from  every  one  of  our  honest  and  pious  pen- 
itents for  masses  w^hich  you  get  said  for  five,  by  bad  priests  in 
Paris,  I  will  not  follow  you.  Moreover,  if  your  lordship  wants 
to  be  thrown  into  the  river  by  the  furious  people,  w^hen  they 
know  how  long  and  how  cunningly  we  have  cheated  them  with 
our  simoniacal  trade  in  masses,  I  do  not  want  to  follow  you  into 
the  cold  stream." 

"  Well,  well!"  answered  the  bishop,  '*■  let  us  drop  that  matter 
forever." 

He  uttered  this  short  sentence  with  such  an  evidence  of  sin- 
cerity and  honesty,  that  I  saw  he  really  meant  it.  He  had,  at  a 
glance,  seen  that  his  ground  was  untenable,  in  the  presence  of 
priests  who  knew  their  rights  and  had  a  mind  to  stand  by  them. 

My  joy  was  great  indeed  at  such  a  prompt  and  complete  vic- 
tory. I  again  fell  at  the  bishop's  feet  and  asked  his  benediction 
before  taking  leave  of  him.  I  then  left  to  go  and  tfll  the 
curates  and  vicars  the  happy  issue  of  my  interview  with  the 
bishop  of  Montreal. 

From  that  time  till  now,  at  the  death  of  every  priest,  the 
Clerical  Press  never  failed  mentioning  whether  the  deceased 
priest  belonged  to  the  "Three"  or  "  One  Mass  Society." 

We  had,  to  some  extent,  diminished  the  simoniacal  and  in- 
famous trade  in  masses,  but  unfortunately  we  had  not  destroyed 
it;  and  I  know  that  to-day  it  has  revived.  Since  I  left  the 
Church  of  Rome,  the  bishops  of  Quebec  have  raised  the*  "  Three 
Mass  Society  "  from  its  grave. 

It  is  a  public  fact,  that  no  priest  dare  deny,  that  the  trade 
in  masses  is  still  conducted  on  a  large  scale  with  France.  There 
are  in  Paris  and  other  large  cities  in  that  country  public  agen- 
cies to  carry  on   that   shameful   traffic.     It   is,  generally,  in  the 


TJIE    TKADE     IX     MASSES.  z^=^ 

hands  of  booksellers  or  merchants  of  church  ornaments.  Every 
year  their  houses  send  a  large  number  of  prospectuses  through 
France  and  Belgium  and  other  Catholic  countries,  in  which  they 
say  that,  in  order  to  help  the  priests,  who  having  received  money 
for  their  masses,  don't  know  where  to  have  them  said,  they  offer 
a  premium  of  twen^-five  or  thirty  per  cent,  to  those  who  will 
send  them  the  surplus  of  the  money  they  have  in  hand,  to  offer 
the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass. 

The  priests  who  have  such  surplus,  tempted  by  tliat  premium, 
which  is  usually  paid  with  a  watch  or  chain,  or  a  chalice,  dis- 
gorge a  part  or  the  whole  of  the  large  sums  they  possess  into 
the  hands  of  the  pious  merchants,  who  take  this  money  and  use 
it  as  they  please. 

But  they  never  pay  the  masses  in  money,  they  give  only  mer- 
chandise. For  instance,  that  priest  will  receive  a  watch  if  he 
promises  to  celebrate  one  or  two  hundred  masses,  or  a  chalice  o 
celebrate  three  or  four  hundred  masses.  1  have,  here  in  hand, 
several  of  the  contracts  or  promissory  notes  sent  by  those  mer. 
chants  of  masses  to  the  priests.  The  public  will,  no  doubt,  read 
the  following  documents  with  interest.  They  were  handed  me 
by  a  priest  lately  converted  from  the  Church  of  Rome: 

Rue    de    Reimes — Paris. 
Ant.  Levesques,  editor  of  the  works  of  Mr.  Dufriche — Desgenettes. 
Cure  of  Notre  Dame  des  Victoires. 

Delivered  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Camerle,  curate  of  Ansibeau  (Basses  Alpes). 

Paris,  October  13,  1874. 
F. 

ID  metres  of  Satin  cloth,  at  22  francs 220. 

8       "        of  merino,  all   wool 123. 

Month  of  May 2. 

History  of  Mary  Christina 140 

Life  of  St.  Stanislas  Koska 2. 

Meditations  of  the  Soul 4- 

Jesus  Christ,  the  light  of  the  world 2. 

Packing  and  freight 9'3o 

Total 36370 

Mr.  Curate:  We  have  the  honor  of  informing  you  that  the  packages 
containing  the  articles  you  have  ordered  on  the  4th  of  October,  were  shipped 


256  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

on  the  I2:h  of  October,  to  Digne,  where  we  respectfully  request  you  to  go 
and  ask  for  them.  For  the  payment  of  these  articles,  we  request  vou  to  say 
the  following  masses: 

58  ad  intentionem  of  the  giver,  for  the  discharge  of  Rev.  Mr.  Montet. 

58  ad  intentionem  of  the  givers,  for  the  discharge  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hceg. 

100-188  for  the  dead,  for  the  discharge  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wod. 

Mr.  Curate:     Will  you  be  kind  enough   to  say  or  have  said  all  those 
masses  in  the  shortest  time  possible,  and  answer  these   Rev'd  gentlemen,  if 
they  make  any  inquiries  about  the  acquittal  of  those  masses. 
Respectfully  yours, 

(Signed)         Ant.  Levesques. 

Paris,  Nov.  ii,  1874. 
Rev.  Mr.  Camerle:     We  have  the  honor  of  addressing  you  the  invoice 
of  what  we  forwarded  to  you  on  the  12th  of  October.    On  account  we  have 
put  to   your  credit   1S8  masses.     We  respectfully   request  you    get  said  to 
the  following  intentions: 

73  for  the  dead,  to  the  acquittal  of  Rev.  Mr.  Watters,"^ 
70  pro  defucto,  1  For  the  discharge 

20  ad  intentionem  donatis,  [of  Rev.  Mr.  C — 

13  ad  intentionem  donatis,  J 

176 

Mr.  Curate:  Be  kind  enough  to  say  these  masses  or  have  them  said 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  answer  the  reverend  gentlemen  who  may  inquire 
from  you  about  their  acquittal.  The  1S8  masses  mentioned  in  our  letter  of 
the  3rd  inst.,  added  to  the  176  here  mentioned,  make  364  francs,  the  value  of 
the  goods  sent  you.  We  thought  you  would  like  to  have  the  pamphlets  of 
propaganda  we  address  you.  Respectfully  yours, 

Signed:  Ant.  Levesques. 

Hence  it  is  that  priests,  in  France  and  elsewhere,  have  gold 
watches,  rich  house  furniture,  and  interesting  books,  purchased 
with  the  money  paid  by  our  poor  deluded  Canadian  Catholics  to 
their  priests  for  masses  which  are  turned  into  mercantile  com- 
modities in  other  places.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  who  makes 
the  best  bargain  between  those  merchants  of  masses,  the  priests 
to  w^hom  they  are  sold,  or  those  from  whom  they  are  bought  at 
a  (discount  of  twenty-five  to  thirty  per  cent. 

The  only  evident  thing  is  the  cruel  deception  practiced  on  the 
credulity  and  ignorance  of  the  Roman  Catholics  by  their  priests 
and  bishops.  To-day,  the  houses  of  Dr.  Anthony  Levesques  in 
Paris  are  the  most  accredited  in  France.     In  1874,  the  house  of 


THE    TRADE    IX    MASSES.  257 

Mcsme  was  doing  an  immense  business  with  its  stock  of  masses, 
but  in  an  evil  day,  the  Government  suspected  that  the  number  of 
masses  paid  into  their  hands,  exceeded  the  number  of  those  cele- 
brated through  their  hired  priests.  The  suspicion  soon  turned 
into  certainty  when  the  books  were  examined.  It  was  then 
found  that  an  incredible  number  of  masses,  v^rhich  were  to  empty 
the  large  room  of  purgatory,  never  reached  their  destination,  but 
only  filled  the  purse  of  the  Parisian  mass  merchant;  and  so  the 
unlucky  Mesme  was  uncermoniously  sent  to  the  penitentiary  to 
meditate  on  the  infinite  merits  of  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass, 
which  had  been  engulfed  in  his  treasures. 

But  these  facts  are  not  known  by  the  poor  Roman  Catholics 
of  Canada,  who  are  fleeced  more  and  more  by  their  priests,  under 
the  pretext  of  saving  souls  from  purgatory. 

A  new  element  of  success  in  the  large  swindling  operations 
of  the  Canadian  priests  has  lately  been  discovered.  It  is  well 
known  that  in  the  greater  part  of  the  United  States,  the  poor 
deluded  Irish  pav  one  dollar  to  their  priest,  instead  of  a  shilling^ 
for  a  low  mass.  Those  priests  whose  conscience  are  sufficiently 
elastic  (as  is  often  the  case),  keep  the  money  without  ever  think- 
ing of  having  the  masses  said,  and  soon  get  rich.  But  there  are 
some  whose  natural  honestv  shrinks  from  the  idea  of  stealing; 
but  unable  to  celebrate  all  the  masses  paid  for  and  requested  at 
their  hands,  they  send  the  dollars  to  some  of  their  clerical  friends 
in  Canada,  who,  of  course,  prefer  these  one  dollar  masses  to  the 
twentv-five  cent  ones  paid  by  the  French  Canadians.  However, 
thcv  keep  that  secret  and  continue  to  fill  their  treasury.  . 

There  are,  however,  many  priests  in  Canada  who  think  it  less 
evil  to  keep  those  large  sums  of  money  in  their  own  hands,  than 
to  give  them  to  the  bishops  to  trafic  with  the  merchants  of  Paris. 
At  the  end  of  one  of  the  ecclesiastical  retreats  in  the  seminary  of 
St.  Sulpice  in  1850,  Bishop  Bourget  told  us  that  one  of  the 
priests  who  had  lately  died,  had  requested  him,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  to  ask  every  priest  to  take  a  share  in  the  $4,000 
which  he  had  received  for  masses  he  had  never  said.  We 
refused  to  grant  him  that  favor,  and  those  $4,000  received  by 
that  priest,  like  the   millions   put   into  the   hands  of  other  priests 


258  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

and  the  bishops,  turned  to  be  nothing  less  than  an  infamous 
swindling  operation  under  the  mask  of  religion. 

To  understand  what  the  priests  of  Rome  are,  let  the  readers 
note  what  is  said  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Bible,  of  the  priest  of 
Babylon: 

"  And  King  Astyges  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  Cyrus, 
of  Persia,  received  his  kingdom,  and  Daniel  conversed  with  the 
king,  and  was  honored  above  all  his  friends.  Now  the  Baby- 
lonians had  an  idol,  called  Bel,  and  there  were  spent  upon  him, 
every  day,  twelve  measures  of  fine  flour,  and  forty  sheep  and 
six  vessels  of  wine.  And  the  king  w^orshipped  it  and  went  daily 
to  adore:  but  Daniel  worshipped  his  own  God,  and  the  king  said 
unto  him:  'Why  dost  thou  not  worship  Bel?'  who  answered  and 
said :  'because  I  may  not  worship  idols  made  with  hands,  but  the 
living  God,  who  hath  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and 
hath  sovereignty  over  all  flesh.'  Then  the  king  said:  'Think- 
est  thou  not  that  Bel  is  a  living  God !  Seest  thou  not  how  much 
he  eateth  and  drinketh  every  day?' 

"Then  Daniel  smiled  and  said:  'Oh,  king!  be  not  deceived;, 
for  this  is  but  clay  within  and  brass  without,  and  did  never  eat 
or  drink  anything.' 

"So  the  king  was  wroth,  and  called  for  his  priests  and  said : 
'If  ye  tell  me  not  who  this  is  that  devoureth  these  expenses,  ye 
shall  die ;  but  if  ye  can  certify  me  that  Bel  devoureth  them,  then 
Daniel  shall  die,  for  he  has  spoken  blasphemy  against  Bel.'  And 
Daniel  said  unto  the  king :  '  Let  it  be  according  to  thy  word.' 

"  Now  the  priests  of  Bel  were  three  score  and  ten,  besides 
their  wives  and  children- 

"  And  the  king  went  with  Daniel  to  the  temple  of  Bel — so 
Bel's  priests  said:  'Lo!  we  got  out,  but  thou,  O  king,  set  on 
the  meat,  and  make  ready  the  wine,  and  shut  the  door  fast,  and 
seal  it  w^ith  thine  own  signet;  and  to-morrow  when  thou  comest 
in,  if  thou  findest  not  that  Bel  hath  eaten  up  all,  we  will  suffer 
death;  or  else,  Daniel,  that  speaketh  falsely  against  Bel  shall  die — 
and  they  little  regarded  it,  for  under  the  table  they  had  made  a 
privy  entrance,  whereby  they  entered  continually  and  consumed 
those  things.' 


THE    TRADE    IN    MASSES.  259 

"  So  when  they  were  gone  forth,  the  king  set  meats  before 
Bel. 

"  Now  Daniel  had  commanded  his  servants  to  bring  ashes, 
and  those  they  strewed  throughout  all  the  temple,  in  the  presence 
of  the  king  alone:  then  they  went  out,  and  shut  the  door,  and 
sealed  it  with  the  king's  signet,  and  so  departed. 

"  Now  in  the  night  came  the  priests,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  as  they  were  wont  to  do,  and  did  eat  and  drink  up  all. 

"  In  the  morning  betimes  the  king  arose,  and  Daniel  with  him. 

"And  the  king  said,  'Daniel,  are  the  seals  whole?'  And  he 
said,  'Yea,  O  king,  they  be  whole.'  And  as  soon  as  they  had 
opened  the  door,  the  king  looked  upon  the  table,  and  cried  with 
a  loud  voice:  'Great  art  thou,  O  Bel!  and  with  thee  there  is  no 
deceit  at  all.'  Then  laughed  Daniel,  and  held  the  king  that  he 
should  not  go  in,  and  said:  'Behold  now  the  pavement,  and 
mark  well  whose  footsteps  are  these.'  And  the  king  said:  'I 
see  the  footsteps  of  men,  women  and  children.'  And  then  the 
king  was  angry,  and  took  the  priests,  with  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, who  showed  him  the  privy  doors,  where  they  came  in 
and  consumed  such  things  as  were  on  the  tables. 

"  Therefore  the .  king  slew  them,  and  delivered  Bel  into 
Daniel's  power,  who  destroyed  him  and  his  temple." 

Who  does  not  pity  the  king  of  Babylon,  who,  when  looking 
at  his  clay  and  brass  god,  exclaimed:  "Great  art  thou,  O  Bel, 
and  with  thee  there  is  no  deceit!" 

But,  is  the  deception  practiced  by  the  priests  of  the  Pope  on 
their  poor,  deluded  dupes,  less  cruel  and  infamous.''  Where  is 
the  differance  between  that  Babylonian  god,  made  with  brass 
and  baked  clay,  and  the  god  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  made 
with  a  handful  of  wheat  and  flour,  baked  between  two  hot 
polished  irons  .^ 

How  skilful  were  the  priests  in  keeping  the  secret  of  what 
became  of  the  rich  daily  offerings  brought  to  the  hungry  god ! 
Who  could  suspect  that  there  was  a  secret  trap  through  which 
they  came  with  their  wives  and  children  to  eat  the  rich  offerings.? 

So,  to-day,  among  the  simple  and  blind  Roman  Catholics, 
who  could  suppose  that  the  immense  sums  of  money  given  every 


a6o  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

day  to  the  priests  to  glorify  God,  purify  the  souls  of  men,  and 
bring  all  kinds  of  blessings  upon  the  donors,  were,  on  the  con- 
trary, turned  into  the  most  ignominious  and  swindling  operation 
the  world  has  ever  seen? 

Though  the  brass  god  of  Babylon  was  a  contemptible  idol, 
is  not  the  wafer  god  of  Rome  still  more  so?  Though  the  priests 
of  Bel  were  skilful  deceivers,  are  they  not  surpassed  in  the  art  of 
deception  by  the  priests  of  Rome!  Do  not  these  carry  on  their 
operations  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  the  former? 

But,  as  there  is  always  a  day  of  retribution  for  the  great 
iniquities  of  this  world,  when  all  things  will  be  revealed;  and 
just  as  the  cunning  of  the  priests  of  Babylon  could  not  save 
them,  when  God  sent  his  prophet  to  take  away  the  mask,  behind 
which  they  deceived  their  people,  so  let  the  priests  of  Rome 
know  that  God  will,  sooner  or  later,  send  his  prophet,  w^ho  will 
tear  off  the  mask,  behind  which  they  deceive  the  world.  Their 
big,  awkward  and  flat  feet  will  be  seen  and  exposed,  and  the 
very  people  whom  they  keep  prostrated  before  their  idols,  cry- 
ing: "O  God!  with  thee  there  is  no  deceit  at  all!"  will  become 
the  instruments  of  the  justice  of  God  in  the  great  day  of  retribu- 
tion. 


Chapter  XXVII. 

ttTTBBEC  MARINE  HOSPITAL-THE  FIRST  TIME  I  OABRIED  THB 
"BON  DEITJ"  (THE  WAFER  QOD)  IN  MY  VEST  POCKET- THB 
GRAND  OYSTER  SOIREE  AT  MR.  BTJTEAU'S-THE  REV.  L. 
PARENT  AND  THE  "BON  DIEU"  AT  THE  OYSTER  SOIREE. 

ONE  of  the  first  things  done  by  the  curate  Tetu,  after  his 
new  vicars  had  been  chosen,  was  to  divide,  by  casting  lots, 
his  large  parish  into  four  parts,  that  there  might  be  more  regu- 
larity in  our  ministerial  labors,  and  my  lot  gave  me  the  northeast 
of  the  parish  which  contained  the  Quebec  Marine  Hospital. 

The  number  of  sick  sailors  I  had  to  visit  almost  every  day 
in  that  noble  institution,  was  between  twenty-five  and  a  hundred. 
The  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  with  its  beautiful  altar  was  not  yet 
completed.  It  was  only  in  1837  ^^^^  ^  could  persuade  the  hospi- 
tal authorities  to  fix  it  as  it  is  to-day.  Having  no  place  there  to 
celebrate  mass  and  keep  the  Holy  Sacrament,  I  soon  found  my- 
self in  presence  of  a  dificulty  which,  at  first,  seemed  to  me  of  a 
grave  character.  I  had  to  administer  the  viaticum  (holy  com- 
munion) to  a  dying  sailor.  As  every  one  knows,  all  Roman 
Catholics  are  bound  to  believe  that  by  the  consecration,  the  wafer 
is  transformed  into  the  body,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Hence,  the}^  call  that  ceremony :  "Porter  le  bon  dieu  au  mal- 
ade"  (carry  the  good  God  to  the  sick.)  Till  then,  when  in 
Charlesborough  or  St.  Charles,  I,  with  the  rest  of  Roman  Catho- 
lic priests,  always  made  use  of  pomp  and  exterior  marks  of 
supreme  respect  for  the  Almighty  God  I  was  carrying  in  my 
hands  to  the  dying. 

I  had  never  carried  the  good  God  without  being  accompanied 
by  several  people,  walking  or  riding  on  horseback.  I  then  wore 
a  white  surplice  over  my  long  black  robe  (soutane)  to  strike  the 
people  with  awe.      There  was  also  a  man  ringing  a  bell  before  me. 


262  FIFTY    YEARS    IV    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

all  along  the  way,  to  announce  to  the  people  that  the  great  God, 
who  had  not  only  created  them,  but  had  made  himself  man  to 
save  them,  by  dying  on  Calvary,  was  passing  by ;  that  they  had 
to  fall  on  their  knees  in  their  houses,  or  along  the  public  roads 
or  in  their  fields,  and  prostrate  themselves  and  adore  him. 

But  could  I  do  that  in  Quebec,  where  so  many  miserable 
heretics  were  more  disposed  to  laugh  at  my  God  than  to  adore 
him? 

In  my  zeal  and  sincere  faith,  I  was,  however,  determined  to 
dare  the  heretics  of  the  whole  world,  and  to  expose  myself  to 
their  insults,  rather  than  give  up  the  exterior  marks  of  supreme 
respect  and  adoration  which  were  due  to  my  God  everywhere; 
and  twice  I  carried  Him  to  the  hospital  with  the  usual  solemnity. 

In  vain  my  curate  tried  to  persuade  me  to  change  my  mind. 
I  closed  my  ears  to  his  arguments.  He  then  kindly  invited  me 
to  go  with  him  to  the  bishop's  palace,  in  order  to  confer  with 
him  on  that  grave  subject.  How  can  I  express  my  dismay  when 
the  bishop  told  me,  with  a  levity  which  I  had  not  yet  observed 
in  him,  "that  on  account  of  the  Protestants  whom  we  had  to 
meet  everywhere,  it  was  better  to  make  our  'God'  travel  incog- 
nito in  the  streets  of  Quebec."  He  added  in  a  high  and  jocose 
tone:  "  Put  Him  in  your  vest  pocket,  as  do  the  rest  of  the  city 
priests.  Carry  Him  to  your  dying  patients  without  any  scruples. 
Never  aim  at  being  a  reformer  and  doing  better  than  your  ven- 
erable brethern  in  the  priesthood.  We  must  not  forget  that  we 
are  a  conquered  people.  If  we  were  masters,  we  would  carry 
Him  to  the  dying  with  the  public  honors  we  used  to  give  Him 
before  the  conquest;  but  the  Protestants  are  the  stronger.  Our 
governor  is  a  Protestant,  as  well  as  our  Queen.  The  garrison 
which  is  inside  the  walb  of  their  impregnable  citadel,  is  com- 
posed chiefly  of  Protestants.  According  to  the  laws  of  our 
holy  church,  we  have  the  right  to  punish,  even  by  death,  the  mis- 
erable people  who  turn  into  ridicule  the  mysteries  of  our  holy 
religion:  But  though  we  have  that  right,  w^e  are  not  strong 
enough  to  enforce  it.  We  must,  then,  bear  the  yoke  in  silence. 
After  all,  it  is  our  God  himself,  who  in  his  inscrutable  judgment, 
has  deprived  us  of  the  power  of  honoring  Him  as  He  deserves; 


QUEBEC    MARINE    HOSPITAL,    ETC.  263 

and  to  tell  you  my  whole  mind  as  plainly  as  possible,  it  is  not 
our  fault,  but  His  own  doing,  so  to  speak,  if  we  are  forced  to 
make  Him  travel  incognito  through  our  streets.  It  is  one  of  the 
sad  results  of  the  victory  which  the  God  of  battles  gave  to  the 
heretics  over  us  on  the  plains  of  Abraham.  If,  in  His  good  provi- 
dence, we  could  break  our  fetters,  and  become  free  to  pass  again 
the  laws  which  regulated  Canada  before  the  conquest,  to  prevent 
the  heretics  from  settling  among  us,  then  we  would  carry  Him 
as  we  used  to  do  in  those  happy  days." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "when  I  walk  in  the  streets  with  my  good 
God  in  my  vest  pocket,  what  will  I  do  if  I  meet  any  friend  who 
wants  to  shake  hands  and  have  a  joke  with  me  ?" 

The  bishop  laughed  and  answered:  "Tell  your  friend  you 
are  in  a  hurry,  and  go  your  way  as  quickly  as  possible;  but  if 
there  is  no  help,  have  your  talk  and  your  joke  with  him,  without 
any  scruple  of  conscience.  The  important  point  in  this  delicate 
matter  is  that  the  people  should  not  know  that  we  are  carrying 
our  God  through  the  streets  incognito ;  for  this  knowledge  would 
surely  shake  and  weaken  their  faith.  The  common  people  are, 
more  than  we  think,  kept  in  our  holy  church,  by  the  impressing 
ceremonies  of  our  processions  and  public  marks  of  respect  we 
give  to  Jesus  Christ,  when  we  carry  Him  to  the  sick;  for  the 
people  are  more  easily  persuaded  by  what  they  see  with  their 
eyes  and  touch  with  their  hands,  than  by  what  they  hear  with 
their  ears." 

I  submitted  to  the  order  of  my  ecclesiastical  superior;  but  I 
would  not  be  honest,  were  I  not  to  confess  that  I  lost  much  of 
my  spiritual  joy  for  some  time  in  the  administration  of  the  via- 
ticum. I  continued  to  believe  as  sincerely  as  I  could,  but  the 
laughing  words  and  light  tone  of  my  bishop  had  fallen  upon 
my  soul  as  an  icy  cloud.  The  jocose  way  in  which  he  had 
spoken  of  what  I  had  been  taught  to  consider  as  the  most  awful 
and  adorable  mystery  of  the  church,  left  the  impression  on  my 
mind  that  he  did  not  believe  one  iota  of  the  dogma  of  transub- 
stantiation.  And  in  spite  of  all  my  honest  efforts  to  get  rid  of 
that  suspicion,  it  grew  in  my  mind  every  time  I  met  him  to  talk 
on  any  ministerial  subject. 


264  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

It  took  several  years  before  I  could  accustom  myself  to  carry 
my  God  in  my  vest  pocket  as  the  other  priests  did,  without  any 
more  ceremony  than  with  a  piece  of  tobacco.  So  long  as  I  was 
walking  alone  I  felt  happy.  I  could  then  silently  converse  with 
my  Saviour,  and  give  Him  all  the  expressions  of  my  love  and 
adoration.  It  was  my  custom,  then,  to  repeat  the  103d  or  50th 
psalm  pi  David, — or  the  Te  Deum,  or  some  other  beautiful 
hymn,  or  the  Pange  Langna^  which  I  knew  by  heart.  But  no 
words  can  express  my  sadness  when,  as  it  was  very  often  the 
case,  I  met  some  friends  forcing  me  to  shake  hands  with  them, 
and  began  one  of  those  idle  and  common-place  talks,  so  com- 
mon everywhere. 

With  the  utmost  efforts,  I  had  then  to  put  a  smiling  mask  on 
my  face,  in  order  to  conceal  the  expression  of  faith  which  arc 
infallibly  seen,  in  spite  of  one's  self,  if  one  is  in  the  very  act  of 
adoration. 

How,  then,  I  earnestly  cursed  the  day  when  my  country  had 
fallen  under  the  yoke  of  Protestants,  whose  presence  in  Quebec 
prevented  me  from  following  the  dictates  of  my  conscience! 
How  many  times  did  I  pray  my  wafer  god,  whom  I  was  per- 
sonally pressing  on  my  heart,  to  grant  us  an  opportunity  to  break 
those  fetters,  and  destroy  forever  the  power  of  Protestant  Eng* 
land  over  us!  Then  we  should  be  free  again,  to  gi\e  our  Saviour 
all  the  public  honors  which  were  to  due  his  majesty.  Then  we 
should  put  in  force  the  laws  by  which  no  heretic  had  an}'  right 
to  settle  and  live  in  Canada. 

Not  long  after  that  conversation  with  the  bishop,  I  found 
myself  in  a  circumstance  which  added  much  to  my  trouble  and 
confusion  of  conscience  on  that  matter. 

There  was  then,  in  Quebec,  a  merchant  who  had  honorably 
raised  himself  from  a  state  of  poverty,  to  the  fii'St  rank  among 
the  wealthy  mercJiants  of  Canada.  Though,  a  few  years  after, 
he  was  ruined  by  a  series  of  most  terrible  disasters,  his  name  is 
still  honored  in  Canada,  as  one  of  the  most  industrious  and  hon- 
est merchants  of  our  young  covmtry.  His  name  was  James 
Buteau.  He  had  built  a  magniticient  house  and  furnished  it  in 
a  princely  style. 


THE    QUEBEC     MARINE    HOSPITAL,    ETC.  265 

In  order  to  celebrate  his  "  house  -warming  "  in  a  becoming 
style,  he  invited  a  hundred  guests  from  the  elite  of  the  city, 
among  whom  were  .ill  the  priests  of  the  parishes.  But  in  order 
not  to  frighten  their  prudery,  though  the  party  was  to  be  more 
of  the  nature  of  a  ball  than  anything  else,  Mr.  Buteau  had  given 
it  the  modest  name  of  an  Oyster  Soiree. 

Just  as  the  good  curate  Tetu,  with  his  cheerful  vicars  was 
starting,  a  messenger  met  us  at  the  door,  to  say  that  Mr.  Parent, 
the  youngest  vicar,  had  called  to  carry  the  "  Good  God  "  to  a 
dying  woman. 

Mr.  Parent  was  born,  and  had  passed  his  whole  life  in 
Quebec,  in  whose  seminary  he  had  gone  through  a  complete  and 
brilliant  course  of  study.  1  think  there  was  scarcely  a  funny 
song  in  the  French  language  which  he  could  not  sing.  With  a 
cheerful  nature,  he  was  the  delight  of  the  Quebec  society,  by 
almost  every  member  of  which  he  was  personally  known. 

His  hair  was  constantly  perfumed  with  the  richest  pomade, 
and  the  most  precious  eaux  de  cologne  surrounded  him  with  an 
atmosphere  of  the  sweetest  odors.  With  all  these  qualities  and 
privileges,  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  was  the  confessor  "a  la  mode''' 
of  the  young  ladies  of  Quebec. 

The  bright  luminaries  which  hover  around  Jupiter  are  not 
more  exact  in  converging  toward  the  brilliant  star,  than  those 
pious^voung  ladies  were  in  gathering  around  the  confessional 
box  of  Mr.  Parent  every  week  or  fortnight. 

The  unexpected  announcement  of  a  call  to  the  deathbed  of 
one  of  his  poorest  penitents,  wits  not  quite  the  most  desirable 
thing  for  our  dear  young  friend,  at  such  an  hour.  But  he  knew 
too  well  his  duty  to  grumble.  He  said  tons:  ^^Go  before  me 
and  tell  Mrs.  Buteau  that  I  will  be  in  time  to  get  my  share  of 
the  oysters." 

By  chance,  the  sick  house  was  on  the  way  and  not  far  from 
Mr.  Buteau's  splendid  mansion.  He  left  us  to  run  to  the  altar  and 
take  the  "Good  God"  with  him.  We  started  for  the  soiree,  but  not 
without  sympathizing  with  our  dear  Mr.  Parent,  who  would  lose 
the  most  interesting  part,  for  the  administration  of  the  viaticun-. 
The  extreme  unction,  with  the  giving  of  indulgences,  in  articuh. 


266  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

mortis^  and  the  exhortation  to  the  dying,  and  the  people  gath- 
ered from  the  neighborhood  to  witness  those  solemn  rites,  could 
not  take  much  less  than  three  quarters,  or  even  an  hour  of  his 
time.  But,  to  my  great  surprise,  we  had  not  yet  been  ten  minutes 
in  the  magnificent  parlor  of  our  host,  when  I  saw  Mr.  Parent, 
who  like  a  newborn  butterfly,  flying  from  flower  to  flower,  was 
running  from  lady  to  lady,  joking,  laughing,  surpassing  himself 
with  his  inimitable,  lovely  and  refined  manners.  I  said  to  myself, 
how  is  it  possible  that  he  has  so  quickly  got  rid  of  his  unpalata- 
ble task  with  his  dying  penitent!  and  I  wanted  an  opportunity 
of  being  alone  with  him,  to  satisfy  my  curiosity  on  that  point. 
But  it  was  pretty  late  in  the  evening,  when  I  had  a  chance  to  say 
to  him;  "We  all  feared  lest  your  dying  patient  might  deprive  us 
of  the  pleasure  of  your  company  the  greater  part  of  the  soiree!" 

"Oh!  Oh!"  answered  he,  with  a  hearty  laugh,  "that  intelli- 
o-ent  woman  had  the  good  common  sense  to  die  just  two  minutes 
before  I  entered  her  house.  I  suppose  that  her  guardian  angel, 
knowing  all  about  this  incomparable  party,  had  dispatched  the 
good  soul  to  heaven  a  little  sooner  than  she  expected,  in  my 
behalf."  I  could  not  but  smile  at  his  answer,  which  was  given 
in  a  manner  to  make  a  stone  laugh.  "  But,"  said  I,  "  what  have 
you  done  with  the  'Good  God'  you  carried  with  you?" 

"Ah!  ah!  the  Good  God,"  he  replied  in  a  jocose  and  sub- 
dued tone.  "Well,  well!  the  'Good  God'?  He  stands  very 
still  in  my  vest  pocket.  And  if  he  enjoys  this  princely  festivity 
as  well  as  we  all  do,  he  will  surely  thank  me  for  having  brought 
him  here,  even  en  survenant.  But  do  not  say  a  word  of  his 
presence  here;  it  would  spoil  everything." 

That  priest,  who  was  only  one  year  younger  than  myself, 
was  one  of  my  dearest  friends.  Though  his  words  rather  smelt 
of  the  unbeliever  and  blasphemer,  I  prefered  to  attribute  them 
to  the  sweet  champagne  he  had  drunk  than  to  a  real  want  of 
faith. 

But  I  must  confess  that,  though  I  had  laughed   very  heartily 

at  first,  his  last  utterance    pained    me  so   much   that,   from   that 

moment  to  the  end  of  the   soiree,   I  felt  uneasy  and   confounded. 

vly  firm   belief   that    my    Saviour  Jestis    Christ    was    there    in 


QUEBEC    MARINE    HOSPITAL,    ETC.  367 

person,  kept  a  prisoner  in  my  young  friend's  vest  pocket,  going 
to  and  fro  from  one  young  lady  to  the  other,  witnessing  the 
constant  laughing,  hearing  the  idle  words,  the  light  and  funny 
songs,  made  my  whole  soul  shudder,  and  my  heart  sunk  within 
me.  By  times  I  wished  I  could  fall  on  my  knees  to  adore  my 
Saviour,  whom  I  believed  to  be  there.  However,  a  mysterious 
voice  was  whispering  in  my  ear:  "Are  you  not  a  fool  to  believe 
that  you  can  make  a  God  with  a  wafer;  and  that  Jesus  Christ 
your  Saviour  and  your  God,  can  be  kept  a  prisoner,  in  spite  of 
himself,  in  the  vest  pocket  of  a  man?  Do  you  not  see  that  your 
friend  Parent,  who  has  much  more  brains  and  intelligence  than 
you,  does  not  believe  a  word  of  that  dogma  of  transubstantia- 
tion?  Have  you  forgotton  the  unbeliever's  smile  which  you 
saw  on  the  lips  of  the  bishop  himself  only  a  few  days  ago? 
Was  not  that  laugh  the  infallible  proof  that  he  also  does  not 
believe  a  particle  of  that  ridiculous  dogma?" 

With  superhuman  effort  I  tried,  and  succeeded  partly,  to 
stifle  that  voice.  But  that  struggle  could  not  last  long  within 
my  soul  without  leaving  its  exterior  marks  on  my  face.  Evi- 
dently a  sad  cloud  was  over  my  eyes,  for  several  of  my  most 
respectable  friends,  with  Mr.  and  Mrs,  Buteau,  kindly  asked  if  I 
were  sick. 

At  last  1  felt  so  confused  at  the  repetition  of  the  same 
suggestion  by  so  many,  that  I  felt  that  I  was  only  making  a  fool 
of  myself  by  remaining  any  longer  in  their  midst.  Angry  with 
myself  for  my  want  of  moral  strength  in  this  hour  of  trial,  I 
respectfully  asked  pardon  from  my  kind  host  for  leaving  their 
party  before  the  end,  on  account  of  a  sudden  indisposition. 

The  next  day  there  was  only  one  voice  in  Quebec,  saying 
that  young  Parent  had  been  the  lion  of  that  brilliant  soiree,  and 
that  the  poor  young  priest  Chiniquy  had  been  its  fool. 


Chapter  XXVIII. 

DB.  DOUaiiAS-lffY  FIRST  LBSSON  IN  TB3SIPBaAN0B- STUDY 
OF  ANATOMY -WORKINO  OF  ALOOHOIi  IN  THE  HXTMAN 
FBABTB-THE  MURDERESS  OF  HER  OWN  OHILD-I  FOR- 
EVER GUVE  UP  THE  USE  OF  INTOXICATING  DRINKS. 

GOD  controls  the  greatest  as  well  as  the  smallest  of  the  events 
of  this  world.  Our  business  during  the  few  days  of  our 
pilgrimage,  then,  is  to  know  His  will  and  do  it.  Our  happiness 
here,  as  in  heaven,  rests  on  this  foundation,  just  as  the  success 
and  failures  of  our  lives  come  entirely  from  the  practical  know- 
ledge or  ignorance  of  this  simplest  and  sublimest  truth.  I  dare 
say  that  there  is  not  a  single  fact  of  my  long  and  eventful  life 
which  has  not  taught  me  that  there  is  a  special  providence  in 
our  lives.  Particularly  was  this  apparent  in  the  casting  of  the 
lots  by  which  I  became  the  first  chaplain  of  the  Quebec  Marine 
Hospital.  After  the  other  vicars  had  congratulated  each  other 
for  having  escaped  the  heavy  burden  of  work  and  responsibili^ 
ties  connected  with  that  chaplaincy,  they  kindly  gave  me  the 
assurance  of  their  sympathies  for  what  they  called  my  bad  luck. 
In  thanking  them  for  their  kindly  feelings,  I  confessed  that 
this  occurrence  appeared  to  me  in  a  very  different  light.  I  was 
sure  that  God  had  directed  this  for  my  good  and  His  own  glory  ^ 
and  I  was  right.  In  the  beginning  of  November,  1834,  a  slight 
indisposition  having  kept  me  for  a  few  days  at  home,  Mr.  Glack- 
mayer,  the  superintendent  of  the  hospital,  came  to  tell  me  that 
there  was  an  unusually  large  number  of  sick,  left  by  the  Fall 
fleets,  in  danger  of  death,  who  were  day  and  night  calling  for 
me.  He  added  in  a  secret  w^ay,  that  there  were  several  cafies  of 
small-pox  of  the  worst  type;  that  several  had  already  died  and 
many  were  dying  from  the  terrible  cholera  morbus,  which  was 
still  raging  among  the  sailors. 


MY    FIRST    LESSON    ON    TEMPERANCE. 


269 


This  sad  news  came  to  me  as  an  order  from  heaven  to  run  to 
the  rescue  of  my  dear  sick  seamen.  I  left  my  room,  despite 
my  physician,  and  went  to  the  hospital. 

The  first  man  I  met  was  Dr.  Douglas,  who  was  waiting  for 
me  at  Mr.  C.  Glackmayer's  room.  He  confirmed  what  I  had 
known  before  of  the  number  of  sick,  and  added  that  the  prevail- 
ing diseases  were  of  the  most  dangerous  kind. 

Dr.  Douglas,  who  was  one  of  the  founders  and  governors  of 
the  hospital,  had  the  well-merited  reputation  of  being  one  of 
the  ablest  surgeons  of  Quebec.  Though  a  staunch  Protestant 
by  birth  and  profession,  he  honored  me  with  his  confidence 
and  friendship  from  the  first  day  we  met.  I  may  say  I  have 
never  known  a  nobler  heart,  a  larger  mind  and  a  truer  philan- 
thropist. 

After  thanking  him  for  the  useful  though  sad  intelligence 
he  had  given  me,  I  requested  Mr.  Glackmayer  to  give  me  a 
glass  of  brandy,  which  I  immediately  swallowed. 

"  What  are  you  doing  there?  "  said  Dr.  Douglas. 

"  You  see,"  I  answered ;  "I  have  drank  a  glass  of  excellent 
brandy.," 

"  But  please  tell  me  why  you  drank  that  brandy." 

"  Because  it  is  a  good  preservative  against  the  pestilential 
atmosphere  I  will  breathe  all  day,"  I  replied.  "I  will  have  to 
hear  the  confessions  of  all  those  people  dying  from  small-pox  or 
cholera,  and  breathe  the  putrid  air  which  is  around  their  pillows. 
Does  not  common  sense  warn  me  to  take  some  precautions 
against  the  contagion?" 

"  Is  it  possible,"  rejoined  he,  "that  a  man  for  whom  I  have 
such  a  sincere  esteem  is  so  ignorant  of  the  deadly  workings  of 
alcohol  in  the  human  frame?  What  you  have  just  drank  is 
nothing  but  poison;  and,  far  from  protecting  yourself  against 
the  danger,  you  are  now  much  more  exposed  to  it  than  before 
you  drank  that  beverage." 

"  You  poor  Protestants,"  I  answered,  in  a  jocose  way,  "  are 
a  band  of  fanatics,  with  your  extreme  doctrines  on  temperance ; 
you  will  never  convert  me  to  your  views  on  that  subject.  Is  it 
ior  the  use  of  the  doges  that  God  has  created  wine  and  brandy  ? 


27^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

No;  it  is  for  the  use  of  men  who  drink  them   with   moderation 
and  inteligence." 

"My  dear  Mr,  Chiniquy,  you  are  joking;  but  I  am  in 
earnest  when  I  tell  you  that  you  have  poisoned  yourself  with 
that  glass  of  brandy,"  replied  Dr  Douglas. 

"  If  good  wine  and  brandy  w^ere  poisons,"  I  answered,  "you 
would  be  long  ago  the  only  physician  in  Quebec,  for  you  are  the 
only  one  of  the  medical  body  whom  I  know  to  be  an  abstainer. 
But,  though  I  am  much  pleased  with  your  conversation,  excuse 
me  if  I  leave  you  to  visit  my  dear  sick  sailors,  whose  cries  for 
spiritual  help  ring  in  my  ears." 

"  One  word  more,"  said  Dr.  Douglas,  "  and  I  have  done. 
To-morrow  morning  we  will  make  the  autopsy  of  a  sailor  who 
has  just  died  suddenly  here.  Have  you  any  objections  to  come 
and  see  with  your  eyes,  in  the  body  of  that  man,  what  your 
glass  of  brandy  has  done  in  your  own  body?" 

"No,  sir;  I  have  no  objection  to  see  that,"  T  replied.  "I 
have  been  anxious  for  a  long  time  to  make  a  special  study  of 
anatomy.  It  will  be  my  first  lesson ;  I  cannot  get  it  from  a 
better  master." 

I  then  shook  hands  with  him  and  went  to  my  patients,  with 
whom  I  passed  the  remainder  of  the  day  and  the  better  part  of 
the  night.  Fifty  of  them  wanted  to  make  general  confessions 
of  all  the  sins  of  their  whole  lives;  and  I  had  to  give  the  last 
sacraments  to  twenty-five  w^ho  were  dying  from  small-pox  or 
cholera  morbus.  The  next  morning  I  was,  at  the  appointed 
hour,  by  the  corpse  of  the  dead  man,  when  Dr.  Douglas  kindly 
gave  me  a  very  powerful  microscope,  that  I  might  more 
thoroughly  follow  the  ravages  of  alcohol  in  every  part  of  the 
human  body. 

"  I  have  not  the  least  doubt,"  said  he,  "  that  this  man  has 
been  instantly  killed  by  a  glass  of  rum,  which  he  drank  one 
hour  before  he  fell  dead.  That  rum  has  caused  the  rupture  of 
the  aorta"   (the  big  vein  which  carries  the  blood  to  the  heart). 

While  talking  thus,  the  knife  was  doing  its  work  so  quickly, 
that  the  horrible  spectacle  of  the  broken  aitery  was  before  our 
eyes  almost  as  the  last  word  fell  from  his  lips. 


MY    FIRST    LESSON    IN    TEMPERANCE.  37 1 

"  Look  here,"  said  the  doctor,  "all  along  the  artery,  and 
you  will  see  thousands,  perhaps  millions  of  reddish  spots,  which 
are  as  many  holes  perforated  through  it  by  alcohol.  Just  as  the 
musk  rats  of  the  Mississippi  river,  almost  every  spring,  dig  little 
holes  through  the  dams  which  keeps  the  powerful  river  within 
its  natural  limits,  and  cause  the  waters  to  break  through  the 
little  holes,  and  thus  carry  desolation  and  death  along  its  shores, 
so  alcohol  every  day  causes  the  sudden  death  of  thousands  of 
victims,  by  perforating  the  veins  and  opening  small  issues 
through  which  the  blood  rushes  out  of  its  natural  limits.  It  is 
not  only  this  big  vein  which  alcohol  perforates ;  it  does  the  same 
deadly  work  in  the  veins  of  the  lungs  and  the  whole  body. 
Look  at  the  lungs  with  attention,  and  count,  if  you  can,  the 
thousands  and  thousands  of  reddish,  dark  and  yellow  spots,  and 
little  ulcers  with  which  they  are  covered.  Every  one  of  them 
is  the  work  of  alcohol,  which  has  torn  and  cut  the  veins  and 
caused  the  blood  to  go  out  of  its  canals,  to  carry  corruption  and 
death  all  over  these  marvelous  organs.  Alcohol  is  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  poisons — I  dare  say  it  is  the  most  dangerous. 
It  has  killed  more  men  than  all  the  other  poisons  together. 
Alcohol  cannot  be  changed  or  assimilated  to  any  part  or  tissu' 
of  our  body,  it  cannot  go  to  any  part  of  the  human  framu 
without  bringing  disorder  and  death  to  it.  For  it  cannot  in  any 
possible  way  unite  with  any  part  of  our  body.  The  water  we 
druik,  the  wholesome  food  and  bread  we  eat,  by  the  laws  and 
will  of  God  are  transformed  into  the  different  parts  of  the  body, 
to  which  they  are  sent  through  the  millions  of  small  canals 
which  take  them  from  the  stomach  to  every  part  of  our  frame. 
When  the  water  has  been  drunk,  or  the  bread  we  have  eaten  is, 
for  instance,  sent  to  the  lungs,  to  the  brain,  the  nerves,  the 
muscles,  the  bones — wherever  it  goes  it  receives,  if  I  can  so 
speak,  letters  of  citizenship;  it  is  allowed  to  remain  there  in 
peace  and  to  work  for  the  public  good.  But  it  is  not  so  with 
alcohol.  The  very  moment  it  enters  the  stomach  it  more  or  less 
brings  disorder,  ruin  and  death,  according  to  the  quantity  taken. 
The  stomach  refuses  to  take  it,  and  makes  a  supreme  effort  to 
violently  throw  it  out,  either  through   the   mouth,   or  by  indig- 


272  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

nantly  pushing  it  to  the  brain  or  into  the  numberless  tubes  by 
which  it  discharges  its  contents  to  the  surface  through  all  the 
tissues.  But  will  alcohol  be  welcome  in  any  of  these  tubes  and 
marvellous  canals,  or  in  any  part  or  tissue  of  the  body  it  will 
visit  on  its  passage  to  the  surface?  No!  Look  here  with  your 
miscroscope,  and  yo  will  see  with  your  own  eyes  that  every- 
where alcohol  has  gone  into  the  body  there  has  been  a  hand-to- 
hand  struggle  and  a  bloody  battle  fought  to  get  rid  of  it.  Yes! 
every  place  where  King  Alcohol  has  put  his  foot  has  been 
turned  into  a  battlefield,  spread  with  ruin  and  death,  in  order  to 
ignominiously  turn  it  out.  By  a  most  extraordinary  working  of 
nature,  or  rather  by  the  order  of  God,  every  vein  and  artery 
through  which  alcohol  has  to  pass  suddenly  contracts,  as  if  to 
prevent  its  passage  or  choke  it  as  a  deadly  foe.  Every  vein  and 
artery  has  evidently  heard  the  voice  of  God:  '  Wine  is  a  mocker: 
it  bites  like  a  serpent  and  stings  like  an  adder!'  Every  nerve 
and  muscle  which  alcohol  touched  trembled  and  shook  as  if  in 
the  presence  of  an  implacable  and  unconquerable  enemy.  Yes, 
at  the  presence  of  alcohol  every  nerve  and  muscle  loses  its  strength, 
just  as  the  bravest  man,  in  the  presence  of  a  horrible  monster  or 
demon,  suddenly  loses  his  natural  strength,  and  shakes  from  head 
to  foot." 

I  cannot  repeat  all  I  heard  that  day  from  the  lips  of  Dr. 
Douglas,  and  what  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes  of  the  horrible 
workings  of  alcohol  through  every  part  of  the  body.  It  would 
be  too  long.  Suffice  to  say  that  I  was  struck  with  horror  at  my 
own  folly,  and  at  the  folly  of  so  many  people  who  make  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks. 

What  I  learned  that  day  was  like  the  opening  of  a  myste- 
rious door,  which  allowed  me  to  see  the  untold  marvels  of  a  new 
and  most  magnificent  world.  But  though  I  was  terror-stricken 
with  the  ravages  of  strong  drink  in  that  dead  man,  I  was  not  yet 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  being  a  total  abstainer  from  wine 
and  beer,  and  a  little  brandy  now^  and  then,  as  a  social  habit. 
I  did  not  like  to  expose  myself  to  ridicule  by  the  sacrifice 
of  habits  which  seemed  then,  more  than  now,  to  be  among 
the  sweetest  and  most  common   links   of   society.     But   I   deter- 


MY    FIRST    LESSON    OX    TEMPERANCE.  273 

mined  to  lose  no  opportunity  of  continuing  the  study  of  the 
working  of  alcohol  in  the  human  body.  At  the  same  time  I  re- 
solved to  avail  myself  of  every  opportunity  of  making  a  complete 
study  of  anatomy  under  the  kind  and  learned  Dr.  Douglas. 

It  is  from  the  lips  and  works  of  Dr.  Douglas  that  I  learned 
the  following  startling  facts: 

1st.  The  heart  of  man,  which  is  only  six  inches  long  by  four 
inches  wide,  beats  seventy  times  in  a  minute,  4,200  in  one  hour, 
100,300  in  a  day,  36,792,000  in  a  year.  It  ejects  two  ounces 
and  a  half  of  blood  out  of  itself  every  time  it  beats,  which 
makes  175  ounces  every  minute,  656  pounds  every  hour,  seven 
tons  and  three-quarters  of  blood  which  goes  out  of  the  heart 
every  day!  The  whole  blood  of  a  man  runs  through  his  heart 
in  three  minutes. 

2d.  The  skin  is  composed  of  three  parts  placed  over  each 
other,  whose  thickriess  varies  from  a  quarter  to  an  eighth  of  a 
line.  Each  square  inch  contains  3,500  pores,  through  which  the 
sweat  goes  out.  Every  one  of  them  is  a  pipe  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  long.  All  those  small  pipes  united  together  would  form  a 
canal  301,166  feet  long — equal  to  forty  miles,  or  nearly  thirteen 
leagues ! 

3rd.  The  weight  of  the  blood  in  a  common  man  is  between 
thirty  and  forty  pounds.  The  blood  runs  through  the  body  in 
100  seconds,  or  one  minute  and  forty-one  seconds.  Eleven 
thousand  (11,000)  pints  of  blood  pass  through  the  lungs  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

4th.  There  are  246  bones  in  the  human  body;  63  of  them 
are  in  the  head,  24  in  the  sides,  16  in  the  wrist,  14  in  the  joints, 
and  108  in  the  hands  and  feet. 

The  heart  of  a  man  who  drinks  nothing  but  pure  water 
beats  about  100,300  a  day,  but  will  beat  from  25,000  to  30,000 
times  more  if  he  drinks  alcoholic  drinks.  Those  who  have  not 
learned  anatomy  know  little  of  the  infinite  power,  wisdom,  love 
and  mercy  of  God.  No  book  except  the  Bible,  and  no  science 
except  the  science  of  astronomy,  is  like  the  body  of  man,  to  tell 
us  what  our  God  /s,  and  -what  ive  arc.  The  body  of  man  is  a 
book  written  bv  the  hand  of  God,  to  speak   to  us  of  Him  as  no 


274  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

man  can  speak.  After  studying  the  marvellous  working  of  the 
heart,  the  lungs,  the  eyes  and  the  brain  of  man,  I  could  not 
sj>eak ;  I  remained  mute,  unable  to  say  a  single  word  to  tell  my 
admiration  and  awe.  I  wept,  as  overw^helmed  with  my  feelings. 
I  should  have  liked  to  speak  of  those  things  to  the  priests  with 
whom  I  lived,  but  I  saw  at  first  they  could  not  understand  me; 
they  thought  I  was  exaggerating.  How  many  times,  when 
alone  with  God  in  my  little  closet,  when  thinking  of  those 
marvels,  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  said :  "  Thou  art  great,  O  my 
God  !  The  works  of  thy  hands  are  above  the  works  of  man  ! 
But  the  works  of  thy  love  and  mercy  are  above  all  thy  other 
works!" 

During  the  four  years  I  was  chaplain  of  the  Marine  Hospital, 
more  than  one  hundred  corpses  were  opened  before  me,  and 
almost  as  many  outside  the  hospital.  For  when,  by  the  order 
of  the  jury  and  the  coroner,  an  autopsy  was  to  be  made,  I  seldom 
failed  to  attend.  In  that  wav,  I  have  had  a  providential  oppor- 
tunity of  acquiring  the  knowledge  of  one  of  the  most  useful  and 
admirable  sciences,  as  no  priest  or  minister  probably  ever  had  on 
this  continent.  It  is  my  conviction  that  the  first  thing  a  temper- 
ance orator  ought  to  do  is  to  study  anatomy ;  get  the  bodies  of 
drunkards,  as  well  as  those  of  so-called  temperate  drinkers, 
opened  before  him,  and  study  there  the  workings  of  alcohol  in 
the  different  organs  of  inan.  So  long  as  the  orators  on  temper- 
ance will  not  do  that,  they  cannot  understand  the  subject  on 
which  they  speak.  Though  I  have  read  the  best  books  written 
by  the  most  learned  physicians  of  England,  France  and  the  United 
States,  on  the  ravages  of  rum,  wine  and  beer,  of  every  kind  and 
name,  in  the  bodv  of  men,  I  have  never  read  anything  which 
enlightened  me  so  much,  and  brought  such  profound  convictions 
to  my  intelligence,  as  the  study  I  have  made  of  the  brain,  the 
lungs,  the  heart,  veins,  arteries,  nerves  and  muscles  of  a  single 
man  or  woman.  These  bodies,  opened  before  me,  w^ere  books 
written  by  the  hand  of  God  himself,  and  they  spoke  to  me  as  no 
man  cotild  speak.  By  the  mercy  of  God,  to  that  study  is  due 
the  irresistible  power  of  mv  humble  efforts  in  persuading  my 
countrvmen  to  give  up  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks.      But  here 


MY    FIRST    LESSON    ON    TEMPERANCE.  275 

is  the  time  to  tell  how  my  merciful  God  forced  me,  His  unprofit- 
able and  rebellious  servant,  almost  in  spite  of  myself,  to  give  up 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks. 

Among  my  penitents  there  was  a  young  lady  belonging  to 
one  of  the  most  respectable  families  in  Quebec.  She  had  a 
child,  a  girl,  almost  a  year  old,  who  was  a  real  beauty.  Nothing 
this  side  of  heaven  could  surpass  the  charms  of  that  earthlv 
angel.  Of  course  that  young  mother  idolized  her;  she  could 
hardly  consent  to  be  without  her  sweet  angel,  even  to  go  to 
church.  She  carried  her  everywhere,  to  kiss  her  at  every 
moment  and  press  her  to  her  heart.  Unfortunately  that  lady,  as 
it  was  then,  and  is  still  now  too  often  the  case,  even  among  the 
most  refined,  had  learned  in  her  father's  house,  and  by  the 
example  of  her  own  mother,  to  drink  wine  at  table,  and  when 
receiving  the  visits  of  her  friends  or  when  visiting  them  herself. 
Little  by  little  she  began  to  drink,  when  alone,  a  few  drops  of 
wine,  at  first  by  the  advice  of  her  physician,  but  soon  only  to 
satisfy  the  craving  appetite,  which  grew  stronger  day  by  dav. 
I  was  the  only  one,  excepting  her  husband,  who  knew  this  fact. 
He  was  my  intimate  friend,  and  several  times,  with  tears  trick- 
ling down  his  checks,  he  had  requested  me,  in  the  name  of  God, 
to  persuade  her  to  abstain  from  drinking.  That  young  man 
was  so  happy  with  his  accomplished  wife  and  his  incomparably 
beautiful  child  !  He  was  rich,  had  a  high  position  in  the  world, 
numberless  friends,  and  a  palace  for  his  home  !  Every  time  I 
had  spoken  to  that  young  lady,  either  when  alone  or  in  the 
presence  of  her  husband,  she  had  shed  tears  of  regret;  she  had 
promised  to  reform,  and  take  onlv  the  few  glasses  prescribed  by 
her  doctor.  But,  alas  !  that  fatal  prescription  of  the  doctor  was 
like  the  oil  poured  on  the  burning  coals;  it  was  kindling  a  fire 
that  nothing  could  quench.  One  day,  which  I  will  never  forget, 
a  messenger  came  in  haste  and  said :  "  Mr.  A.  wants  you  to  come 
to  his  home  immediately.  A  terrible  misfortune  has  just  hap- 
pened— his  beautiful  child  has  just  been  killed.  His  wife  is  half 
crazy ;  he  fears  lest  she  will  kill  herself. " 

I  leaped  into  the  elegant  carriage,  drawn  by  two  fine  horses, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  I  was  in  the   presence  of  the  most  distress- 


276  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

ing  spectacle  I  ever  saw.  The  young  lady,  tearing  her  robes 
into  fragments,  tearing  her  hair  with  her  hands  and  cutting  her 
face  with  the  nails  of  her  fingers,  was  crying,  "  Oh  !  for  God's 
sake,  give  me  a  knife  that  I  may  cut  my  throat  ?  I  have  killed 
my  child  !  My  darling  is  dead  !  I  am  the  murderess  of  my 
own  dear  Lucy  !  My  hands  are  reddened  with  her  blood.  Oh! 
may  I  die  with  her  !  " 

I  was  thunderstruck,  and  at  first  remained  mute  and  motion- 
less. The  young  husband,  with  two  other  gentlemen,  Dr. 
Blanchet  and  Coroner  Panet,  were  trying  to  hold  the  hands  of 
his  unfortunate  wife.  He  did  not  dare  to  speak.  At  last  the 
young  wife,  casting  her  eyes  upon  me,  said:  "Oh,  dear  Father 
Chiniquy,  for  God's  sake  give  me  a  knife  that  I  may  cut  my 
throat !  When  drunk,  I  took  my  precious  darling  in  my  arms 
to  kiss  her;  but  I  fell — her  head  struck  the  sharp  corner  of  the 
stove.  Her  brain  and  blood  are  there  spread  on  the  floor  !  My 
child  !  my  own  child  is  dead  !  I  have  killed  her  !  Cursed  liquor  ! 
Cursed  wine  !  My  child  is  dead  !  I  am  damned  !  Cursed 
drink  ! " 

I  could  not  speak,  but  I  could  weep  and  cry.  I  wept,  and 
mingled  my  tears  with  those  of  that  unfortunate  mother.  Then, 
with  an  expression  of  desolation  which  pierced  my  soul  as  with 
a  sword,  she  said:  "  Go  and  see."  I  went  to  the  next  room,  and 
there  I  saw  that  once  beautiful  child,  dead,  her  face  covered  w^ith 
her  blood  and  brains  !  There  was  a  large  gap  made  in  the  right 
temple.  The  drunken  mother,  by  falling  with  her  child  in  her 
arms,  had  caused  the  head  to  strike  with  such  a  terrible  force  on 
the  stove  that  it  upset  on  the  floor.  The  burning  coals  were 
spread  on  every  side,  and  the  house  had  been  very  nearly  on  Are. 
But  that  very  blow,  with  the  awful  death  of  her  child,  had 
suddenly  brought  her  to  her  senses,  and  put  an  end  to  her  intoxi- 
cation. At  a  glance  she  saw  the  whole  extent  of  her  misfortune. 
Her  first  thought  had  been  to  run  to  the  sideboai-d,  seize  a  large, 
sharp  knife,  and  cut  her  own  throat.  Providentially,  her  hus- 
band was  on  the  spot.  With  great  difficulty,  and  after  a  terrible 
struggle,  he  took  the  knife  out  of  her  hands  and  threw  it  into 
the  street  througfh  the  window.     It  was  then  about  five  o'clock 


MY    FIRST    LESSON    OX    TEMPERANCE. 


277 


in  the  afternoon.  After  an  hour  passed  in  indescribable  agony 
of  mind  and  heart,  I  attempted  to  leave  and  go  back  to  the 
parsonage.  But  my  unfortunate  young  friend  requested  me,  in 
the  name  of  God,  to  spend  the  night  with  him.  "You  are  the 
only  one,  "  he  said,  "  who  can  help  us  in  this  awful  night.  Mv 
misfortune  is  great  enough,  without  destroying  our  good  name 
by  spreading  it  in  public.  I  want  to  keep  it  as  secret  as  possible. 
With  our  physician  and  coroner,  you  are  the  only  man  on  earth 
whom  I  trust  to  help  me.     Please  pass  the  night  with  us.  " 

I  remained,  but  tried  in  vain  to  calm  the  unfortunate  mother. 
She  was  constantly  breaking  our  hearts  with  her  lamentations — 
her  convulsive  efforts  to  take  her  own  life.  Every  minute  she 
was  crying,  "  My  child  !  my  darling  Lucy  !  Just  when  thy  little 
arms  were  so  gently  caressing  me,  and  thy  angelic  kisses  were 
so  sweet  on  my  lips,  I  have  slaughtered  thee  !  When  thou  wert 
pressing  me  on  thy  loving  heart  and  kissing  me,  I,  thy  drunken 
mother,  gave  thee  the  death  blow  !  My  hands  are  reddened 
with  thy  blood  !  My  breast  is  covered  with  thy  brains  !  Oh  I 
for  God's  sake,  my  dear  husband,  take  my  life.  I  cannot  con- 
sent to  live  a  day  longer  !  My  dear  Father  Chiniquy,  give  me  a 
knife,  that  I  may  mingle  my  blood  with  the  blood  of  my  child  I 
O  that  I  could  be  buried  in  the  same  grave  with  her ! " 

In  vain  I  tried  to  speak  to  her  of  the  mercies  of  God  towards 
sinners;  she  would  not  listen  to  anything  I  could  say;  she  was 
absolutely  deaf  to  my  voice.  At  about  ten  o'clock,  she  had  a 
most  terrible  fit  of  anguish  and  terror.  Though  we  were  four 
men  to  keep  her  quiet,  she  was  stronger  than  we  all.  She  was 
stronger  than  a  giant.  She  slipped  from  our  hands  and  ran  to 
the  room  where  the  dead  child  was  lying  in  her  cradle.  Grasp- 
ing the  cold  body  in  her  hands,  she  tore  the  bands  of  white  linen 
which  had  been  put  round  the  head  to  cover  the  horrible  wound, 
and  with  cries  of  desolation  she  pressed  her  lips,  her  cheeks,  her 
very  eyes,  on  the  horrible  gap  from  which  the  brain  and  blood 
were  oozing,  as  if  wanting  to  heal  it  and  recall  the  poor  dear 
one  to  life. 

"  My  darling,  my  beloved,  my  own  dear  Lucy, "  she  cried, 
"open  thy  eves — look   again  at  thy  mother!     Give  me  a  kiss  ! 


278  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Press  me  again  to  thy  bosom  !  But  thine  eyes  are  shut  !  Thy 
lips  are  cold  !  Thou  dost  not  smile  on  me  any  longer  !  Thou 
art  dead,  and  I,  thy  mother,  have  slaughtered  thee  !  Canst  thou 
forgive  me  thy  death  ?  Canst  thou  ask  Jesus  Christ,  our 
Saviour,  to  forgive  me  ?  Canst  thou  ask  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary  to  pray  for  me  ?  Will  I  never  see  thee  again  ?  Ah,  no  ! 
I  am  lost — I  am  damned  !  I  am  a  drunken  mother  who  has 
murdered  her  own  darling  Lucy  !  There  is  no  mercy  for  the 
drunken  mother,  the  murderess  of  her  own  child. " 

And  when  speaking  thus  to  her  child,  she  was  sometimes 
kneeling  down,  then  running  around  the  room  as  if  flying  before 
a  phantom. 

But  even  then,  she  was  constantly  pressing  the  motionless 
body  to  her  bosom,  or  convulsively  passing  her  lips  and  cheeks 
over  the  horrible  wound,  so  that  her  lips,  her  whole  face,  her 
breast  and  hands,  were  literally  besmeared  with  the  blood  flowing 
from  the  wound.  I  will  not  say  that  we  were  all  weeping  and 
crying,  for  the  words  "weeping  and  crying"  cannot  express 
the  desolation — the  horror  we  felt.  At  about  eleven  o'clock, 
when  on  her  knees,  clasping  her  child  to  her  bosom,  she  lifted 
her  eyes  towards  me,  and  said: 

"Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  why  is  it  that  I  have  not  followed 
your  charitable  advice  when,  still  more  with  your  tears  than 
with  words,  you  tried  so  often  to  persuade  me  to  give  up  the  use 
of  those  cursed  intoxicating  wines  ?  How  many  times  you  have 
given  me  the  very  words  which  come  from  heaven :  '  Wine  is  a 
mocker ;  it  bites  as  a  serpent,  and  stings  as  an  adder  ! '  How 
many  times,  in  the  name  of  my  dear  child,  in  the  name  of  my 
dear  husband,  in  the  name  of  God,  you  have  asked  me  to  give 
up  the  use  of  those  cursed  drinks  !  But  listen  now  to  my  prayer. 
Go  all  over  Canada;  tell  all  the  fathers  never  to  put  any  intoxi- 
cating drink  before  the  eyes  of  their  children.  It  was  at  my 
father's  table  that  I  first  learned  to  drink  that  wine  which  I  will 
curse  during  all  eternity  !  Tell  all  the  mothers  never  to  taste 
these  abominable  drinks.  It  was  my  mother  who  first  taught 
me  to  drink  that  wine  which  I  will  curse  as  long  as  God  is  ! 

"  Take  the  blood  of  my  child,  and  go  redden  with  it   the  top 


MV    FIRST    LESSOX     ON'    TEMPEKaXCE, 


'VL 


of  the  doors  of  every  house  in  Canada,  and  say  tr  ^.  tliose  who 
dwell  in  those  houses  that  that  blood  was  shed  by  the  hand  of  a 
murderess  mother  when  drunk.  With  that  blood  write  on  the 
walls  of  every  house  in  Canada  that  'wine  is  a  mocker.'  Tell 
the  French  Canadians  how,  on  the  dead  body  of  my  child,  I 
have  cursed  that  wine  which  has  made  me  so  wretchedly  miser- 
able aud  guilty." 

She  then  stopped,  as  if  to  breathe  a  little  for  a  few  minutes. 
She  added: 

"In  the  name  of  God,  tell  me,  can  my  child  forgive  me  her 
death?  Can  she  ask  God  to  look  upon  me  with  mercy?  Can 
she  cause  the  bleseed  Virgin  Mary  to  pray  for  me  and  obtain 
my  pardon?" 

But  before  I  could  answer,  she  horrified  us  by  the  cries,  "I 
am  lost!     When  driyik  I  killed  my  child!     Cursed  wine!" 

And  she  fell  a  corpse  on  the  floor.  Torrents  of  blood  were 
flowing  from  her  mouth  on  her  dead  child,  which  she  was  press- 
ing to  her  bosom  even  after  her  death! 

That  terrible  drama  was  never  revealed  to  the  people  of 
Quebec.  The  coroner's  inquest  was  that  the  child's  death  was 
accidental,  and  that  the  distressed  mother  died  from  a  broken 
heart  six  hours  after. 

Two  days  later  the  unfortunate  mother  was  buried,  with  the 
body  of  her  child  clasped  in  her  arms.  Many  tears  wei^e  shed 
on  that  tomb,  and  this  dear  little  child's  guardian  angel  must 
have  written  with  its  blood  on  that  tomb:  "  Wine  is  a  mocker; 
look  not  at  it.  It  biteth  like  a  serpent,  and  stings  like  an  adder." 
However,  what  I  had  just  seen  and  heard  could  not  be  buried 
and  forgotten  in  the  grave. 

After  such  a  terrible  storm,  I  was  in  need  of  solitude  and  rest, 
but  above  everything  I  was  in  need  of  praying.  I  shut  myself 
in  my  little  room  for  two  days,  and  there,  alone,  in  the  presence 
of  God,  I  meditated  on  the  terrible  justice  and  retribution  which 
He  had  called  me  to  witness.  The  unfortunate  woman  had  not 
only  been  my  penitent:  she  had  been,  with  her  husband,  among 
my  dearest  and  most  devoted  friends.  It  was  only  lately  that 
she  had  become  a  slave  to  drunkenness.     Before   that,  her  piety 


28o  FIFTY     YEARS    IX    THE    CliUKCH    OF     l.^..,.^. 

and  sense  of  honor  were  of  the  most  exalted  kind  known  in  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Her  last  words  were  not  the  commonplace 
expressions  which  ordinary  sinners  proffer  at  the  approach  of 
death;  her  words  had  a  solemnity  for  me  which  almost  trans- 
formed them  into  oracles  of  God  in  my  mind.  Each  of  them 
sounded  in  my  ears  as  if  an  angel  of  God  had  touched  the  thou- 
sand strings  of  my  soul,  to  call  my  attention  to  a  message  from 
heaven.  Sometimes  they  resembled  the  terrible  voice  of  thun- 
der; and  again  it  seemed  as  if  a  seraph,  with  his  golden  harp, 
were  singing  them  in  my  ears,  that  I  might  prepare  to  fight 
taithfully  for  the  Lord  against  His  gigantic  enemy,  alcohol. 

In  the  middle  of  that  horrible  night,  when  the  darkness 
was  most  profound  and  the  stillness  fearful,  was  I  awake,  was  I 
sleeping?  I  do  not  know.  But  I  saw  the  calm,  beautiful  and 
cherished  form  of  my  dear  mother  standing  by  me,  holding  by 
the  hand  the  late  murderess,  still  covered  with  the  blood  of  her 
child.  Yes!  my  beloved  mother  was  there  standing  before  me; 
and  she  said,  with  power  and  authority  which  engraved  every 
one  of  her  words  on  my  soul,  as  if  written  with  letters  of  tears, 
blood  and  fire:  "Go  all  over  Canada;  tell  every  father  of  a 
family  never  to  put  any  intoxicating  drink  before  his  children. 
Tell  all  the  mothers  never  to  take  a  drop  of  those  cursed  wines 
and  drinks.  Tell  the  whole  people  of  Canada  never  to  touch 
nor  look  at  the  poisoned  cup,  filled  with  those  cursed  intoxicat- 
ing drinks.  And  thou,  my  beloved  son,  give  up  forever  the  use 
of  those  detestable  beverages,  which  are  cursed  in  hell,  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  It  bites  like  a  serpent;  it  stings  l-ke  ^n 
adder." 

When  the  sound  of  that  voice,  so  sweet  and  powerful,  was 
hushed,  and  my  soul  had  ceased  seeing  that  strange  vision  of  the 
night,  I  remained  for  some  time  exceedingly  agitated  and 
troubled.  I  said  to  myself,  "Is  it  possible  that  the  terrible 
things  I  have  seen  and  heard  these  last  few  days  will  destroy  my 
mind,  and  send  me  to  the  lunatic  asylum  ? " 

I  had  hardly  been  able  to  take  any  sleep  or  food  for  the  last 
three  days  and  nights,  and  I  seriously  feared  lest  the  weakneeis 
of  my  body  would  cause  me  to  lose  my  reason.     I   then  threw 


MY    FIRST    LESSON    ON     TEMPERANCE.  281 

myself  on  my  knees  to  weep  and  pray.     This  did   me  good.     I 
soon  felt  myself  stronger  and  calmer. 

Raising  again  my  mind  to  God,  I  said:  "O  my  God,  let 
me  know  thy  holy  will,  and  grant  me  the  grace  to,  do  it.  Do 
the  voices  I  have  just  heard  come  from  thee?  Hast  thou  really 
sent  one  of  the  angels  of  thy  mercy,  under  the  form  of  my  be- 
loved mother?  or  is  all  this  nothing  but  the  vain  dreams  of  mv 
distressed  mind  ? 

"  Is  it  thy  will,  O  my  God,  that  I  should  go  and  tell  my 
country  what  thou  hast  so  providentially  taught  me  of  the  hor- 
rible and  unsuspected  injuries  which  wine  and  strong  drink  cause 
to  the  bodies  as  well  as  to  the  souls  of  men?  Or  is  it  thy  will 
that  I  should  conceal  from  the  eyes  of  the  world  the  wonderful 
things  thou  hast  made  known  to  me,  and  that  I  might  bury  them 
with  me  in  my  grave?" 

As  quick  as  lightning  the  answer  was  suggested  to  me. 
"What  I  have  taught  thee  in  secret,  go  and  tell  it  on  the  house- 
tops!" Overwhelmed  with  an  unspeakable  emotion,  and  my 
heart  filled  with  a  power  which  was  not  mine,  I  raised  my  hands 
toward  heaven,  and  said  to  my  God : 

"  For  my  dear  Saviour  Jesus'  sake,  and  for  the  good  of  my 
country,  O  my  God,  I  promise  that  I  will  never  make  any  use 
of  intoxicating  drinks;  I  will,  moreover,  do  all  in  my  power  to 
persuade  the  other  priests  and  the  people  to  make  the  same 
sacrifice!" 

Fifty  years  have  passed  since  I  took  that  pledge,  and, 
thanks  be  to  God,  I  have  kept  it. 

For  the  next  two  years,  I  was  the  only  priest  in  Canada  who 
abstained  from  the  use  of  wine  and  other  intoxicating  drinks; 
and  God  only  knows  what  I  had  to  suffer  all  that  time — what 
sneers,  and  rebukes  and  insults,  of  every  kind,  I  had  silently  to 
bear!  How  many  times  the  epithets  oi  fanatic^  hypocrite^  re- 
fortner^  half- heretic^  have  been  whispered  into  my  ear,  not  only 
by  the  priests,  but  also  by  the  bishops. 

But  I  was  sure  that  my  God  knew  the  motives  of  my  actions, 
and,  by  His  grace,  I  remained  calm  and  patient.  In  His  infinite 
mercy.  He  has  looked  down  upon  His  unprofitable  servant  and 


283  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

has  taken  his  part.  He  had  himself  chosen  the  day  when  my 
humiliations  were  to  be  turned  into  great  joy.  The  day  came 
when  I  saw  those  same  priests  and  bishops,  at  the  head  of  their 
people,  receiving  the  pledge  and  blessing  of  temperance  from 
my  hands.  Those  very  bishops  ■who  had  unanimously,  at  first, 
condemned  me,  soon  invited  the  first  citizens  of  their  cities  to 
present  me  with  a  golden  medal,  as  a  token  of  their  esteem,  after 
giving  me,  officially,  the  title  of  "  Apostle  of  Temperance  of 
Canada."  The  Governor  and  the  two  Chambers  of  Parliament 
of  Canada  voted  me  public  thanks  in  1851,  and  presented  me 
X500  as  a  public  testimony  of  their  kind  feelings  for  what  had 
been  done  in  the  cause  of  temperance.  It  was  the  will  of  my 
God,  that  I  should  see,  with  my  own  eyes,  my  dear  Canada  tak- 
ing the  pledge  of  temperance  and  giving  up  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks.  How  many  tears  were  dried  in  those  days! 
Thousands  and  thousands  of  broken  hearts  were  consoled  and 
filled  with  joy.  Happiness  and  abundance  reigned  in  many  once 
desolate  homes,  and  the  name  of  our  merciful  God  was  blessed 
everywhere  in  my  beloved  country.  Surely  this  was  not  the 
work  of  poor  Chiniquy! 

It  was  the  Lord's  work,  for  the  Lord,  who  is  wonderful  in 
all  His  doings,  had  once  more  chosen  the  weakest  instrument 
to  show  His  mercy  towards  the  children  of  men.  He  had  called 
the  most  unprofitable  of  His  servants  to  do  the  greatest  work  of 
reform,  Canada  has  ever  seen,  that  the  praise  and  glory  might  be 
given  to  Him,  and  Him  alone! 


Chapter    XXIX. 

OONVIBKSIONS  OF  PROTESTANTS  TO  THE  CHUKCH  OF  BOKS— 
BEV.  ANTHONY  PARENT,  SUPERIOR  OF  THE  SEMINARY  OP 
aUEBEC:  HIS  PECULIAR  "WAY  OF  FINDING  ACCESS  TO  THE 
PROTESTANTS  AND  BRINGING  THEM  TO  THE  CATHOLIC 
CHURCH— HOW  HE  SPIES  THE  PROTESTANTS  THROUGH  THE 
OONFESSIONAlr-I  PEBSUADE  NINETY-THBEE  FAMILIES  TO 
BECOME  CATHOLICS. 

41  /^UT  of  the  Church  of  Rome  there  is  no  salvation,"  is  one  of 
\J  the  doctrines  which  the  priests  of  Rome  have  to  believe 
and  teach  to  the  people.  That  dogma,  once  accepted,  caused 
me  to  devote  all  my  energies  to  the  conversion  of  Protestants. 
To  prevent  one  of  those  immortal  and  precious  souls  from  going 
into  hell  seemed  to  me  more  important  and  glorious  that  the 
conquest  of  a  kingdom.  In  view  of  showing  them  their  errors, 
I  filled  my  library  with  the  best  controversial  books  which  could 
be  got  in  Quebec,  and  I  studied  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  the  ut- 
most attention.  In  the  Marine  Hospital,  as  well  as  in  my  inter- 
course with  the  people  of  the  city,  I  had  several  occasions  of 
meeting  Protestants  and  talking  to  them ;  but  I  found  at  once  that, 
with  verv  few  exceptions,  they  avoided  speaking  with  me  on 
religion.  This  distressed  me.  Having  been  told  one  day  that 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Anthony  Parent,  superior  of  the  Seminary  of 
Quebec,  had  converted  several  hundred  Protestants  during  his 
ministry,  I  went  to  ask  him  if  this  were  true.  For  answer,  he 
showed  me  the  list  of  his  converts,  which  numbered  more  than 
tw^o  hundred,  among  whom  were  some  of  the  most  respectable 
English  and  Scotch  families  of  the  city.  I  looked  upon  that 
list  with  amazement;  and  from  that  day  I  considered  him  the 
most  blessed  priest  of  Canada.  He  was  a  perfect  gentleman  in 
his  manners,  and  was  considered  our  best  champion  on  all  points 

2&i 


i8/\.  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  controversy  with  Protestants.  He  could  have  been  classed, 
also,  among  the  handsomest  men  in  his  time,  had  not  he  been  so 
fat.  But,  when  the  high  classes  called  him  by  the  respectable 
name  of  "Mr.  Superior  of  the  Seminary,"  the  common  people 
used  to  name  him  Pere  Cocassier  ("Cock-fighting  Father"), 
on  account  of  his  long-cherished  habit  of  having  the  bravest 
and  strongest  fighting-cocks  of  the  country.  In  vain  had  the 
Rev,  Mr.  Renvoyze,  curate  of  the  "  Good  St.  Anne,"  that  great- 
est miracle-working  saint  of  Canada,  expended  fabulous  sums  of 
money  in  ransacking  the  whole  country  to  get  a  cock  who  would 
take  away  the  palm  of  victory  from  the  hands  of  the  superior  of 
the  Seminary  of  Quebec.  He  had  almost  invariably  failed; 
with  very  few  exceptions  his  cocks  had  fallen  bruised,  bleeding 
and  dead  on  the  many  battlefields  chosen  by  those  two  priests. 
However,  I  feel  happy  in  acknowledging  that,  since  the  terrible 
epidemic  of  cholera,  that  cruel  and  ignominious  '■'•passe  temps" 
has  been  entirely  given  up  by  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  of 
this  country.  Playing  cards  and  checkers  is  now  the  most  usual 
way  the  majority  of  curates  and  vicars  have  recourse  to  spend 
their  long  and  many  idle  hours,  both  of  the  week  and  Sabbath 
days. 

After  reading  over  and  over  again  that  long  list  of  converts, 
I  said  to  Mr.  Parent:  "Please  tell  me  how  you  have  been  able 
to  persuade  these  Protestant  converts  to  consent  to  speak  with 
you  on  the  errors  of  their  religion.  Many  times  I  have  tried  to 
show  the  Protestants  whom  I  met,  that  they  would  be  lost  if 
they  do  not  submit  to  our  holy  Church,  but,  with  few  excep- 
tions, they  laughed  at  me  as  politely  as  possible,  and  turned  the 
conversation  to  other  matters.  You  must  have  some  secret  w^ay 
of  attracting  their  attention  and  winning  their  confidence. 
Would  you  not  be  kind  enough  to  give  me  that  secret,  that  I 
may  be  able  also  to  prevent  some  of  those  precious  souls  from 
perishing  ? " 

"You  are  right  when  you  think  that  I  have  a  secret  to  open 
the  doors  of  the  Protestants,  and  conquer  and  tame  their  haughtv 
minds,"  answered  Mr.  Parent.  "  But  that  secret  is  of  such  a 
delicate  nature,  that  I   have  never  revealed  it  to  anybody  except 


CONVERSIONS      OF    PROTESTANTS.  285 

my  confessor.  Nevertheless,  I  see  that  you  are  so  in  earnest  for 
the  conversion  of  Protestants,  and  I  have  such  a  confidence  in 
your  discretion  and  honor,  that  for  the  sake  of  our  holy  Church 
I  consent  to  give  you  my  secret;  only  you  must  promise  that 
you  will  never  reveal  it,  during  my  lifetime,  to  anybody — 
and  even  after  my  death  you  will  not  mention  it,  except  when 
you  are  sure  it  is  for  the  greatest  glory  of  God.  You  know  that 
I  was  the  most  intimate  friend  your  father  ever  had;  I  had  no 
secret  from  him,  and  he  had  none  from  me.  But  God  knows 
that  the  friendly  feelings  and  confidence  I  had  in  him  are  now 
bestowed  upon  you,  his  worthy  son.  If  you  had  not  in  my  heart 
and  esteem  the  same  high  position  your  father  occupied,  I  w^ould 
not  trust  you  with  my  secret." 

He  then  continued:  "The  majority  of  Protestants  in  Quebec 
have  Irish  Roman  Catholic  servant  girls;  these,  particularly  be- 
fore the  last  few  years,  used  to  come  to  confess  to  me,  as  I  was 
almost  the  only  priest  who  spoke  English.  The  first  thing  I 
used  to  ask  them,  when  they  were  confessing,  was,  if  their  mas- 
ters and  mistresses  were  truly  devoted  and  pious  Protestants,  or 
if  thcv  were  indifferent  and  cold  in  performing  their  duties. 
The  second  thing  I  wanted  to  know  was,  if  they  were  on  good 
terms  with  their  ministers;  whether  or  not  they  were  visited  by 
them.  From  the  answers  of  the  girls,  I  knew  both  the  moral 
and  immoral,  the  religious  or  irreligious  habits  of  their  masters 
as  perfectly  as  if  I  had  been  an  inmate  of  their  households.  It 
is  thus  that  I  learned  that  many  Protestants  have  no  more  relig- 
ion and  faith  than  our  dogs.  They  awake  in  the  morning,  and 
go  to  bed  at  night,  without  praying  to  God  any  more  than  the 
horses  in  their  stables.  Many  of  them  go  to  church  on  the  Sab- 
bath day,  more  to  laugh  at  their  ministers  and  criticise  their  ser- 
mons than  for  anything  else.  A  part  of  the  week  is  passed  in 
turning  them  into  ridicule;  nay,  through  the  confessions  of  these 
honest  girls,  I  learned  that  many  Protestants  liked  the  fine  cere- 
monies of  our  Church;  that  they  often  favorably  contrasted 
them  with  the  cold  performances  of  their  own,  and  expressed 
their  views  in  glowing  terms  about  the  superiority  of  our  educa- 
tional institutions,  nunneries,  etc.,  over  their  own  high  schools  or 


286  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

colleges.  Besides,  you  know  that  a  great  number  of  our  most 
respectable  and  wealthy  Protestants  trust  their  daughters  to  our 
good  nuns  for  their  education.  I  took  notes  of  all  these  things, 
and  formed  my  plans  of  battle  against  Protestantism,  as  a  gen- 
eral who  knows  his  ground  and  the  weak  points  of  his  adver- 
saries, and  I  fought  as  a  man  who  is  sur^  of  an  easy  victory. 
The  glorious  result  you  have  under  your  eyes  is  the  proof  that  I 
was  correct  in  my  plans.  My  first  step  with  the  Protestants 
wrhom  I  knew  to  be  without  any  religion,  or  even  already  well 
disposed  toward  us,  was  to  go  to  them  with  sometimes  X5,  or 
even  JC25,  which  I  presented  to  them  as  being  theirs.  They,  at 
first,  looked  at  me  with  amazement,  as  a  being  coming  from  a 
superior  world.  The  following  conversation  then  almost  invari- 
ably took  place  beteen  them  and  me: 

"Are  you  positive,  sir,  that  this  money  is  mine?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  I  answered.  "I  am  certain  that  this  money  is 
yours." 

"But,"  they  replied,  "please  tell  me  how  you  know  that  it 
belongs  to  me?  It  is  the  first  time  I  have  the  honor  of  talking 
with  you,  and  we  are  perfect  strangers  to  each  other." 

I  answered:  "I  cannot  say,  sir,  how  I  know  that  this  money 
is  yours,  except  by  telling  you  that  the  person  who  deposited  it 
in  my  hands  for  you  has  given  me  your  name  and  your  address 
so  correctly  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  any  mistake." 

"  But  can  I  not  know  the  name  of  the  one  who  has  put  that 
money  into  your  hands  for  me?"   rejoined  the  Protestant. 

"No,  sir;  the  secret  of  confession  is  in^■iolable,"  I  replied. 
"  We  have  no  example  that  it  has  ever  been  broken;  and  I,  with 
every  priest  of  our  Church,  would  prefer  to  die,  rather  than 
betray  our  penitents  and  reveal  their  confession.  We  cannot 
even  act  from  what  we  have  learned  through  their  confession, 
except  at  their  own  request." 

"  But  this  auricular  confession  must  then  be  a  most  admirable 
thing,"  added  the  Protestant;  "I  had  no  idea  of  it  before  this 
day." 

"Yes,  sir,  auricular  confession  is  a  most  admirable  thing,"  I 
used  to  reply,  "because  it  is  a  divine  institution.      But,  sir,  please 


CONVERSIONS    OF    PROTESTANTS.  287 

excuse  me;  my  ministry  calls  me  to  another  place.  I  must  take 
leave  of  you,  to  go  where  my  duty  calls  me." 

»'I  am  very  sorry  that  you  go  so  quickly,"  generally  an- 
sveered  the  Protestant.  "Can  I  have  another  visit  from  you? 
Please  do  me  the  honor  of  coming  again.  I  would  be  so  happy 
to  present  you  to  my  wife;  and  I  know  she  would  be  happy 
also,  and  much  honored  to  make  your  acquaintance." 

"Yes,  sir,  I  accept  with  gratitude  your  invitation,  I  will  feel 
much  pleased  and  honored  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  fam- 
ily of  a  gentleman  whose  praises  are  in  the  mouth  of  every  one, 
and  whose  industry  and  honesty  are  an  honor  to  our  city.  If  you 
will  allow  me,  next  week,  at  the  same  hour,  I  will  have  the 
honor  of  presenting  my  respectful  homage  to  your  lady. 

"The  very  next  day,  all  the  papers  reported  that  Mr.  So-and- 
So  had  received  X5,  or  jCio,  or  even  £2^^  as  a  restitution 
through  auricular  confession:  and  even  the  staunch  Protestant 
editors  of  those  papers  could  not  find  words  sufficiently  eloquent 
to  praise  me  and  our  sacrament  of  penance. 

"  Three  or  four  davs  later,  I  was  sure  that  the  faithful  servant 
girls  were  in  the  confessional-box,  glowing  with  joy  to  tell  me 
that  now  their  masters  and  mistresses  could  not  speak  of  any- 
thing else  than  the  amiability  and  honesty  of  the  priests  of  Rome. 
They  raised  them  a  thousand  miles  over  the  heads  of  their  own 
ministers.  From  those  pious  girls,  I  invariably  learned  that 
that  they  had  not  been  visited  by  a  single  friend  without  making 
the  eulogium  of  auricular  confession,  and  even  sometimes  ex- 
pressing the  regret  that  the  reformers  had  swept  away  such  a 
useful  institution. 

"Now,  my  dear  young  friend,  you  see  how,  by  the -blessing 
of  God,  the  little  sacrifice  of  a  few  pounds  brought  down  and 
destroyed  all  the  prejudices  of  those  poor  heretics  against  auric- 
ular confession  and  our  holy  Church  in  general.  You  under- 
stand how  the  doors  were  opened  to  me,  and  how  their  hearts 
and  intelligences  were  like  fields  prepared  to  receive  the  good 
seed.  At  the  appointed  hour,  I  never  failed  from  paying  the  re- 
quested visit,  and  I  was  invariably  received  like  a  messiah.  Not 
only  the  gentlemen,  but  the  ladies,  overwhelmed  me  with  marks 


28S  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

o-f  the  most  sincere  gratitude  and  respect;  even  the  dear  little 
children  petted  me,  and  threw  their  arms  around  my  neck  to 
give  me  their  sweetly  angelic  kisses.  The  only  topic  on  which 
we  could  speak,  of  course,  was  the  great  good  done  by  auricular 
confession.  I  easily  showed  them  how  it  works  as  a  check  to 
all  the  evil  passions  of  the  heart;  how  it  is  admirably  adapted  to 
all  the  wants  of  the  poor  sinners,  who  find  a  friend,  a  councellor, 
a  guide,  a  father,  a  real  saviour  in  their  confessor. 

"We  had  not  talked  half  an  hour  in  that  way,  when  it  was 
generally  evident  to  me  that  they  were  more  than  half  way  out 
of  their  Protestant  errors.  I  very  seldom  left  the  houses  with- 
out being  sure  of  a  new,  glorious  victory  for  our  holy  religion 
over  its  enemies.  It  is  very  seldom  that  I  do  not  succeed  in 
bringing  that  family  to  our  holy  Church  before  one  or  two 
years;  and  if  I  fail  of  gaining  the  father  or  mother,  1  am 
nearly  sure  to  persuade  them  to  send  their  daughters  to  our  good 
nuns  and  their  boys  to  our  colleges,  where  they,  sooner  or  later, 
become  our  most  devoted  Catholics.  So  you  see  that  the  few 
dollars  I  spend  every  year  for  that  holy  cause  are  the  best  invest- 
ments ever  made.  They  do  more  to  catch  the  Protestants  of  Que- 
bec than  the  baits  of  the  fishermen  do  to  secure  the  cod  fishes  of 
the  Newfoundland  banks." 

In  ending  this  last  sentence,  Mr.  Parent  filled  his  room  with 
laughter. 

I  thanked  him  for  these  interesting  details.  But  I  told  him: 
"  Though  I  cannot  but  admire  your  perfect  skill  and  shrewdness 
in  breaking  the  barriers  which  prevent  Protestants  from  under- 
standing the  divine  institution  of  auricular  confession,  will  you 
allow  me  to  ask  you  if  you  do  not  fear  to  be  guilty  of  an  impos- 
ture and  a  gross  imposition  in  the  way  you  make  them  believe 
that  the  money  you  hand  them  has  come  to  you  through  auric- 
ular confession?" 

"I  have  not  the  least  fear  of  that,"  promptly  answered  the 
old  priest,  "  for  the  good  reason  that,  if  you  had  paid  attention 
to  w^hat  I  have  told  you,  you  must  acknowledge  that  I  have  not 
said  positively  that  the  money  was  coming  from  auricular  con- 
fession.    If  those  Protestants  have  been  deceived,  it   is  only  due 


CONVERSIONS    OF     PROTESTANTS.  280 

to  their  own  want  of  a  more  perfect  attention  to  what  I  said.  I 
know  that  there  were  things  that  I  kept  in  my  mind  which 
would  have  made  them  understand  the  matter  in  a  very  different 
way  if  I  had  said  them.  But  Liguori  and  all  our  theologians, 
among  the  most  approved  of  our  holy  Church,  tell  us  that  these 
reservations  of  the  mind  (^'•mentis  rcservationes'')  are  allowed 
when  they  are  for  the  good  of  souls  and  the  glory  of  God." 

"Yes,"  answered  I,  "  I  know  that  such  is  the  doctrine  of 
Liguori,  and  it  is  approved  by  the  popes.  I  must  confess,  however, 
that  this  seems  to  me  entirely  opposed  to  what  we  read  in  the  sub- 
lime gospel.  The  simple  and  sublime  '  Yea,  yea,'  and  '  Nay,  nay,' 
of  our  Saviour  seems  to  me  in  contradiction  with  the  art  of  deceiv- 
ing, even  when  not  saying  absolute  and  direct  falsehoods;  and  if 
I  submit  myself  to  those  doctrines,  it  is  always  with  a  secret  pro- 
test in  my  inmost  soul." 

In  an  angry  manner,  Mr.  Parent  replied:  "Now,  my  dear 
young  friend,  I  understand  the  truth  of  what  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Perras  and  Bedard  told  me  lately  about  you.  Though  these 
remarkable  priests  are  full  of  esteem  for  you,  they  see  a  dark 
cloud  on  your  horizon ;  they  say  that  you  spend  too  much  time 
in  reading  the  Bible,  and  not  enough  in  studying  the  doctrines 
and  holy  traditions  of  the  Church.  You  are  too  much  inclined 
also  to  interpret  the  Word  of  God  according  to  your  own 
fallible  intelligence,  instead  of  going  to  the  Church  alone  for 
that  interpretation.  This  is  the  dangerous  rock  on  which  Luther 
and  Calvin  w'ere  wrecked.  Take  my  advice.  Do  not  try  to 
be  wiser  than  the  Church.  Obey  her  voice  when  she  speaks  to 
you  through  her  holy  theologians.  This  is  your  only  safeguard. 
The  bishop  would  suspend  you  at  once  were  he  aware  of  your 
want  of  faith  in  the  Church." 

These  last  w^ords  were  said  with  such  emphasis  that  they 
seemed  more  like  a  sentence  of  condemnation  from  the  lips  of 
an  irritated  judge  than  anything  else.  I  felt  that  I  had  again 
seriously  compromised  myself  in  his  mind ;  and  the  only  way  of 
preventing  him  from  denouncing  me  to  the  bishop  as  a  heretic 
and  a  Protestant  was  to  make  an  apology,  and  withdraw  from 
the  dangerous  ground  on  which  I  had  again  so  imprudently  put 


290  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

myself.  He  accepted  my  explanation,  but  I  saw  that  he  hittetif 
regretted  having  trusted  me  with  his  secret.  I  withdrew  from 
his  presence,  much  humiliated  by  my  w^ant  of  prudence  and 
wisdom.  However,  though  I  could  not  approve  of  all  the 
modus  operandi  of  the  superior  of  Quebec,  I  could  not  but 
admire,  then,  the  glorious  results  of  his  efforts  in  converting 
Protestants;  and  I  took  the  resolution  of  devoting  myself  more 
than  ever  to  show  them  their  errors  and  make  them  good 
Catholics.  In  this  I  was  too  successful ;  for  during  my  twenty- 
five  years  of  priesthood  I  have  persuaded  ninety-three  Pro- 
testants to  give  up  their  gospel  light  and  truth,  in  order  to 
follow  the  dark  and  lying  traditions  of  Rome.  I  cannot  enter 
into  the  details  of  their  conversions,  or  rather  perversions; 
suffice  it  to  say,  that  I  soon  found  that  my  only  chance  of  success 
in  that  proselytizing  work  was  among  the  Ritualists.  I  saw  at 
first  that  Calvin  and  Knox  had  dug  a  really  impassable  abyss 
between  the  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Baptists  and  the  Church 
of  Rome.  If  these  Ritualists  remain  Protestants,  and  do  not 
make  the  very  short  step  which  separates  them  from  Rome,  it 
is  a  most  astonishing  fact,  when  they  are  logical  men.  Some 
people  are  surprised  that  so  many  eminent  and  learned  men,  in 
Great  Britain  and  America,  give  up  their  Protestantism  to  sub- 
mit to  the  Church  of  Rome ;  but  my  wonder  is  that  there  are  so 
few  among  them  who  fall  into  that  bottomless  abyss  of  idolatry 
and  folly,  when  they  are  their  whole  life  on  the  very  brink  of 
the  chasm.  Put  millions  of  men  on  the  very  brink  of  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  force  them  to  cross  to  and  fro  in  small  canoes 
between  both  shores,  and  you  will  see  that,  every  day,  some  of 
them  \vill  be  dragged,  in  spite  of  themselves,  into  the  yawning 
abyss.  Nay,  you  will  see  that,  sooner  or  later,  those  millions  of 
people  will  be  in  danger  of  being  dragged  in  a  whole  body,  by 
the  irresistible  force  of  the  dashing  waters,  into  the  fathomless 
gulf.  Through  a  sublime  effort  the  English  people,  helped  by 
the  mighty  and  merciful  hand  of  God,  have  come  out  from  the 
abyss  of  folly,  impurity,  ignorance,  slavery  and  idolatry  called 
the  Church  of  Rome.  But  many,  alas!  in  the  present  day, 
instead  of  marching  up  to  the  high  regions  of  unsullied   Gospel 


CONVERSIONS     OF    PROTESTANTS. 


291 


truth  and  light — instead  of  going  up  to  the  high  mountains 
where  true  Christian  simplicity  and  liberty  have  forever  planted 
their  glorious  banners — have  been  induced  to  walk  only  a  few 
steps  out  of  the  pestiferous  regions  of  Popery.  They  have 
remained  so  near  the  pestilential  atmosphere  of  the  stagnant 
waters  of  death  which  flow  from  Rome,  that  the  atmosphere 
they  breathe  is  still  filled  with  the  deadly  emanations  of  that 
modern  Sodom.  Who,  without  shedding  tears  of  sorrow,  can 
look  at  those  misguided  ministers  of  the  Gospel  who  believe 
and  teach  in  the  Episcopal  Church  that  they  have  the  power  to 
make  their  God  with  a  wafer,  and  who  bow  down  before  that 
wafer  god  and  adore  him!  Who  can  refrain  from  indignation 
at  the  sight  of  so  many  Episcopal  ministers  who  consent  to  have 
their  ears,  minds  and  souls  polluted  at  the  confessional  by  the 
stories  of  their  penitents,  whom  in  their  turn  they  destroy  by 
their  infamous  and  unmentionable  questions?  When  I  was 
lecturing  in  England,  in  i860,  the  late  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, then  Bishop  of  London,  invited  me  to  his  table,  in 
company  with  Rev.  Mr.  Thomas,  now  Bishop  of  Coulbourne, 
Australia,  and  put  to  me  the  following  questions,  in  the  presence 
of  his  numerous  and  noble  guests: 

"  Father  Chiniquy,  when  you  left  the  Church  of  Rome, 
why  did  you  not  join  the  Episcopalian  rather  than  the  Presby- 
terian Church?  " 

I  answered :  "  Is  it  the  desire  of  your  lordship  that  I  should 
speak  my  mind  on  that  delicate  subject?" 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  the  noble  lord  bishop. 

"  Then,  my  lord,  I  must  tell  you  that  my  only  reason  is  that 
I  find  in  your  Church  several  doctrines  which  I  have  to  condemn 
in  the  Church  of  Rome." 

"How  is  that?"  replied  his  lordship. 

"Please,"  I  answered,  "let  me  have  one  of  your  Common 
Prayer  Books." 

Taking  the  book,  I  read  slowly  the  article  on  the  visitation 
of  the  sick :  "  Then  shall  the  sick  person  be  moved  to  make  a 
special  confession  of  his  sins,  if  he  feels  his  conscience  troubled 
with  any  weighty  matters.     After  which   confession   the  priest 


292 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 


shall  absolve  him,  after  this  sort:  '  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
hath  left  power  to  His  Church  to  absolve  all  sinners  who  repent 
and  believe  in  Him,  of  His  great  mercy  forgive  thee  all  thine 
offenses,  and  by  His  authority,  committed  to  me,  I  absolve  thee 
of  all  thy  sins,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Amen.'  "  I  then  added :  "  Now,  my  lord,  where  is  the 
difference  between  the  errors  of  Rome  and  your  Church  on 
this  subject  ? " 

"  The  difference  is  very  great,"  he  answered.  "  The  Church 
of  Rome  is  constantly  pressing  the  sinners  to  come  to  her  priests 
all  their  lifetime,  where  we  subject  the  sinner  to  this  humiliation 
only  once  in  his  life,  when  he  is  near  his  last  hour." 

"  But,  my  lord,  let  me  tell  you  that  it  seems  to  me  the 
Church  of  Rome  is  much  more  logical  and  consistent  in  this 
than  the  Episcopal  Church.  Both  churches  believe  and  teach 
that  they  have  received  from  Christ  the  power  to  forgive  the 
sins  of  those  who  confess  to  their  priests,  and  you  think  your- 
self wiser  because  you  invite  the  sinner  to  confess  and  receive 
his  pardon  only  when  he  is  tied  to  a  bed  of  suffering,  at  the  last 
hour  before  his  death.  But  will  your  lordship  be  kind  enough 
to  tell  me  when  I  am  in  danger  of  death.  If  I  am  constantly  in 
danger  of  death,  must  you  not,  with  the  Church  of  Rome, 
induce  me  constantly  to  confess  to  your  priests,  and  get 
my  pardon  and  make  my  peace  with  God.''  Has  our  Saviour 
said  anywhere  that  it  was  only  for  the  dying,  at  the  last 
extremity  of  life,  that  He  gave  the  power  to  forgive  my 
sins?  Has  He  not  warned  me  many  times  to  be  always  ready; 
to  have  always  our  peace  made  with  God,  and  not  to  wait  till 
the  last  day,  to  the  last  hour?" 

The  noble  bishop  did  not  think  fit  to  give  me  any  other 
answer  than  these  very  words :  "  We  all  agree  that  this  doctrine 
ought  never  to  have  been  put  in  our  Common  Prayer  Book. 
But  you  know  that  we  are  at  work  to  revise  that  book,  and 
we  hope  that  this  clause,  with  several  others,  will  be  taken 
away." 

"  Then,"  I  answered,  in  a  jocose  way,  "  my  lord,  when  this 
obnoxious  clause  has  been  removed  from  your  Common  Prayer 


CONVERSIONS    OF    PROTESTANTS. 


^93 


Book,  it  will  be  time  for  me  to  have  the  honor  of  belonging  to 
your  great  and  noble  Church." 

When  the  Church  of  England  went  out  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  she  did  as  Rachel,  the  wife  of  Jacob,  who  left  the  house 
of  her  father,  Laban,  and  took  his  gods  with  her.  So  the 
Episcopal  Church  of  England,  unfortunately,  when  she  left 
Rome,  concealed  in  the  folds  of  her  mantle  some  of  the  false 
gods  of  Rome;  she  kept  to  her  bosom  some  vipers  engendered 
in  the  marshes  of  the  modern  Sodom.  These  vipers,  if  not 
soon  destroyed,  w^ill  kill  her.  They  are  already  eating  up  her 
vitals.  They  are  covering  her  with  most  ugly  and  mortal 
wounds.     They  are  rapidly  taking  away  her  life. 

May  the  Holy  Ghost  rebaptize  and  purify  that  noble  Church 
of  England,  that  she  may  be  worthy  to  march  at  the  head  of  the 
armies  of  the  Lord  to  the  conquest  of  the  world,  under  the  ban- 
ners of  the  great  Captain  of  our  Salvation. 


Chapter  XXX. 

THE  MUBDEBS  AND  THEPTS  IN  aUEBEC  FBOM  1835  TO  1836— 
THE  NIGHT  EXCURSION  WITH  TWO  THIEVES— THE  BESTI- 
TTTTION-THE  DAWN  OF   LIGHT. 

THE  three  years  which  followed  the  cholera  w^ill  be  long 
remembered  in  Quebec  for  the  number  of  audacious  thefts 
and  the  murders  which  kept  the  whole  population  in  constant 
terror.  Almost  every  week,  the  public  press  had  to  give  us  the 
account  of  the  robbery  of  the  houses  of  some  of  our  rich  mer- 
chants, or  old  wealthy  widows. 

Many  times,  the  blood  was  chilled  in  our  veins  by  the  cruel 
and  savage  assassinations  which  had  been  committed  by  the 
thieves  when  resistance  had  been  offered.  The  number  of  these 
crimes,  the  audacity,  with  which  they  were  perpetrated,  the 
ability  with  which  the  guilty  parties  escaped  from  all  the  re- 
searches of  the  police,  indicated  that  they  were  well  organized, 
and  had  a  leader  of  uncommon  shrewdness. 

But  in  the  eyes  of  the  religious  population  of  Quebec,  the 
thefts  of  the  loth  of  February,  1835,  surpassed  all  the  others  by 
its  sacrilegious  character.  That  night,  the  chapel  dedicated  to 
the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  was  entered,  a  silver  statue  of 
the  Virgin,  the  gift  of  the  King  of  France,  a  massive 
lamp,  a  silver  candlestick,  and  the  silver  vases  which  con- 
tained the  bread  which  the  Roman  Catholics  believe  to  be 
the  body,  blood  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  were  stoleo, 
and  the  holy  sacrament  impiously  thrown  and  scattered  on  the 
floor. 

Nothing  can  express  the  horror  and  indignation  of  the  whole 
Catholic  population  at  this  last  outrage.  Large  sums  of  money 
were  offered  in  order  that  the  brigands  might  be  detected.  At 
last,  five  of  them — Chambers,  Mathieu,  Gagnon,  Waterworth, 


NIGHT    EXCURSION    WITH    TWO    THIEVES. 


295 


and   Lemoine— were   caught  in    1836,   tried,  found    guilty    and 
condemned  to  death  in  the  month  of  March,  1837. 

During  the  trial,  and  when  public  attention  was  most  in- 
tensely fixed  on  its  different  aspects,  in  a  damp,  chilly  dark  night, 
I  was  called  to  visit  a  sick  man.  I  was  soon  ready,  and  asked 
the  name  of  the  sick  man  from  the  messenger.  He  answered  that  it 
was  Francis  Oregon.  As  a  matter  of  course,  I  said  that  the 
sick  man  was  a  perfect  stranger  to  me,  and  that  I  had  never 
heard  that  there  was  even  such  a  man  in  the  world.  But  when 
I  was  near  the  carriage  which  was  to  take  me,  I  was  not  a  little 
surprised  to  see  that  the  first  messenger  left  abruptly  and  dis- 
appeared. Looking  with  attention,  then,  at  the  faces  of  the  two 
men  who  had  come  for  me  in  the  carriage,  it  seemed  that  they 
both  wore  masks. 

"What  does  this  mean.?"  I  said;  "  each  of  you  wear  a  mask. 
Do  you  mean  to  murder  me?" 

"  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,"  answered  one  of  them,  in  a  low, 
trembling  voice,  and  in  a  supplicating  tone,  "  fear  not.  We 
swear  before  God  that  no  evil  will  be  done  to  you.  On  the 
contrary,  God  and  man  w^ill,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  praise  and 
bless  you,  if  you  come  to  our  help,  and  save  our  souls,  as  well  as 
our  mortal  bodies.  We  have  in  our  hands  a  great  part  of  the 
•silver  articles  stolen  these  last  three  years.  The  police  are  on 
our  track,  and  we  are  in  gre^t  danger  of  being  caught.  For 
God's  sake,  come  with  us.  We  will  put  all  those  stolen  things 
in  your  hands,  that  you  may  give  them  back  to  those  who  have 
lost  them.  We  will  then  immediately  leave  the  country,  and 
lead  a  better  life.  We  are  Protestants,  and  the  Bible  tells  us 
that  we  cannot  be  saved  if  we  keep  in  our  hands  what  is  not 
ours.  You  do  not  know  us,  but  we  know  you  well.  You  are 
the  only  man  in  Quebec  to  whom  we  can  so  trust  our  lives  and 
this  terrible  secret.  We  have  worn  these  masks  that  you  may 
not  know  us,  and  that  you  may  not  be  compromised  if  you  are 
ever  called  before  a  court  of  justice." 

Mv  first  thought  was  to  leave  them  and  run  back  to  the 
door  of  the  parsonage;  but  such  an  act  of  cowardice  seemed  to 
me,  after  a  moment's  reflection,  unworthy  of  a  man.       I  said  to 


296  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

myself,  these  two  men  cannot  come  to  steal  from  me;  it  is  well 
known  in  Quebec  that  I  keep  myself  as  poor  as  a  church  mouse, 
by  giving  all  I  have  to  the  poor.  I  have  never  offended  any 
man  in  my  life,  that  I  know.  They  cannot  come  to  punish  or 
murder  me.  They  are  Protestants,  and  they  trust  me.  Well,  well, 
they  will  not  regret  to  have  put  their  trust  in   a   Catholic   priest. 

I  then  answered  them :  "  AVhat  you  ask  from  me  is  of  a  very 
delicate,  and  even  dangerous  nature.  Before  I  do  it,  I  want  to 
take  the  advice  of  one  whom  I  consider  the  wisest  man  of 
Quebec — the  old  Re\'.  Mr.  Demars,  ex-president  of  the  seminary 
of  Quebec.  Please  drive  me  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  semi- 
nary. If  that  venerable  man  advises  me  to  go  with  you,  I  will 
go;  but  I  cannot  promise  to  grant  vou  vour  request  if  he  tells 
me  not  to  go." 

"  All  right,"  they  both  said;  and  in  a  very  short  time,  I  was 
knocking  at  the  door  of  the  seminary.  A  few  moments  after,  I 
was  alone  in  the  room  of  Mr.  Demars.  It  was  just  half-past 
twelve  at  night. 

"  Our  little  Father  Chiniquy  here  on  this  dark  night,  at  half- 
past  twelve!  What  does  this  mean.'*  What  do  you  want  from 
me?"  said  the  venerable  old  priest. 

"  I  come  to  ask  your  advice,"  I  answered,  "on  a  very  strange 
thing.  Two  Protestant  thieves  have  In  their  hands  a  great 
quantity  of  the  silverware  stolen,  these  last  three  years.  They 
want  to  deposit  them  in  my  hands,  that  I  may  give  them  back 
to  those  from  w^hom  they  have  been  stolen,  before  they  leave 
the  country  and  lead  a  better  life.  I  cannot  know  them,  for 
they  both  wear  masks.  I  cannot  even  know  where  they  take 
me,  for  the  carriage  is  so  completely  wrapped  up  by  curtains 
that  it  is  impossible  to  see  outside.  Now,  my  dear  Mr.  Demars, 
I  come  to  ask  your  advice.  Shall  I  go  with  them  or  not? 
But  remember  that  I  trust  you  with  these  things  under  the  seal 
of  confession,  that  neither  you  nor  I  may  be  compromised." 

Before  answering  me,  the  venerable  priest  ssid :  "  I  am  very 
old,  but  I  have  never  heard  of  such  a  strange  thing  In  my  life.  Are 
you  not  afraid  to  go  alone  with  these  two  thieves  In  that  covered 
carriage?" 


NIGHT     EXCURSION    WITH    TWO    THIEVES.  207 

"  No,  sir,"  I  answered ;  "  I  do  not  see  any  reason  to  fear  any- 
thing from  these  two  men." 

"Well!  well,"  rejoined  Mr.  Demars,  "if  you  are  not  afraid 
under  such  circumstances,  your  mother  has  given  you  a  brain  of 
diamond  and  nerve  of  steel." 

"Now,  my  dear  sir,"  I  answered,  "time  flies,  and  I  may  have 
a  long  way  to  travel  with  these  two  men.  Please,  in  the  short- 
est possible  way,  tell  me  your  mind  ?  Do  you  advise  me  to  go 
with  them  ? " 

He  replied,  "You  consult  me  on  a  very  difficult  matter;  there 
are  so  many  considerations  to  make,  that  it  is  impossible  to  weigh 
them  all.  The  only  thing  we  have  to  do  is  to  pray  God  and  His 
Holy  Mother  for  wisdom — Let  us  pray." 

We  knelt  and  said  the  "  Veni  Sancte  Spiritus;"  "  Come  Holy 
Spirit,"  etc.,  which  prayer  ends  by  an  invocation  to  Mary  as 
Mother  of  God. 

After  the  prayer  Mr.  Demars  again  asked  me:  "Are  you 
not  afraid  ? " 

"No,  sir,  I  do  not  see  any  reason  to  be  afraid.  But,  please, 
for  God's  sake  hurry  on,  tell  me  if  you  advise  me  to  go  and  ac- 
cept this  message  of  mercy  and  peace." 

"Yes!  go!  go!  if  you  are  not  afraid,"  answered  the  old 
priest,  with  a  voice  full  of  emotion,  and  tears  in  his  eyes. 

I  fell  on  my  knees  and  said :  "  Before  I  start,  please,  give 
me  your  blessing  and  pray  for  me,  when  I  shall  be  on  my  way 
to  that  strange,  but,  I  hope,  good  work." 

I  left  the  seminary  and  took  my  seat  at  the  right  hand  of  one 
of  my  unknown  companions,  while  the  other  was  on  the  front 
seat,  driving  the  horse. 

Not  a  word  was  said  by  any  of  us  on  the  way.  But  I  per- 
ceived that  the  stranger,  who  was  at  my  left,  was  praying  to 
God;  though  in  such  a  low  voice  that  I  understood  only  these 
words  twice  repeated :  "  O  Lord !  have  mercy  upon  me — such 
a  sinner!" 

These  words  touched  me  to  the  heart,  and  brought  to  my 
mind  the  dear  Saviour's  words:  "The  publicans  and  harlots 
shall  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  you,"  and  I  also  prayed 


298  FIFTY    YKARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

for  that  poor  repenting  sinner  and  for  myself,  by  repeating  the 
sublime  50th  Psalm: 

"  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord ! " 

It  took  about  half  an  hour  to  reach  the  house.  But,  there, 
again,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  understand  where  I  was.  For 
the  carriage  was  brought  so  near  the  door  that  there  was  no  pos- 
sibility of  seeing  anything  beyond  the  carriage  and  the  horee 
through  the  terrible  darkness  of  that  night 

The  only  person  I  saw,  when  in  the  house,  was  a  tall  woman 
covered  with  a  long  black  veil,  whom  I  took  to  be  a  disguised 
man,  on  account  of  her  size  and  her  strength ;  for  she  was  carry- 
ing very  heavy  bags  with  as  much  ease  as  if  they  had  been  a 
handful  of  straw. 

There  was  only  a  small  candle  behind  a  screen,  which  gave 
so  little  light  that  everything  looked  like  phantoms  around  us. 
Pictures  and  mirrors  were  all  turned  to  the  wall,  and  presented 
the  wrong  side  to  view.  The  sofa  and  the  chairs  were  also  ujjset 
in  such  a  w^ay  that  it  was  impossible  to  identify  anything  of  what 
I  had  seen.  In  fact,  I  could  see  nothing  in  that  house.  Not  a 
word  w^as  said,  except  by  one  of  my  companions,  who  whispered 
in  a  very  low  voice,  "  Please,  look  at  the  tickets  which  are  on 
every  bundle;  they  will  indicate  to  whom  these  things  belong.** 

There  were  eight  bundles.  The  heaviest  of  which  was  com- 
jx>sed  of  the  melted  silver  of  the  statue  of  the  virgin,  the  candle- 
sticks, the  lamp  of  the  chapel,  the  ciborium,  a  couple  of  chalices, 
and  some  dozens  of  spoons  and  forks.  The  other  bundles  were 
made  up  of  silver  plates,  fruit  baskets,  tea,  coffee,  cream  and 
sugar  pots,  silver  spoons  and  forks,  etc. 

As  soon  as  these  bundles  were  put  into  the  carriage  we  left 
for  the  parsonage,  where  we  arrived  a  little  before  the  dawn  of 
day.  Not  a  word  was  exchanged  between  us  on  the  way,  and 
my  impression  was,  that  my  penitent  companions  were  sending 
their  silent  prayers,  like  myself,  to  the  feet  of  that  merciful  God 
who  has  said  to  all  sinners,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  who  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

They  carried  the  bundles  into  my  trunk,  which  I  locked  with 
p-sculiar  attention.     When  all  was  over,  I   accompanied   thera  to 


NIGHT    EXCURSION     WITH     TWO    THIKVKS. 


399 


the  door  to  take  leave  of  them.  Then,  each  seizing  one  of  ray 
hands,  by  a  spontaneous  movement  of  gratitude  and  joy,  they 
pressed  them  on  their  lips,  shedding  tears,  and  saying  in  a  low 
voice :  "  God  bless  you  a  thousand  times  for  the  good  work  you 
have  just  performed.     After  Christ,  you  are  our  saviour." 

As  these  two  men  were  speaking,  it  pleased  God  to  send  forth 
into  my  soul  one  of  those  rays  of  happiness  which  he  gives  us 
only  at  great  intervals. 

I  believe  our  fragile  existence  would  soon  be  broken  up  were 
we  by  such  joys  incessantly  inundated.  Those  two  men  had 
ceased  to  be  robbers  in  my  eyes.  They  were  dear  brethren, 
precious  friends,  such  as  are  seldom  to  be  seen.  The  narrow  and 
shameful  prejudices  of  my  religion  w^ere  silent  before  the  fervent 
prayers  that  I  had  heard  from  their  lips;  they  disappeared  in 
those  tears  of  repentance,  gratitude  and  love,  which  fell  from 
their  eyes  on  my  hands.  Night  surrounded  us  with  its  deepest 
shades;  but  our  souls  were  illuminated  with  a  light  purer  than 
the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  air  that  we  breathed  was  cold  and  damp; 
but  one  of  these  sparks  brought  down  from  heaven  by  Jesus  to 
warm  the  earth,  had  fallen  into  our  hearts,  and  we  were  all  pen- 
etrated by  its  glow.  I  pressed  their  hands  in  mine,  saying  to 
them: 

"  I  thank  and  bless  you  for  choosing  me  as  the  confident  of 
your  misfortunes  and  repentance.  To  you  I  owe  three  of  the 
most  precious  hours  of  my  life.  Adieu!  We  shall  see  one 
another  no  more  on  this  earth;  but  we  shall  meet  in  heaven. 
Adieu!" 

It  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  it  was  impossible  to  sleep  the 
remainder  of  that  memorable  night.  Besides,  I  had  in  my  pos- 
session more  stolen  articles  than  would  have  caused  fifty  men  to 
be  hanged.  I  said  to  myself:  "What  would  become  of  me  if 
the  police  were  to  break  in  on  me,  and  find  all  that  I  have  in  my 
hands.  What  could  I  answer  if  I  were  asked,  how  all  these  had 
reached  me?" 

Did  I  not  go  beyond  the  bounds  of  prudence  in  what  I  have 
just  done.?     Have  I  not,  indeed,  slipped  a  rope  around  my  neck? 

Though  my  conscience  did  not  reproach  me  with  any  thing, 


300  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

especially  when  I  had  acted  on  the  advice  of  a  man  as  wise  as 
Mr.  Demars,  yet  was  I  not  without  some  anxiety,  and  I  longed 
to  get  rid  of  all  the  things  I  had,  by  giving  them  to  their  legiti- 
mate owners. 

At  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  was  at  Mr.  Amiot's,  the 
wealthiest  goldsmith  in  Quebec,  with  my  heavy  satchel  of  melted 
silver.  After  obtaining  from  him  a  promise  of  secrecy,  I  handed 
it  over  to  him,  giving  him  at  the  same  time  its  history.  I  asked 
him  to  weigh  it,  keep  its  contents,  and  let  me  have  its  value, 
which  I  was  to  distribute  according  to  its  label. 

He  told  me  that  there  was  in  it  a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
melted  silver,  which  amount  he  immediately  gave  me.  I  went 
down  directly  to  give  about  half  of  it  to  Rev.  Mr.  Cazeault, 
'rhaplain  of  the  congregation,  which  had  been  robbed,  and  who 
Vvas  then  the  secretary  of  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec;  and  I  dis- 
tributed the  remainder  to  the  parties  indicated  on  the  labelb 
attached  to  this  enormous  ingot. 

The  good  Lady  Montgomery  could  scarely  believe  her  eyes 
when,  after  obtaining  also  from  her  the  promise  of  the  most  in- 
violable secrecy  on  what  I  was  going  to  show  her,  I  displayed 
on  her  table  the  magnificent  dishes  of  massive  silver,  fruit 
baskets,  tea  and  cofifee  pots,  sugar  bowls,  cream  jugs,  and  a  great 
quantity  of  spoons  and  forks  of  the  finest  silver,  which  had  been 
taken  from  her  in  1835.  ^^  seemed  to  her  a  dream  which  brought 
before  her  eyes  these  precious  family  relics. 

She  then  related  in  a  most  touching  manner  what  a  terrible 
moment  she  had  passed,  when  the  thieves,  having  seized  her,  with 
her  maid  and  a  young  man,  rolled  them  in  carpets  to  stifle  their 
cries,  whilst  they  were  breaking  locks,  opening  chests  and  cup- 
boards to  carrj'  off  their  rich  contents.  She  told  me  how  nearly 
she  had  been  stifled  with  her  faithful  servants  under  the  enorm- 
ous weight  of  carpets  heaped  upon  them  by  the  robbers. 

This  excellent  lady  was  a  Protestant,  and  it  was  the  first  time 
in  my  life  that  I  met  a  Protestant  whose  piety  seemed  so  enlight- 
ened and  sincere.     I  could  not  help  admiring  her. 

When  she  had  most  sincerely  thanked  and  blessed  me  for  the 
i»ervice  I  bad  done  her,  she  asked  if  I  would  have  any  objection 


MIGHT    EXCURSION    WITH    TWO    THIEVES,  30I 

to  pray  with  her,  and  to  aid  her  in  thanking  God  for  the  favor 
he  had  just  shown  her.  I  told  her,  I  should  be  happy  in  uniting 
with  her  to  bless  the  Lord  for  his  mercies.  Upon  this,  she  gave 
me  a  Bible,  magnificently  bound,  and  we  read  each  in  turn  a 
verse  slowly,  and  on  our  knees,  the  sublime  Psalm  103:  "  Bless 
the  Lord,  O  my  soul,"  etc. 

As  I  was  about  to  take  leave  of  her,  she  offered  me  a  purse 
containing  one  hundred  dollars  in  gold,  which  I  refused,  telling 
her  that  I  would  rather  lose  my  two  hands  than  receive  a  cent 
for  what  I  had  done. 

"You  are,"  she  said,  "surrounded  with  poor  people.  Give 
them  this  that  I  offer  to  the  Lord  as  a  feeble  testimony  of  my 
gratitude,  and  be  assured  that  as  long  as  I  live  I  will  pray  God 
to  jx)ur  his  most  abounding  favors  upon  you." 

In  leaving  that  house  I  could  not  hide  from  myself  that  my 
soul  had  been  embalmed  with  the  true  perfume  of  piety  that  I 
had  never  seen  in  my  own  church. 

Before  the  day  closed,  I  had  given  back  to  their  rightful 
owners  the  effects  left  in  my  hands,  whose  value  amounted  to 
wiore  than  $7,000,  and  had  my  receipts  in  good  form. 

I  am  glad  to  say  here,  that  the  persons,  most  of  whom  were 
Protestants,  to  whom  I  made  these  restitutions,  were  perfectly 
honorable,  and  that  not  a  single  one  of  them  ever  said  anything 
to  compromise  me  in  this  matter,  nor  was  I  ever  troubled  on  this 
subject. 

I  thought  it  my  duty  to  give  my  venerable  friend,  the  Grand 
Vicar  Demars,  a  detailed  account  of  what  had  just  happened. 
He  heard  me  with  the  deepest  interest,  and  could  not  retain  his 
tears  when  I  related  the  touching  scene  of  my  separation  from 
my  two  new  friends,  that  night,  one  of  the  darkest — which,  never- 
theless, has  remained  one  of  the  brightest  of  my  life. 

My  story  ended,  he  said,  "I  am,  indeed,  very  old,  but  I  must 
confess  that  never  did  I  hear  anything  so  strange  and  so  beautiful 
as  this  story.  I  repeat,  however,  that  your  mother  must  have 
given  you  a  brain  harder  than  diamond  and  nerves  more  solid 
than  brass,  not  to  have  been  afraid  during  this  very  singular  ad- 
venture in  the  niofht." 


302  FIFTY    YEARS    FN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

After  the  fatigues  and  incidents  of  the  last  twenty-four  hours, 
I  was  in  great  need  of  rest,  but  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  sleep 
a  single  instant  during  the  night  which  followed.  For  the  first 
time,  I  stood  face  to  face  with  that  Protestantism  which  my 
Church  had  taught  me  to  hate  and  fight  with  all  the  energy  that 
heaven  had  bestowed  on  me,  and  when  that  faith  had  been,  by 
the  hand  of  Almighty  God,  placed  in  the  scale  against  my  own 
religion,  it  appeared  as  a  heap  of  pure  gold  opposite  a  pile  of 
rotten  rags.  In  spite  of  myself,  I  could  hear  incessantly  the 
cries  of  grief  of  that  f>enitent  thief:  "  Lord,  have  mercy  on  me, 
so  great  a  sinner!" 

Then,  the  sublime  piety  of  Lady  Montgomery,  the  blessings 
she  had  asked  God  to  pour  on  me,  his  unprofitable  servant, 
seemed,  as  so  many  coals  of  fire  heaped  upon  my  head  by  God, 
to  punish  me  for  having  said  so  much  evil  of  Protestants,  and  so 
often  decried  their  religion. 

A  secret  voice  arose  within  me :  "  Seest  thou  not  how^  these 
Protestants,  whom  thou  wishest  to  crush  with  thy  disdain, 
know  how^  to  pray,  repent,  and  make  amends  for  their 
faults,  much  more  nobly  than  the  unfortunate  wretches  whom 
thou  boldest  as  so  many  slaves  at  thy  feet  by  means  of  the 
confessional  ? 

"  Understandest  thou  not  that  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  grace 
and  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  produces  effectually  in  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  these  Protestants  a  work  much  more  durable  than  thy 
auricular  confession?  Compare  the  miserable  w^iles  of  Mr. 
Parent,  who  makes  false  restitutions,  to  cast  dust  into  the  eyes  of 
the  unsuspecting  multitude,  with  the  straightforwardness,  noble 
sincerity,  and  admirable  wisdom  of  these  Protestants,  in  making 
amends  for  their  wrongs  before  God  and  men,  and  judge  for  thy- 
self which  of  those  two  religions  raise,  in  order  to  save,  and  which 
degrades,  in  order  to  destroy  the  guilty. 

"Has  ever  auricular  confession  worked  as  efficiently  on  sin- 
ners as  the  Bible  on  these  thieves  to  change  their  hearts? 

"Judge,  this  day,  by  their  fruits,  which  of  the  two  religions 
it  led  by  the  spirit  of  darkness,  or  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  " 

Not  wishing  to  condemn  my  religion,  nor  allow  my  heart  to 


NIGHT    EXCURSION    WITH    TWO    THIEVES.  303 

be  attacked  by  Protestantism  during  the  long  hours  of  that  rest- 
less night,  I  remained  anxious,  humiliated,  and  uneasy. 

It  is  thus,  O  my  God,  that  thou  madest  use  of  everything, 
even  these  thieves,  to  shake  that  wonderful  fabric  of  errors,  su- 
perstitions, and  falsehoods  that  Rome  had  raised  in  my  soul. 
May  thy  name  be  forever  blessed  for  thy  mercies  towards  me, 
thy  unprofitable  servant! 


Chapter  XXXI. 

OHAJCBSSS  AND  SIS  ACOOMPL.IOES  COKDEMirSD  TO  DEATH- 
ASKED  ME  TO  PBEPABE  THEM  TO  MEET  THEIB  TERBIBIiB 
FATE— A  WEEK  IN  THEIR  DUNGEON— THEIR  SENTENCE  OP 
DEATH  CHANGED  INTO  DEPORTATION  TO  BOTANY  BAY— 
THEIR  DEPARTURE  FOR  EXILlB-I  MEET  ONE  OF  THEM,  A  SIN- 
CERE CONVERT,  VERY  RICH,  IN  A  HIGH  AND  HONORABLE 
POSITION  IN  AUSTRALIA  IN  1878. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  strange  and  providential  night  spent 
with  the   repentant  thieves,  I  received  the  following   letter 
signed  by  Chambers  and  his  unfortunate  criminal  friends: 

"Dear  Father  Chiniquy: — We  are  condemned  to  death.  Plea*e 
come  and  help  us  to  meet  our  sentence  as  Christians." 

I  will  not  attempt  to  say  what  I  felt  when  I  entered  the 
damp  and  dark  cells  where  the  culprits  were  enchained.  No 
human  words  can  express  those  things.  Their  tears  and  their 
sobs  were  going  through  my  heart  as  a  two-edged  sword.  Only 
one  of  them  had,  at  first,  his  eyes  dried,  and  kept  silent;  Cham- 
bers, the  most  guilty  of  all. 

After  the  others  had  requested  me  to  hear  the  confession  of 
their  sins,  and  prepare  them  for  death.  Chambers  said:  "You 
know  that  I  am  a  Protestant.  But  I  am  married  to  a  Roman 
Catholic,  w^ho  is  your  penitent.  You  have  persuaded  my  two 
so  dear  sisters  to  give  up  their  Protestantism  and  become  Cath- 
olics. I  have  many  times-desired  to  follow  them.  My  criminal 
life  alone  has  prevented  me  from  doing  so.  But  now  I  am  deter- 
mined to  do  what  I  consider  to  be  the  will  of  God  in  this  important 
matter.     Please,  tell  me  what  I  must  do  to  become  a  Catholic." 

I  was  a  sincere  Roman  Catholic  priest,  believing  that  out  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  there  vv^as  no  salvation.  The  conversion  of 
that  great  sinner  seemed  to  me  a  miracle  of  the  grace  of  God;  it 

3«H 


CHAMBERS    CONDEMNPD    TO    DKATH.  yOK 

was  for  me  a  happy  distraction  in  the  desolation  I  felt  in  that 
dungeon. 

I  spent  the  next  eight  days,  in  hearing  their  confessions,  read- 
ing the  lives  of  some  saints,  with  several  chapters  of  the  Bible, 
as  the  Seven  Penitential  Psalms,  the  sufferings  and  death  of 
Christ,  the  history  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  etc.  And  I  instructed 
Chambers,  as  well  as  the  shortness  of  the  time  allowed  me,  in 
the  faith  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  I  usually  entered  the  cells  at 
about  9  A.  M.  and  left  them  only  at  9  p.  m. 

After  I  had  spent  much  time  in  exhorting  them,  reading  and 
praying  several  times,  I  asked  them  to  tell  me  some  of  the 
details  of  the  murders  and  thefts  they  had  committed,  which 
might  be  to  me  as  a  lesson  of  human  depravity,  which  would 
help  me  when  preaching  on  the  natural  corruption  and  malice  of 
the  human  heart,  when  once  the  fear  and  the  love,  or  even  the 
faith  in  God,  were  completely  set  aside. 

The  facts  I  then  heard  very  soon  convinced  me  of  the  need 
we  have  of  a  religion,  and  what  would  become  of  the  world  if 
the  atheists  could  succeed  in  sweeping  away  the  notions  of  a 
future  punishment  after  death,  or  the  fear  and  the  love  of  God 
from  among  men. 

When  absolutely  left  to  his  own  depravity,  without  any 
religion  to  stop  him  on  the  rapid  declivity  of  his  uncontrollable 
passions,  man  is  more  cruel  than  the  wild  beasts.  The  existence 
of  society,  would  simply  be  impossible  without  a  religion  and  a 
God  to  protect  it. 

Though  I  am  in  favor  of  liberty  of  conscience,  in  its  highest 
sense,  I  think  that  the  atheist  ought  to  be  punished  like  the  mur- 
derer and  the  thief — for  his  doctrines  tend  to  make  a  murderer 
and  a  thief  of  every  man.  No  law,  no  society  is  possible  if  there 
is  no  God  to  sanction  and  protect  them. 

But  the  more  we  w^ere  approaching  the  fatal  day,  when  I 
had  to  go  on  the  scaffold  with  those  unfortunate  men,  and  to  see 
them  launched  into  eternity,  the  more  I  felt  horrified.  The  tears 
the  sobs  and  the  cries  of  those  unfortunate  men  had  so  melted 
my  heart,  my  soul  and  my  strong  ner\'es,  they  had  so  subdued 
my  unconquerable  will,  and  that  stem  determination   to  do  my 


3o6  FIFTY    YEA.RS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

duty  at  any  cost,  iv^hich  had  been  my  character  till  then,  that  I 
was  shaking  from  head  to  feet,  when  thinking  of  that  awful  hour. 
Besides  that,  my  constant  intercourse  with  those  criminals, 
these  last  few  days,  their  unbounded  confidence  in  me,  their 
Ifratitude  for  my  devotedness  to  them,  their  desolation  and  their 
cries  when  speaking  of  their  fathers  or  mothers,  wives  or  chil- 
•iren,  had  filled  my  heart  with  a  measure  of  sympathy  which  I 
would  vainly  try  to  express.  They  were  no  more  thieves  and 
.murderers,  to  me,  whose  bloody  deeds  had  at  first  chilled  the 
"blood  in  my  veins;  they  were  the  friends  of  my  bosom — the 
Gloved  children  whom  cruel  beasts  had  wounded.  They  were 
4earer  to  me  than  my  own  life — not  only  I  felt  happy  to  mix 
•ny  tears  with  theirs,  and  unite  my  ardent  prayers  to  God  for 
mercy  with  them,  but  I  would  have  felt  happy  to  shed  my  blood 
Ti  order  to  save  their  lives.  As  several  of  them  belonged  to  the 
\nost  reputable  families  of  Quebec  and  vicinity,  I  thought  I  could 
«»asily  interest  the  clergy  and  the  most  respectable  citizens  to  sign 
^  petition  to  the  governor.  Lord  Gosford,  asking  him  to  change 
their  sentence  of  death  into  one  of  perpetual  exile  to  the  distant 
penal  colony  of  Botany  Bay,  in  Australia.  The  governor  was 
•ny  friend.  Colonel  Vassal,  who  was  my  uncle,  and  the  adju- 
^ant-general  of  the  miltia  of  the  whole  country,  had  introduced 
xne  to  his  Excellency,  who  many  times  had  overloaded  me  with 
*he  marks  of  his  interest  and  kindness,  and  my  hope  was  that  he 
vould  not  refuse  me  the  favor  I  was  to  ask  him,  when  the  peti- 
tion would  be  signed  by  the  Bishop,  the  Catholic  priests,  the 
ministers  of  the  different  Protestant  denominations  of  the  city, 
and  hundreds  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Quebec.  I  presented 
^e  petition  myself,  accompanied  by  the  secretary  of  the  Arch- 
bishop. But  to  my  great  distress,  the  governor  answered  me  that 
diose  men  had  committed  so  many  murders,  and  kept  the  country 
m  terror  for  so  many  years,  that  it  was  absolutely^  necessary 
they  should  be  punished  according  to  the  sentence  of  the  court. 
Who  can  tell  the  desolation  of  those  unfortunate  men,  when, 
with  a  voice  choked  by  my  sobs  and  my  tears,  I  told  them  that 
the  governor  had  refused  to  grant  the  favor  I  had  asked  him  for 
\he'TJ.     They  fell  on  the  ground  and  filled  their  cells  with  cries 


CHAMBERS    CONDEMNED    TO    DEATH. 


307 


which  would  have  broken  the  hardest  heart.  From  those  very 
cells  we  were  hearing  the  noise  of  the  men  who  were  preparing 
the  scaffold  where  they  were  to  be  hanged  the  next  day.  I  tried 
to  pray  and  read,  but  was  unable  to  do  so.  My  desolation  was 
too  great  to  utter  a  single  word.  I  felt  as  if  I  were  to  be  hanged 
with  them — and  to  say  the  whole  truth,  I  think  I  would  have 
been  glad  to  hear  that  I  was  to  be  hanged  the  next  day  to  save 
their  lives.  For  there  was  a  fear  in  me,  which  was  hunting  me 
a&  a  phantom  from  hell,  the  last  three  days.  It  seemed  that,  in 
spite  of  all  my  efforts,  prayers,  confessions,  absolutions  and  sac- 
raments, these  men  were  not  converted,  and  that  they  were  to  be 
launched  into  eternity  with  all  their  sins. 

When  I  was  comparing  the  calm  and  true  repentance  of  the 
two  thieves,  with  whom  I  spent  the  night  a  few  weeks  before  in 
the  carriage,  with  the  noisy  expressions  of  sorrow  of  these  newly 
converted  sinners,  I  could  not  help  finding  an  immeasurable  dis- 
tance between  the  first  and  the  second  of  those  penitents.  No 
doubt  had  remained  in  my  mind  about  the  first,  but  I  had  serious 
apprehensions  about  the  last.  Several  circumstances,  which  it 
would  be  too  long  and  useless  to  mention  here,  were  depressing 
me  by  the  fear  that  all  my  chaplets,  indulgences,  medals,  scap- 
ulars, holy  waters,  signs  of  the  cross,  prayers  to  the  Virgin,  auric- 
ular confessions,  absolutions,  used  in  the  conversion  of  these  sin- 
ners, had  not  the  divine  and  perfect  power  of  a  simple  look  to 
the  dying  Saviour  on  the  cross.  I  was  saying  to  myself,  with 
anxiety:  "Would  it  be  possible  that  those  Protestants,  who 
were  with  me  in  the  carriage,  had  the  true  ways  of  repentance^ 
pardon,  peace  and  life  eternal  in  that  simple  look  to  the  great 
victim,  and  that  we  Roman  Catholics,  with  our  signs  of  the  cross 
and  holy  waters,  our  crucifixes  and  prayers  to  the  saints,  our 
scapulars  and  medals,  our  so  humiliating  auricular  confession, 
were  only  distracting  the  mind,  the  soul  and  the  heart  of  the  sin- 
ner from  the  true  and  only  source  of  salvation,  Christ! "  In  the 
midst  of  those  distressing  thoughts,  I  almost  regretted  having 
helped  Chambers  in  giving  up  his  Protestantism  for  my 
Romanism. 

At   about  4  p.  M.  I  made  a  supreme   effort  to  shake  off  mj 


308  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

desolation,  and  nerve  myself  for  the  solemn  duties  God  had 
intrusted  to  me.  I  put  a  few  questions  to  those  desolated  men, 
to  see  if  they  were  really  repentant  and  converted.  Their  an- 
swers added  to  my  fears  that  I  had  spoken  too  much  of  the 
virgins  and  the  saints,  the  indulgences,  medals  and  scapulars,  in- 
tegrity of  confession,  and  not  enough  of  Christ  dying  on  the 
cross  for  them.  It  is  true,  I  had  spoken  of  Christ  and  his  death 
to  them,  but  this  had  been  so  much  mixed  up  with  exhortation 
to  trust  in  Mary,  put  their  confidence  in  their  medals,  scapulars, 
confessions,  etc.,  that  it  became  almost  evident  to  me  that,  in  our 
religion,  Christ  was  like  a  precious  pearl  lost  in  a  mountain  of 
sand  and  dust.  This  fear  soon  caused  my  distress  to  be  unbear- 
able. 

I  then  went  to  the  private,  neat  little  room,  which  the  gaoler 
had  kindly  allotted  to  me,  and  I  fell  on  my  knees  to  pray  God 
for  myself  and  for  my  poor  convicts.  Though  this  prayer 
brought  some  calm  to  my  mind,  my  distress  was  still  very  great 
It  was  then  that  the  thought  came  again  to  my  mind  to  go  to  the 
governor  and  make  a  new  and  supreme  effort  to  have  the  sen- 
tence of  death  changed  into  that  of  perpetual  exile  to  Botany 
Bay:  and  without  a  moment  of  delay,  I  went  to  his  palace. 

It  was  about  7  p.  m.  when  he  reluctantly  admitted  me  to  hit 
presence,  telling  me,  when  shaking  hands,  "  I  hope,  Mr.  Chini- 
quy,  you  are  not  coming  to  renew  your  request  of  the  morning, 
for  I  cannot  grant  it." 

Without  a  word  of  answer,  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  for  more 
than  ten  minutes  I  spoke  as  I  had  never  spoken  before.  I  spoke 
as  we  speak  when  we  are  the  ambassadors  of  God  in  a  message 
of  mercy.  I  spoke  with  my  lips.  I  spoke  with  my  tears.  I 
spwke  with  my  sobs  and  cries.  I  spoke  with  my  supplicating 
hands  lifted  to  heaven.  For  some  time,  the  governor  was  mute, 
and  as  if  stunned.  He  was  not  only  a  noble-minded  man,  but 
he  had  a  most  tender,  affectionate  and  kind  heart.  His  tears 
soon  began  to  flow  with  mine,  and  his  sobs  mixed  with  my  sobs; 
with  a  voice,  half  suffocated  by  his  emotion,  he  extended  his 
friendly  hand,  and  said : 

"  Father  Chiniquy,  you  ask  me  a  favor  which  I  ought  not  to 


CHAMBERS    CONDEMNED    TO  DEATH. 


309 


give,  but  I  cannot  resist  your  arguments,  when  your  tears,  yoxir 
sobs,  and  your  cries  are  like  arrows  which  pierce  and  break  my 
heart,     I  will  give  you  the  favor  you  ask." 

It  was  nearly  10  P.  M.  when  I  knocked  at  the  door  of  the 
gaoler,  asking  his  permission  to  see  my  dear  friends  in  their  cells, 
to  tell  them  that  I  had  obtained  their  pardon,  that  they  would  not 
die.  That  gentleman  could  hardly  believe  me.  It  was  only  after 
reading  twice  the  document  I  had  in  my  hands  that  he  saw  that 
I  told  him  the  truth. 

Looking  at  the  parchment  again,  he  said :  "  Have  you  noticed 
that  it  is  covered  and  almost  spoiled  by  the  spots  evidently  made 
with  the  tears  of  the  governor.  You  must  be  a  kind  of  a  sorcerer 
to  have  melted  the  heart  of  such  a  man,  and  have  wrenched  from 
his  hands  the  pardon  of  such  convicts;  for  I  know  he  was  abso- 
lutely unwilling  to  grant  the  pardon." 

"I  am  not  a  sorcerer,"  I  answered.  "But  vou  remember  that 
our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  had  said,  somewhere,  that  he  had 
brought  a  fire  from  heaven— well,  it  is  evident  that  he  has 
thrown  some  sparks  of  that  fire  into  my  poor  heart,  for  it  was  so 
fiercely  burning  when  I  was  at  the  feet  of  the  governor,  that  I 
think  I  would  have  died  at  his  feet,  had  he  not  granted  me  that 
favor.  No  doubt  that  some  sparks  of  that  fire  have  also  fallen  on 
his  soul  and  in  his  heart  when  I  was  speaking,  for  his  cries,  his 
tears  and  his  sobs  were  filling  his  room,  and  showing  that  he  was 
suffering  as  well  as  myself.  It  was  that  he  might  not  be  consumed 
by  that  fire  that  he  granted  my  request.  I  am  now  the  most 
happy  man  under  heaven.  Please,  make  haste.  Come  with  me 
and  open  the  cells  of  those  unfortunate  men  that  that  I  may  tell 
what  our  merciful  God  has  done  for  them."  When  entering 
their  desolated  cells  I  was  unable  to  contain  myself.  I  cried  out: 
"  Rejoice,  and  bless  the  Lord,  my  dear  friends!  You  will  not  die 
to-morrow!     I  bring  you  your  pardon  with  me!" 

Two  of  them  fainted,  and  came  very  near  dying  from  excess 
of  surprise  and  joy.  The  others,  unable  to  contain  their  emotions, 
were  crying  and  weeping  for  joy.  They  threw  their  arms  around 
tne  to  press  me  to  their  bosom,  kiss  my  hands  and  cover  them 
with   their  tears  of  joy.     I  knelt  with  them  and  thanked  God» 


310  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

after  which  I  told  them  how  they  must  promise  to  God  to  serv« 
him  faithfully,  after  such  a  manifestation  of  his  mercies.  I  read 
to  them  the  looth,  loist,  io2d,  and  103d  Psalms,  and  I  left  them 
after  tw^elve  o'clock  at  night  to  go  and  take  some  rest.  I  was  in 
need  of  it  after  a  whole  day  of  such  work  and  emotions. 

The  next  day,  I  wanted  to  see  my  dear  prisoners  early,  and  I 
was  with  them  at  7  A.  M.  As  the  whole  country  had  been 
glad  to  hear  that  they  were  to  be  hanged  that  very  day,  the 
crowds  were  beginning  to  gather  at  that  early  hour  to  witness 
the  death  of  those  great  culprits.  The  feelings  of  indignation 
were  almost  unmanageable,  when  they  heard  that  they  were  not 
to  be  hanged,  but  only  to  be  exiled  for  their  life  to  Botany  Bay. 
For  a  time,  it  was  feared  that  the  mob  would  break  the  doors  of 
the  gaol  and  lynch  the  culprits.  Though  very  few  priests  were 
more  respected  and  loved  by  the  people,  they  would  have  probably 
torn  me  into  pieces  when  they  heard  that  it  was  I  who  had  de- 
prived the  gibbet  of  its  victims,  that  day.  The  chief  of  police 
had  to  take  extraordinary  measures  to  prevent  the  wrath  of  the 
mob  from  doing  mischief.  He  advised  me  not  to  show  myself 
for  a  few  days,  in  the  streets. 

More  than  a  month  passed  before  all  the  thieves  and  murder. 
ers  in  Canada,  to  the  number  of  about  seventy,  who  had  been 
sentenced  to  be  exiled  to  Botany  Bay,  could  be  gathered  intoth« 
ship  which  was  to  take  them  into  that  distant  land,  I  thought  if 
was  my  duty,  during  that  interval,  to  visit  my  penitents  in  goat, 
every  day,  and  instruct  them  on  the  duties  of  the  new  life  they 
were  called  upon  to  live.  When  the  day  of  their  departure 
arrived,  I  gave  a  Roman  Catholic  New  Testament,  translated  by 
DeSacy,  to  each  of  them  to  read  and  meditate  on  their  long  and 
tedious  journey,  and  I  bade  them  adieu,  recommending  them  to 
the  mercy  of  God,  and  the  protection  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and 
all  the  saints.  Some  months,  later,  I  heard  that,  on  the  sea. 
Chambers  had  cut  loose  his  chains  and  those  of  some  of  his  com- 
panions, with  the  intention  of  taking  possession  of  the  ship,  and 
escaping  on  some  distant  shore.  But  he  had  been  betrayed,  and 
was  hanged  on  his  arrival  at  Liverpool. 

I  had  almost  lost  sight  of  those  emotional  days  of  my  youa^ 


CHAMBERS    CONI>EMNED    TO    DEATH. 


3" 


years  of  priesthood.  Those  facts  were  silently  lying  among  the 
big  piles  of  the  daily  records,  which  I  had  faithfully  kept  since 
the  very  days  of  my  collegiate  life  at  Nicolet,  when,  in  1878,  the 
Rev.  George  Sutherland,  Presbyterian  minister,  of  Sydney,  in- 
vited me  in  the  name  of  the  noble-hearted  Orangemen  and  many 
other  Christians  of  that  great  country,  to  go  and  lecture  in  Aus- 
tralia. They  accompanied  their  invitation  with  a  check  of  jCioo 
for  the  traveling  expenses  from  Chicago  to  that  distant  land,  and 
I  accepted  their  kind  invitation. 

Some  time  after  my  arrival,  when  I  was  lecturing  in  one  of 
the  young  and  thriving  cities  of  that  country,  whose  future  des- 
tinies promise  to  be  so  great,  a  rich  carross,  drawn  by  two  splendid 
English  horses,  driven  by  two  men  en  livre^  stopped  before  the 
house  where  I  had  put  up  for  a  few  days.  A  venerable  gentle- 
man alighted  from  the  carriage  and  knocked  at  the  door,  as  I  waa 
looking  at  him  from  the  window.  I  went  to  the  door,  to  save 
trouble  to  my  host,  and  I  opened  it.  In  saluting  me,  the  stranger 
said:  "  Is  Father  Chiniquy  here?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  I  answered.  "  Father  Chiniquy  is  the  guest  of 
this  family." 

"Could  I  have  the  honor  of  a  few  minute's  conversation  with 
him?"  replied  the  old  gentleman. 

"  As  I  am  Father  Chiniquy,  I  can,  at  once,  answer  you  that 
I  will  feel  much  pleasure  in  granting  your  request." 

"  Oh,  dear  Father  Chiniquy,"  quickly  replied  the  stranger, 
"is  it  possible  that  it  is  you?  Can  I  be  absolutely  alone  with 
you  for  half  an  hour,  without  any  one  to  see  and  hear  us?  " 

"  Certainly,"  I  said ;  "my  comfortable  rooms  are  upstairs,  and 
I  am  absolutely  alone  there.     Please,  sir,  come  and  follow  me. " 

When  alone,  the  stranger  said:  "Do  you  not  know  me?" 

"  How  can  I  know  you,  sir,  "  I  answered.  "  I  do  not  even 
remember  ever  having  seen  you." 

"  You  have  not  only  seen  me,  Ijpt  you  have  heard  the  confes- 
sion of  my  sins,  many  times;  and  you  have  spent  many  hours  in 
the  same  room  with  me,"  replied  the  old  gentleman. 

"  Please  tell  me  where  and  when  I  have  seen  you,  and  also 
be  kind  enough  to  give  your  name;  for  all  those  things  have 
escaped  from  my  memory," 


312 


FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


"Do  you  remember  the  murderer  and  thief,  Chambers,  who 
was  condemned  to  death  in  Quebec,  in  1837,  with  eight  of  his 
accompHces?"  asked  the  stranger. 

"Yes,  sir;  I  remember  well  Chambers,  and  the  unfortunate 
men  he  was  leading  in  the  ways  of  iniquity,"  I  replied. 

"  Well,  dear  Father  Chiniquy,  I  am  one  of  the  criminals 
who  filled  Canada  with  terror,  for  several  years,  and  who  were 
caught  and  rightly  condemned  to  death.  When  condemned,  we 
selected  you  for  our  father  confessor,  with  the  hope  that  through 
your  influence  we  might  escape  the  gallows;  and  we  were  not 
disappointed.  You  obtained  our  pardon;  the  sentence  of  death 
was  commuted  into  a  life  of  exile  to  Botany  Bay.     My  name  in 

Canada  was  A ,  but  here  they  call   me  B .     God  has 

blessed  me  since  in  many  ways;  but  it  is  to  you  I  owe  my  life, 
and  all  the  privileges  of  my  present  existence.  After  God,  you 
are  my  saviour.  I  come  to  thank  and  bless  you  for  what  you 
have  done  for  me." 

In  saying  that,  he  threw  himself  into  my  arms,  pressed  me 
to  his  heart,  and  bathed  my  face  and  my  hands  with  tears  of 
joy  and  gratitude. 

But  his  joy  did  not  exceed  mine,  and  my  surprise  was  equal 
to  my  joy  to  find  him  apparently  in  such  good  circumstances. 
After  I  had  knelt  with  him  to  thank  and  bless  God  for  what  I 
had  heard,  I  asked  him  to  relate  to  me  the  details  of  his  strange 
and  marvellous  story.     Here  is  a  short  resume  of  his  answer: 

"  After  you  had  given  us  your  last  benediction,  when  on 
board  the  ship  which  was  to  take  us  from  Quebec  to  Botany 
Bav,  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to  open  the  New  Testament  you 
had  given  me  and  the  other  culprits,  with  the  advice  to  read  it 
■with  a  praying  heart.  It  was  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  had 
that  book  in  my  hand.  You  were  the  only  priest  in  Canada 
who  would  put  such  a  book  in  the  hands  of  common  people. 
But  I  must  confess  that  its  first  reading  did  not  do  me  much 
good,  for  I  read  it  more  to  amuse  myself  and  satisfy  my 
curiosity,  than  through  any  good  and  Christian  motive.  The 
only  good  I  received  from  that  first  reading,  was  that  I  clearly 
understood,  for  the  first  time,  why  the  priests  of  Rome  fear  and 


CHAMBERS    CONDEMNED     TO    DEATH. 


313 


bate  that  book,  and  wby  they  take  it  out  of  the  hands  of  their 
parishioners  when  they  hear  that  they  have  it.  It  was  in  vain 
that  I  looked  for  mass,  indulgence,  chaplets,  purgatory,  auricular 
confession.  Lent,  holy  waters,  the  worship  of  Mary,  or  prayers 
in  an  unknown  tongue.  I  concluded  from  my  first  reading  of 
the  Gospel  that  our  priests  were  very  wise  to  prevent  us  from 
reading  a  book  which  was  really  demolishing  our  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,  and  felt  surprised  that  you  had  put  in  our  hands  a 
book  which  seemed  to  me  so  opposed  to  the  belief  and  practice 
of  our  religion  as  you  taught  it  to  us  when  in  gaol,  and  my  con- 
fidence in  your  good  judgment  was  much  shaken.  To  tell  you 
the  truth,  the  first  reading  of  the  Gospel  went  far  to  demolish 
my  Roman  Catholic  faith,  and  to  make  a  wreck  of  the  religion 
taught  me  by  my  parents,  and  at  the  college,  and  even  by  you. 
For  a  few  weeks,  I  became  more  of  a  skeptic  than  anything  else. 
The  only  good  that  first  reading  of  the  Holy  Book  did  me  was 
to  give  me  more  serious  thoughts  and  prevent  me  from  uniting 
myself  to  Chambers  and  his  conspirators  in  their  foolish  plot  for 
taking  possession  of  the  ship  and  escaping  to  some  unknown  and 
distant  shore.  He  had  been  shrewd  enough  to  conceal  a  very 
small,  but  exceedingly  sharp  saw,  between  his  toes  before  coming 
to  the  ship,  with  which  he  had  already  cut  the  chains  of  eight- 
een of  the  prisoners,  when  he  was  betrayed  and  hanged  on  his 
arrival  at  Liverpool. 

"  But  if  my  first  reading  of  the  Gospel  did  not  do  me  much 
good,  I  cannot  say  the  same  thing  of  the  second.  I  remember 
that,  when  handing  to  us  that  holy  book,  you  had  told  us  never 
to  read  it  except  after  a  fervent  prayer  to  God  for  help  and  light 
to  understand  it.  I  was  really  tired  of  my  former  life.  In  giv- 
ing up  tlie  fear  and  the  love  of  God,  I  had  fallen  into  the  deep- 
est abyss  of  human  depravity  and  misery,  till  I  had  come  very 
near  ending  my  life  on  the  scaffold.  I  felt  the  need  of  a  change. 
You  had  often  repeated  to  us  the  words  of  our  Saviour,  '  Come 
unto  me  all  ye  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest;'  but,  with  all  the  other  priests,  you  had  always  mixed 
those  admirable  and  saving  words  with  the  invocation  of  Mary, 
the  confidence  in  our  medals,  scapulars,  signs  of  the  cross,  hoi}- 


314  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

waters,  indulgences,  auricular  confessions,  that  the  sublime  ap- 
peal of  Christ  had  always  been,  as  it  always  will  be,  drowned 
in  the  Church  of  Rome  by  those  absurd  and  impious  supersti- 
tions and  practices. 

"  One  morning,  after  I  had  spent  a  sleepless  night,  and  feel- 
ing as  pressed  down  under  the  weight  of  my  sins,  I  opened  my 
gospel  book,  after  an  ardent  prayer  for  light  and  guidance,  and 
my  eyes  fell  on  these  words  of  John, '  Here  is  the  Lamb  of  God, 
who  takes  away  the  sins  of  the  world!'  These  words  fell  upon 
my  poor  guilty  soul  with  a  divine,  irresistible  power.  With  tears 
and  cries  of  an  unspeakable  desolation,  I  spent  the  day  in  crying, 
*  O  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,  have 
mercy  upon  me !  Take  away  my  sins ! '  The  day  was  not  over, 
when  I  felt  and  knew  that  my  cries  had  been  heard  at  the  mercy- 
seat.  The  Lamb  of  God  had  taken  away  my  sins!  He  had 
changed  my  heart  and  made  quite  a  new  man  of  me.  From 
that  day,  the  reading  of  the  Gospel  was  to  my  soul  what  bread 
is  to  the  poor,  hungry  man,  and  what  pure  and  refreshing  waters 
are  to  the  thirsty  traveler.  My  joy,  my  unspeakable  joy,  was  to 
read  the  holy  book,  and  speak  with  my  companions  in  chains  of 
the  dear  Saviour's  love  for  the  poor  sinners;  and,  thanks  be  to 
God,  a  good  number  of  them  have  found  Him  altogether 
precious,  and  have  been  sincerely  converted  in  the  dark  holds  of 
that  ship.  When  working  hard  at  Sydney  with  the  other  cul- 
prits, I  felt  my  chains  to  be  as  light  as  feathers  when  I  was  sure 
that  the  heavy  chains  of  my  sins  were  gone;  and  though  work- 
ing hard  under  a  burning  sun  from  morning  till  night,  I  felt 
happy,  and  my  heart  was  full  of  joy  when  I  was  sure  that  my 
Saviour  had  prepared  a  throne  for  me  in  His  kingdom,  and  that 
He  had  brought  a  crown  of  eternal  glory  for  me  by  dying  on 
the  cross  to  redeem  my  guilty  soul. 

"  I  had  hardly  spent  a  year  in  Australia,  in  the  midst  of  the 
convicts,  when  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  accorfipanied  by  another 
gentleman,  came  to  me  and  said :  "  Your  perfectly  good  behavior 
and  your  Christian  life  has  attracted  the  attention  and  admiration 
of  the  authorities,  and  the  governor  sends  us  to  hand  you  this 
iiocument,  which  says  you  are  no  more  a  criminal  before  the  law. 


CHAMBERS    CONDEMNED    TO    DEATH. 


3^5 


but  that  you  have  your  pardon,  and  you  can  live  the  Hfe  of  an 
honorable  citizen,  by  continuing  to  walk  in  the  w^ays  of  God.' 
After  speaking  so,  the  gentlemen  put  one  hundred  dollars  in  my 
hands,  and  added :  '  Go  and  be  a  faithful  follower  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  God  Almighty  will  bless  you  and  make  you  prosper 
in  all  your  ways.'  All  this  seemed  to  me  as  a  dream  or  vision 
from  heaven.  I  would  hardly  believe  my  ears  and  my  eyes. 
But  it  was  not  a  dream,  it  was  a  reality.  My  merciful  Heavenly 
Father  had  again  heard  my  humble  supplications;  after  having 
taken  away  the  heavy  chains  of  my  sins.  He  had  mercifully 
taken  away  the  chains  which  wounded  my  feet  and  my  hands. 
I  spent  several  days  and  nights  in  weeping  and  crying  for  joy, 
and  in  blessing  the  God  of  my  salvation,  Jesus  the  redeemer  of 
my  soul  and  my  body. 

"  Some  years  after  that,  we  heard  of  the  discoveries  of  the 
rich  gold  mines  in  several  parts  of  Australia. 

"  After  having  prayed  God  to  guide  me,  I  bought  a  bag  of 
hard  crackers,  a  ham  and  cheese,  and  started  for  the  mines  in 
company  with  several  who  were  going,  like  myself,  in  search  of 
gold.  But  I  soon  preferred  to  be  alone.  For  I  wanted  to  pray 
and  to  be  united  to  my  God,  even  when  walking.  After  a  long 
march,  I  reached  a  beautiful  spot,  between  three  small  hills,  at 
the  foot  of  which  a  little  brook  was  running  down  toward  the 
plain  below.  The  sun  was  scorching,  there  was  no  shade,  and  I 
was  much  tired,  I  sat  on  a  flat  stone  to  take  my  dinner,  and 
quenched  my  thirst  with  the  water  of  the  brook.  I  was  eating 
and  blessing  my  God  at  the  same  time  for  His  mercies,  when 
suddenly  my  eyes  fell  on  a  stone  by  the  brook,  which  was  about 
the  size  of  a  goose  egg.  But  the  rays  of  the  sun  were  dancing 
on  the  stone,  as  if  it  had  been  a  mirror.  I  went  and  picked  it  up. 
The  stone  was  almost  all  gold  of  the  purest  kind  I  It  was  almost 
enough  to  make  me  rich.  I  knelt  to  thank  and  bless  God  for 
this  new  token  of  his  mercy  toward  me,  and  I  began  to  look 
OTOund  to  see  if  I  could  not  find  some  new  pieces  of  the  precious 
metal,  and  you  may  imagine  my  joy,  when  I  found  that  the 
ground  was  not  only  literally  covered  with  pieces  of  gold  of 
every  size,  from  half  an  inch  to  the  smallest  dimensions,  but  that 


3l6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  very  sand,  in  great  part,  "was  composed  of  gold.  In  a  very  short 
time,  it  vv^as  the  will  of  God  that  I  could  carry  to  the  bank  par- 
ticles of  gold  to  the  value  of  several  thousand  pounds.  I  con- 
tinued to  cover  myself  with  rags  and  have  old  boots  on,  in  order 
not  to  excite  the  suspicion  of  any  one  on  the  fortune  which  I 
was  accumulating  so  rapidly.  When  I  had  about  jC8o,ooo  de- 
posited in  the  banks,  a  gentleman  offered  me  jC8o,ooo  more  for 
my  claim,  and  I  sold  it.  The  money  was  invested  by  me  on  a 
piece  of  land  which  soon  became  the  site  of  an  important  city, 
and  I  soon  became  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  Australia.  I  then 
began  to  study  hard  and  improve  the  little  education  I  had  re- 
ceived in  Canada.  I  married,  and  my  God  has  made  me  father 
of  several  children.  The  people  where  I  settled  with  my  for- 
tune and  wife,  not  knowing  my  antecedents,  have  raised  me  to 
the  first  dignities  of  the  place.  Please,  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  come 
and  take  dinner  with  me,  to-morrow,  that  I  may  show  you  my 
house  and  some  of  my  other  properties,  and  also  that  I  may  in- 
troduce you  to  my  wife  and  children.  But  let  me  ask  the  favor 
not  to  make  them  suspect  that  you  have  known  me  in  Canada, 
for  they  think  I  am  an  European."  When  telling  me  his  mar- 
vellous adventures,  which  I  am  obliged  to  condense  and  abridge, 
his  voice  was,  many  times,  choked  by  his  emotion  his  tears  and 
his  sobs,  and  more  than  once  he  had  to  stop.  As  for  me,  I  was 
absolutely  beside  myself  with  admiration  at  the  mysterious  waya 
through  which  God  leads  his  elect,  in  all  ages.  Now,  I  under- 
stand why  my  God  had  given  me  such  a  marvellous  power  over 
the  governor  of  Canada,  when  I  wrenched  your  pardon  from 
his  hands  almost  in  spite  of  himself,  I  said :  "  That  merciful  God 
wanted  to  save  you,  and  you  are  saved!  May  his  name  be  for- 
ever blessed." 

The  next  day,  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  with  his 
family,  at  dinner.  And  never  have  I  seen  a  more  happy 
mother,  and  a  more  interesting  family.  The  long  table  was 
actually  surrounded  by  them.  After  dinner,  he  showed  me 
his  beautiful  garden  and  his  rich  palace,  after  which,  throw- 
ing himself  into  my  arms,  he  said :  "  Dear  Father  Chiniquy, 
all  those  things  belong  to  you.      It  is   to  you,  after   God,  that  I 


CHAMBERS    CONDEMNED    TO  DEATH.  31^ 

owe  my  life,  all  the  blessings  of  a  large  and  Christian  fam- 
ily, and  the  honor  of  the  high  position  I  have  in  this 
country.  May  the  God  of  Heaven  for  ever  bless  you  for 
what  you  have  done  for  me."  I  answered  him:  "Dear 
friend,  you  owe  me  nothing,  I  have  been  nothing  but  a  feeble 
instrument  of  the  mercies  of  God  toward  you.  To  that  great 
and  merciful  God  alone  be  the  praise  and  the  glory.  Please  ask 
your  family  to  come  here  and  join  with  us  in  singing  to  the 
praise  of  God  the  103d  Psalm."  And  we  sang  together:  "Praise 
the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  let  all  that  is  within  me  praise  His  holy 
name. 

"  He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins,  nor  rewarded  us 
according  to  our  iniquities. 

"  For  as  the  heaven  is  high  above  the  earth,  so  great  is  his 
mercy  toward  them  that  fear  him. 

"  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  He  removed 
our  transgressions  from  us. 

"Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth 
them  that  fear  Him." 

After  the  singing  of  that  hymn,  I  bade  him  adieu  for  the 
second  time,  never  to  meet  him  again  except  in  that  Promised 
Land,  where  we  will  sing  the  eternal  Alleluia  around  the  throne 
of  the  Lamb,  who  was  slain  for  us,  and  who  redeemed  us  all  in 
His  blood. 


Chapter   XXXII. 

THE  MIBACLES  OF  ROME— ATTACK  OF  TYPHOID  FEVEHn-APPAB- 
ITION  OP  ST.  ANNE  AND  ST.  PHILOMENE— MY  SUDDEN  CT7BE 
—THE  CURATE  OF  ST.  ANNE  DU  NORD,  MONS  RANVOIZE,  A 
DISGUISED  PROTESTANT. 

THE  merchant  fleet  of  the  fall  of  1836  had  filled  the  Marine 
Hospital  of  Quebec  with  the  victims  of  a  ship-typhoid  fever 
of  the  worst  kind,  which  soon  turned  into  an  epidemic.  Within 
the  walls  of  that  institution  Mr.  Glackmeyer,  the  superintend- 
ent, with  two  of  the  attending  doctors,  and  the  majority  of  the 
servants,  were  swept  away  during  the  winter  months. 

I  was,  in  the  spring  of  1837,  ^iln^ost  the  only  one  spared  by 
that  horrible  pest.  In  order  not  to  spread  terror  among  the  cit- 
izens of  Quebec,  the  physicians  and  I  had  determined  to  keep 
that  a  secret.  But,  at  the  end  of  May,  I  was  forced  to  reveal  it 
to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  My  Lord  Signaie;  for  I  felt  in  my 
whole  frame,  the  first  symptoms  of  the  merciless  disease.  I  pre- 
pared myself  to  die,  as  very  few  who  had  been  attacked  by  it 
had  escaped.  I  went  to  the  bishop,  told  him  the  truth  about  the 
epidemic,  and  requested  him  to  appoint  a  priest,  immediately,  as 
chaplain  in  my  place,  for  I  added,  I  feel  the  poison  running 
through  my  veins,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  I  have  not  more 
than  ten  or  twelve  days  to  live. 

The  young  Mons  D.  Estimanville  was  chosen,  and  though  I 
felt  very  weak,  I  thought  it  was  my  duty  to  initiate  him  in  his 
new  and  perilous  work.  I  took  him  immediately  to  the  hospital, 
where  he  never  had  been  before,  and,  when  at  a  few  feet  from 
the  door,  I  said :  "  My  young  friend,  it  is  my  duty  to  tell  you  that 
there  is  a  dangerous  epidemic  raging  in  that  house  since  last  fall, 
nothing  has  been  able  to  stop  it.  The  superintendent,  two  phy- 
sicians and  most  of    the  servants    have  been    its  victims.     My 

3-8 


THE    MIRACLES    OF    ROME. 


319 


escape  till  now  is  almost  miraculous.  But  these  last  ten  hours  I 
feel  the  poison  running  through  my  whole  body.  You  are 
called  by  God  to  take  my  place ;  but  before  you  cross  the  thresh- 
old of  that  hospital,  you  must  make  the  generous  sacrifice  of 
your  life;  for  you  are  going  on  a  battle-field  from  which  only 
few  have  come  out  with  their  lives." 

The  young  priest  turned  pale  and  said:  "  Is  it  possible  that 
such  a  deadly  epidemic  is  raging  where  you  are  taking  me?"  I 
answered:  "  Yes!  mv  dear  young  brother,  it  is  a  fact,  and  I  con- 
sider it  mv  dutv  to  tell  vou  not  to  enter  that  house,  if  you  are 
afraid  to  die!" 

A  few  minutes  of  silence  followed,"  and  it  was  a  solemn 
silence,  indeed  !  Did  the  angels  of  God  appear  to  show  him 
the  crown  given  to  those  who  die  for  their  brethren  ?  I  do 
not  know.  What  I  do  know  is  that,  a  few  months  later,  that 
young  priest  won  the  glorious  crown  by  falling  at  his  post  of 
duty.  He  then  took  his  handkerchief  and  wiped  away  some 
big  drops  of  sweat,  which  were  rolling  from  his  forehead  on  his 
cheeks,  and  said:  "Is  there  a  more  holy  and  desirable  way  of 
dying  than  in  ministering  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal  wants  of 
my  brethren?  No  !  If  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  I  should  fall 
when  fighting  at  this  post  of  danger,  I  am  ready.  Let  his  holy 
will  be  done." 

He  followed  me  into  the  pestilential  house  with  the  heroic 
step  of  the  soldier  who  runs  at  the  command  of  his  general  to 
storm  an  impregnable  citadel,  when  he  is  sure  to  fall.  It  took 
me  more  than  an  hour  to  show  him  all  the  rooms,  and  introduce 
him  to  the  poor,  but  very  dear  sick  and  dying  mariners. 

I  felt  then  so  exhausted  that  two  friends  had  to  support  me 
on  my  return  to  the  parsonage  of  St.  Roch.  My  physicians 
were  immediately  called  (one  of  them.  Dr.  Rousseau,  is  still 
living)  and  soon  pronounced  my  case  so  dangerous  that  three 
other  physicians  were  called  in  consultation.  For  nine  days,  I 
suffered  the  most  horrible  tortures  in  my  brains  and  the  very 
marrow  of  my  bones,  from  the  fever,  which  so  devoured  my 
flesh,  as  to  seemingly  leave  but  the  skin. 

On   the    ninth    day,    the    physicians    told    the    bishop,  who 


320  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

had  visited  me,  that  there  was  no  hope  for  my  recovery.  The 
last  sacraments  were  administered  tome,  and  I  prepared  myself 
to  die,  as  taught  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  tenth  day  I  was 
absolutely  motionless,  and  not  able  to  utter  a  word.  My  tongue 
was  parched  like  a  piece  of  dry  wood. 

Through  the  terrible  ravage  on  the  whole  system,  my  very 
eyes  were  so  turned  inside  their  orbits,  the  white  part  only  could 
be  seen;  no  food  could  be  taken  from  the  beginning  of  the  sick- 
ness except  a  few  drops  of  cold  water,  which  were  dropped 
through  my  teeth  with  much  difficulty.  But,  though  all  my 
physical  faculties  seemed  dead,  my  memory  and  my  intelligence 
were  full  of  life,  and  acting  with  more  power  than  ever. 
Now  and  then,  in  the  paroxysms  of  the  fever,  I  used  to  see  awful 
visions.  At  one  time,  suspended  by  a  thread  at  the  top  of  a 
high  mountain,  with  my  head  down  over  a  bottomless  abyss;  at 
another,  surrounded  by  merciless  enemies,  whose  daggers  and 
swords  were  plunged  through  my  body.  But  these  were  of 
short  duration,  though  they  have  left  such  an  impression  on  my 
mind  that  I  still  remember  the  minutest  details.  Death  had  at 
first  no  terrors  for  me.  I  had  done,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  all 
that  my  church  had  told  me  to  do  to  be  saved.  I  had,  every 
day,  given  my  last  cent  to  the  poor,  fasted  and  done  penance 
almost  enough  to  kill  myself,  made  my  confessions  vv^ith  the 
greatest  care  and  sincerity,  preached  with  such  zeal  and  earnest- 
ness as  to  fill  the  whole  city  with  admiration. 

My  Pharisaical  virtues  and  holiness,  in  a  word,  were  of  such 
a  glaring  and  deceitful  character,  and  my  ecclesiastical  superiors 
were  so  taken  by  them  that  they  made  the  greatest  efforts  to 
p>ersuade  me  to  become  the  first  Bishop  of  Oregon  and  Van- 
couver. 

One  after  the  other,  all  the  saints  of  heaven,  beginning  with 
the  Holy  Virgin  Mary,  were  invoked  by  me  that  they  might  pray 
God  to  look  down  upon  me  in  mercy,  and  save  my  soul. 

On  the  thirteenth  night,  as  the  doctors  were  retiring,  they 
whispered  to  the  Revs.  Baillargeon  and  Parent,  who  vv^ere  at  my 
bedside:  "He  is  dead,  or  if  not,  he  has  only  a  few  minutes  to 
?ive.     He  is  already  cold  and  breathless,  and  we  cannot  feel  his 


THE    MIRACLES    OF    ROME. 


321 


pulse."  Though  these  words  had  been  said  in  a  very  low  tone, 
they  fell  upon  my  ears  as  a  peal  of  thunder.  The  two  young 
priests,  who  were  my  devoted  friends,  filled  the  room  with  such 
cries,  that  the  curate  and  the  priest,  who  had  gone  to  rest,  rushed 
to  my  room,  and  mingled  their  tears  and  cries  with  theirs. 

The  words  of  the  doctor,  "  He  is  dead!  "  were  ringing  in  my 
ears  as  the  voice  of  a  hurricane;  I  suddenly  saw  that  I  was  in 
danger  of  being  buried  alive;  no  words  can  express  the  sense  of 
horror  I  felt  at  that  idea.  A  cold,  icy  wave  began  to  move  slowly, 
but  it  seemed  to  me,  with  irresistible  force,  from  the  extremities 
of  my  feet  and  hands  toward  the  heart,  as  the  first  symptoms  of 
approaching  death.  At  that  moment,  I  made  a  great  effort  to 
see  what  hope  I  might  have  of  being  saved,  invoking  the  help  of 
the  blessed  Virgin  Mary.  With  lightning  rapidity,  a  terrible  vision 
struck  my  mind;  I  saw  all  my  good  works  and  penances,  in 
which  my  church  had  told  me  to  trust  for  salvation,  in  the  bal- 
ance of  the  justice  of  God.  These  were  in  one  side  of  the 
scales,  and  my  sins  on  the  other.  My  good  works  seemed  only 
as  a  grain  of  sand  compared  with  the  weight  of  my  sins.* 

This  awful  vision  entirely  destroyed  my  false  and  pharisai- 
cal  security,  and  filled  my  soul  with  an  unspeakable  terror,  I 
could  not  cry  to  Jesus  Christ,  nor  to  God,  his  Father,  for  mercy ; 
for  I  sincerely  believed  what  my  church  had  taught  me  on  that 
subject,  that  they  were  both  angry  with  me  on  account  of  my 
sins.  With  much  anxiety,  I  turned  my  thoughts,  my  soul  and 
hopes  toward  St.  Anne  and  St.  Philomene.  The  first  was  the 
object  of  my  confidences  since  the  first  time  I  had  seen  the 
numberless  crutches  and  other  "  Ex  Votos  "  which  covered  the 
Church  of  "La  Bonne  St.  Anne  du  Nord,"  and  the  second  was 
the    saint    a   la  mode.      It    was    said  that  her  body  had  lately 

*  In  order  to  be  understood  by  those  of  my  readers  who  have  never  been 
deceived  by  the  diabolical  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  must  saj 
here,  that  when  voung  I  had  learned  all  my  Catechism,  and  when  a  priest,  I 
had  believed  and  preached  what  Rome  says  on  that  subject.  Here  is  her 
doctrine  as  taught  in  her  Catechism: 

"  Who  are  those  who  go  to  heaven  ? " 

Ans.  "Those  only  who  have  never  offended  God,  or  who,  having 
offended  Him,  have  done  penance.  " 


322  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    QF    ROME. 

been  miraculously  discovered,  and  the  world  was  filled  with  the 
noise  of  the  miracles  w^rought  through  her  intercession.  Her 
medals  w^ere  on  every  breast,  her  pictures  in  every  house,  and 
her  name  on  all  lips.  With  entire  confidence  in  the  will  and 
power  of  these  two  saints  to  obtain  any  favor  for  me,  I  in- 
voked them  to  pray  God  to  grant  me  a  few  years  more  of  life; 
and  with  the  utmost  honesty  of  purpose,  I  promised  to  add  to 
my  penances,  and  to  live  a  more  holy  life,  by  consecrating 
myself  with  more  zeal  than  ever,  to  the  service  of  the  poor  and 
the  sick.  I  added  to  my  former  prayer,  the  solemn  promise  to 
have  a  painting  of  the  two  saints  put  in  St.  Anne's  Church,  to 
proclaim  to  the  end  of  the  world  their  great  power  in  heaven,  if 
they  would  obtain  my  cure  and  restore  my  health.  Strange 
to  say!  the  last  words  of  my  prayer  were  scarcely  uttered, 
w^hen  I  saw  above  my  head  St.  Anne  and  St.  Philomene,  sitting 
in  the  midst  of  a  great  light,  on  a  beautiful  golden  cloud.  St. 
Anne  was  very  old  and  grave,  but  St.  Philomene  was  very 
young  and  beautiful.  Both  were  looking  at  me  with  great 
kindness. 

However,  the  kindness  of  St.  Anne  w^as  mixed  with  such  an 
air  of  aw^e  and  gravity,  that  I  did  not  like  her  looks;  while  St. 
Philomene  had  such  an  expression  of  superhuman  love  and 
kindness,  that  I  felt  myself  drawn  to  her  by  a  magnetic  power, 
when  she  said  distinctly :  "  You  will  be  cured !  "  and  the  vision 
disappeard. 

But  I  was  cured,  perfectly  cured !  At  the  disappearance  of 
the  two  saints,  I  felt  as  though  an  electric  shock  went  through  my 
whole  frame;  the  pains  were  gone,  the  tongue  was  untied,  the 
nerves  were  restored  to  their  natural  and  easy  power;  my  eyes 
were  opened,  the  cold  and  icy  waves  which  were  fast  going 
from  the  extremities  to  the  regions  of  the  heart,  seemed  to  be 
changed  into  a  most  pleasant  warm  bath,  restoring  life  and 
strength  to  every  part  of  my  body.  I  raised  my  head,  stretched 
out  my  hands,  which  I  had  not  moved  for  three  days,  and  looking 
around,  I  saw  the  four  priests.  I  said  to  them:  "I  am  cured, 
please  give  me  something  to  eat,  I  am  hungry." 

Astonished  beyond    measure,  two  of  them  threw  their  arms 


THE    MIRACLES    OF    ROME. 


323 


around  my  shoulders  to  help  me  sit  a  moment,  and  change  my 
pillow ;  when  two  others  ran  to  the  table  which  the  kind  nuns  of 
Quebec  had  covered  with  delicacies  in  case  I  might  want  them. 
Their  joy  was  mixed  with  fear,  for  they  all  confessed  to  me 
afterwards  that  they  at  once  thought  that  all  this  was  nothing 
but  the  last  brilliant  flash  of  light  which  the  flickering  lamp 
gives  before  dying  away.  But  they  soon  changed  their  minds 
when  they  saw  that  I  was  eating  ravenously,  and  that  I  was 
speaking  to  them  and  thanking  God  with  a  cheerful  though 
very  feeble  voice.  "What  does  this  mean  ?  "  they  all  said.  "The 
doctors  told  us  last  evening  that  you  were  dead;  and  we  have 
passed  the  night  not  only  weeping  over  your  death,  but  praying 
for  your  soul,  to  rescue  it  from  the  flames  of  purgatory,  and  now 
you  look  so  hungry,  so  cheerful  and  so  well." 

I  answered:  "  It  means  that  I  was  not  dead,  but  very  near 
dying,  and  when  I  felt  that  I  was  to  die,  I  prayed  to  St.  Anne 
and  St.  Philomene  to  come  to  my  help  and  cure  me;  and  they 
have  come.  I  have  seen  them  both,  there,  above  my  head.  Ah! 
if  I  were  a  painter,  what  a  beautiful  picture  I  could  make  of  that 
dear  old  St.  Anne  and  the  still  dearer  St.  Philomene!  for  it  is  St. 
Philomene  who  has  spoken  to  me  as  the  messenger  of  the 
mercies  of  God.  I  have  promised  to  have  their  portraits  painted 
and  put  into  the  church  of  The  Good  St.  Anne  du  Nord." 

While  I  was  speaking  thus,  the  priests,  filled  with  admiration 
and  awe,  were  mute ;  they  could  not  speak,  except  with  tears  of 
gratitude.  They  honestly  believed  with,  me  that  my  cure  was 
miraculous,  and  consented  with  pleasure  to  sing  that  beautiful 
hymn  of  gratitude,  the  "  Te  Deum." 

The  next  morning  the  news  of  my  miraculous  cure  spread 
through  the  whole  city  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  for  besides 
a  good  number  of  the  first  citizens  of  Quebec  who  were  related 
to  me  by  blood,  I  had  not  less  than  1,800  penitents  who  loved 
and  respected  me  as  their  spiritual  father. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  kind  inteaest  of  the  numberless  friends 
whom  God  had  given  me  when  in  Quebec,  I  will  relate  a  single 
fact.  The  citizens  who  were  near  our  parsonage,  having  been 
told  by  a  physician  that   the   inflammation   of   my  brain  was  so 


334  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

terrible  that  the  least  noise,  even  the  passing  of  carriages  or  the 
walking  of  horses  on  the  streets,  was  causing  me  real  torture, 
they  immediately  covered  all  the  surrounding  streets  with 
several  inches  of  straw  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any  more 
noise. 

The  physicians  having  heard  of  my  sudden  cure,  hastened  to 
come  and  see  what  it  meant.  At  first,  they  could  scarcely  believe 
their  eyes.  The  night  before,  they  had  given  me  up  for  dead, 
after  thirteen  days  suffering  with  the  most  horrible  and  incurable 
of  diseases!  And  there  I  was,  the  very  next  morning,  perfectly 
cured !  No  more  pain,  not  the  least  remnant  of  fever,  all  the 
faculties  of  my  body  and  mind  perfectly  restored  ! 

They  minutely  asked  me  all  the  circumstances  connected  with 
that  strange,  unexpected  cure ;  and  I  told  them  simply  but  plainly, 
how,  at  the  very  moment  I  expected  to  die,  I  had  fervently 
prayed  to  St.  Anne  and  St.  Philomene,  and  how  they  had  come, 
spoken  to  me  and  cured  me. 

Two  of  my  physicians  were  Roman  Catholics,  and  three 
Protestants.  They,  at  first,  looked  at  eachother  without  saying 
a  word.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  not  all  partakers  of  my 
strong  faith  in  the  power  of  the  two  saints.  While  the  Roman 
Catholic  doctors,  Messrs.  Parent  and  Rousseau,  seemed  to  believe 
in  my  miraculous  cure,  the  Protestants  energetically  protested 
against  that  view  in  the  name  of  science  and  common  sense. 

Dr.  Douglas  put  me  the  following  questions,  and  received  the 
following  answers.     He  said: 

"  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  you  know  you  have  not  a  more  de- 
voted friend  in  Quebec  than  I,  and  you  know  me  too  well  to 
suspect  that  I  want  to  hurt  your  religious  feelings  when  I  tell 
you  that  there  is  not  the  least  appearance  of  a  miracle  in  your  so 
happy  and  sudden  cure.  If  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  answer 
my  questions,  you  will  see  that  you  are  mistaken  in  attributing 
to  a  miracle  a  thing  w^hich  is  most  common  and  natural.  Though 
you  are  perfectly  cured,  you  are  very  w^eak;  please  answer  only 
'  yes '  or  '  no'  to  my  questions,  in  order  not  to  exhaust  yourself. 
Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  tell  us  if  this  is  the  first  vision  you 
have  had  during  the  period  of  that  terrible  fever?  " 


THE    MIRACLES    OF    ROME. 


325 


Ans.  I  have  had  many  other  visions,  but  I  took  them  as 
being  the  effect  of  the  fever. 

Doctor.  Please  make  your  answers  shorter,  or  else  I  w^ill 
not  ask  you  another  question,  for  it  would  hurt  you.  Tell  us 
simply,  if  you  have  not  seen  in  those  visions,  at  times,  very  fright- 
ful and  terrible,  and  at  others,  very  beautiful  things? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Doctor.  Have  not  those  visions  stamped  themselves  on 
your  mind  with  such  a  power  and  vividness  that  you  never 
forget  them,  and  that  you  deem  them  more  realities  than  mere 
visions  of  a  sickly  brain? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Doctor.  Did  you  not  feel,  sometimes,  much  worse,  and 
sometimes  much  better  after  those  visions,  according  to  their 
nature? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Doctor.  When  at  ease  in  your  mind  during  that  disease, 
were  you  not  used  to  pray  to  the  saints,  particularly  to  St.  Anne 
and  St.  Philomene? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Doctor.  When  you  considered  that  death  was  very  near 
(and  it  was  indeed)  when  you  had  heard  my  imprudent  sentence 
that  you  had  only  a  few  minutes  to  live,  were  you  not  taken 
suddenly  by  such  a  fear  of  death  as  you  never  felt  before? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Doctor.     Did   you  not  then   make   a  great  effort  to  repel 
death  from  you? 
•  Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Doctor.  Do  you  know^  that  you  are  a  man  of  an  exceed- 
ingly strong  will,  and  that  very  few  men  can  resist  you  when 
you  want  to  do  something?  Do  you  not  know  that  your  will  is 
such  an  exceptional  power  that  mountains  of  difficulties  have 
disappeared  before  you,  here  in  Quebec?  Have  you  not  seen 
even  me,  with  many  others,  yielding  to  your  will  almost  in  spite 
of  ourselves,  to  do  what  you  wanted? 

With  a  smile,  I  answered,  "  Yes,  sir." 

Doctor.     Do  you  not   know  that  the  will,  or  if  you  like  it 


326  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

better,  the  soul,  has  a  real,  mysterious,  and  sometimes  an  irresis- 
tible, power  over  the  body,  to  silence  its  passions,  calm  its  suffer- 
ings, and  really  heal  its  diseases,  particularly  when  they  are  of  a 
nervous  nature,  as  in  all  cases  of  fever? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir!  I  know  that. 

Doctor.  Do  you  not  remember  seeing,  many  times,  people 
suffering  dreadfully  from  toothache,  coming  to  us  to  have  their 
teeth  extracted,  who  were  suddenly  cured  at  the  sight  of  the 
knives  and  other  surgical  instruments  we  put  upon  the  table  for 
use? 

I  answered,  with  a  laugh,  "  Yes,  sir.  I  have  seen  that  very 
often,  and  it  has  occurred  to  me  once." 

Doctor.  Do  you  think  that  there  was  a  supernatural  power, 
then,  in  the  surgical  implements,  and  that  those  sudden  cures  of 
toothache  were  miraculous? 

Ans.     No,  sir. 

DocROR.  Have  you  not  read  the  volume  of  the  Medical 
Directory  I  lent  you,  on  typhoid  fever,  where  several  cures  ex- 
actly like  yours  are  reported? 

Ans.     Yes,  sir. 

Then,  addressing  the  physicians,  Dr.  Douglas  said  to 
them: 

"  We  must  not  exhaust  our  dear  Father  Chiniquy.  We  are 
too  happy  to  see  him  full  of  life  again,  but  from  his  answers  you 
understand  that  there  is  no  miracle  here.  His  happy  and  sudden 
cure  is  a  very  natural  and  common  thing.  The  vision  was  what 
we  call  the  turning-point  of  the  disease,  when  the  mind  is  power- 
fully bent  on  some  very  exciting  object,  when  that  mysterious 
thing  of  which  w^e  know  so  little  as  yet,  called  the  will,  the  spirit, 
the  soul,  fights  as  a  giant  against  death,  in  which  battle,  pains, 
diseases,  and  even  death,  are  put  to  flight  and  conquered. 

"  My  dear  Father  Chiniquy,  from  your  own  lips  we  have  it; 
you  have  fought,  last  night,  the  fever  and  approaching  death,  as 
a  giant.  No  w^onder  that  you  won  the  victory,  and  I  confess,  it 
is  a  great  victory.  I  know  it  is  not  the  first  victory  you  have 
gained,  and  I  am  sure  it  will  not  be  the  last.  It  is  surely  God 
who  has  given  you  that  irresistible  will.      In  that  sense  only  does 


THE     MIRACLES    OF     ROME. 


3^7 


your  cure  come  from  Him.  Continue  to  fight  and  conquer  as 
you  have  done  last  night,  and  you  will  live  a  lono-  life. 
Death  will  long  remember  its  defeat  of  last  night,  and  will  not 
dare  approach  you  any  more,  except  when  you  will  be  so  old 
that  you  will  ask  it  to  come  as  a  friend,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
miseries  of  this  present  life.     Good-bye." 

And  with  friendly  smiles,  all  the  doctors  pressed  my  hand 
and  left  me,  just  as  the  bishop  and  the  curate  of  Quebec,  Mons. 
Baillargeon,  my  confessor,  were  entering  the  room. 

An  old  proverb  says:  "There  is  nothing  so  difficult  as  to 
persuade  a  man  who  does  not  \vant  to  be  persuaded."  Though 
the  reasoning  and  kind  words  of  the  doctor  ought  to  have  been 
gladly  listened  to  by  me,  they  had  only  bothered  me.  It  was 
infinitely  more  pleasant,  and  it  seemed  then,  more  agreeable  to 
God,  and  more  according  to  my  faith  in  the  power  of  the  saints 
in  heaven,  to  believe  that  I  had  been  miraculously  cured.  Of 
course,  the  bishop  with  his  coadjutor,  and  my  Lord  Turgeon,  as 
well  as  my  confessor,  with  the  numberless  priests  and  Roman 
Catholics  who  visited  me  during  my  convalesence,  confirmed  me 
in  my  views. 

The  skillful  painter,  Mr.  Plamondon,  recently  from  Rome, 
was  called,  and  painted  at  the  price  of  $300  (£'50)  the  tableau, 
I  had  promised  to  put  in  the  church  of  St.  Anne  du  Nord.  It 
was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  remark-ible  paintings  of  that 
artist,  who  had  passed  several  years  in  the  Capitol  of  Fine  Arts 
in  Italy,  where  he  had  gained  a  very  good  reputation  for  his 
ability. 

Three  months  after  my  recovery,  I  was  at  the  parsonage  of 
the  curate  of  St.  Anne,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ranvoize,  a  relative  of 
mine.  He  was  about  64  years  of  age,  very  rich,  and  had  a  mag- 
nificent library.  When  young  he  had  enjoyed  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the' best  preachers  in  Canada. 

Never  had  I  been  so  saddened  and  scandalized  as  I  was  bj 
him  on  this  occasion.  It  was  evening  when  I  arrived  with  my 
tableau.  As  soon  as  we  were  left  alone,  the  old  curate  said:  "Is 
it  possible,  my  dear  young  cousin,  that  you  will  make  such  a  fool 
of  yourself  to-morrow .''  That  so-called  miraculous  cure  is  nothing 


338  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

but  "  natures  suprema  vis"  as  the  learned  of  all  ages  have  called 
it.  Your  so-called  vision  was  a  dream  of  your  sickly  brain,  as 
it  generally  occurs  at  the  moment  of  the  supreme  crisis  of  the 
fever.  It  is  what  is  called  the  "  turning-point  "  of  the  disease, 
when  a  desperate  effort  of  nature  kills  or  cures  the  patient.  As 
for  the  vision  of  that  beautiful  girl,  whom  you  call  St.  Philo- 
mene,  who  has  done  you  so  much  good,  she  is  not  the  first  girl, 
surely,  who  has  come  to  you  in  your  dreams,  and  done  you 
good ! "  At  these  words  he  laughed  so  heartily  that  I  feared 
he  would  split  his  sides.  Twice  he  repeated  this  unbecoming 
joke. 

I  was,  at  first,  so  siiocked  at  this  unexpected  rebuke,  which  I 
considered  as  bordering  on  blasphemy,  that  I  came  very  near 
taking  my  hat,  withont  answering  a  word,  to  go  and  spend  the 
night  at  his  brother's;  but,  after  a  moment's  reflection,  I  said  to 
him: 

"How  can  you  speak  with  such  levity  on  so  solemn  a  thing? 
Do  you  not  believe  in  the  power  of  the  saints,  who,  being 
more  holy  and  pure  than  we  are,  see  God  face  to  face, 
speak  to  Him  and  obtain  favors  which  he  would  refuse  to  us 
rebels?  Are  you  not  the  daily  witness  of  the  miraculous  cures 
wrought  in  your  own  church,  under  your  own  eyes?  Why 
those  thousands  of  crutches  which  literally  cover  the  walls  of 
your  church  ? " 

My  strong  faith,  and  the  earnestness  of  my  appeal  to  the 
daily  miracles  of  which  he  was  the  v^dtness,  and  above  all, 
the  mention  of  the  numberless  crutches  suspended  all  over  the 
walls  of  his  church,  brought  again  from  him  such  a  Homeric 
laugh,  that  I  was  disconcerted  and  saddened  beyond  measure. 
I  remained  absolutely  mute;  I  wished  I  had  never  come  into 
such  company. 

When  he  had  laughed  at  me  to  his  heart's  content,  he  said: 
*'  My  dear  cousin,  you  are  the  first  one  to  whom  I  speak  in  this 
way.  I  do  it  because,  first:  I  consider  you  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence, and  hope  you  will  understand  me.  Secondly:  because 
you  are  my  cousin.  Were  you  one  of  those  idiotic  priests,  real 
blockheads,  who  form  the  clergy  of  to-dav  ;or,  were  you  a  stranger 


THE    MIRACLES    OF     ROME. 


5*9 


to  me,  I  would  let  you  go  your  way,  and  believe  in  those  ridicu- 
lous, degrading  superstitions  of  our  poor  ignorant  and  blind  peo- 
ple, but  I  know  you  from  your  infancy,  and  I  have  known  your 
father,  who  was  one  of  my  dearest  friends;  the  blood  which 
flows  in  your  veins,  passes  thousands  of  times  every  day  through 
my  heart.  You  are  very  young  and  I  very  old.  It  is  a  duty 
oi  honor  and  conscience  in  me  to  reveal  to  you  a  thing  which  I 
have  thought  better  to  keep  till  now,  a  secret  between  God  and 
myself.  I  have  been  here  more  than  thirty  years,  and  though  our 
country  is  constantly  filled  with  the  noise  of  the  great  and  small 
miracles  wrought  in  my  church,  every  day,  I  am  ready  to  swear 
before  God,  and  to  prove  to  any  man  of  common  sense,  that  not 
a  single  miracle  has  been  wrought  in  my  church  since  I  have 
come  here.  Every  one  of  the  facts  given  to  the  Canadian  people 
as  miraculous  cures,  are  sheer  impositions,  deceptions,  the  work 
of  either  fools,  or  the  work  of  skillful  impostors  and  hypocrites, 
whether  priests  or  laymen.  Believe  me,  my  dear  cousin,  I  have 
studied  carefully  the  history  of  all  those  crutches.  Ninety-nine 
out  of  a  hundred  have  been  left  by  poor,  lazy  beggars,  who,  at 
first,  thought  with  good  reason  that,  by  walking  from  door  to 
door  with  one  or  two  crutches,  they  would  create  more  sympa- 
thy and  bring  more  into  their  purses;  for  how  many  will  indig- 
nantly turn  out  of  doors  a  lazy,  strong  and  healthful  beggar, 
who  will  feel  great  compassion,  and  give  largely  to  a  man  who 
b  crippled,  unable  to  work,  and  forced  to  drag  himself  painfully 
on  crutches?  Those  crutches  are,  then,  passports  from  door  to 
door.  They  are  the  very  keys  to  open  both  the  hearts  and  purses. 
But  the  day  comes  when  that  beggar  has  bought  a  pretty  good 
farm  with  his  stolen  alms;  or  when  he  is  really  tired,  disgusted 
with  his  crutches  and  wants  to  get  rid  of  them !  How  can  he  do 
that  without  compromising  himself 

"By  a  miracle!  Then,  he  will  sometimes  travel  again  hun- 
dreds of  miles  from  door  to  door,  begging  as  usual,  but  this  time, 
he  asks  the  prayers  of  the  whole  family,  saying,  'I  am  going  to 
the  'good  St.  Anne  du  Nord  '  to  ask  her  to  cure  my  leg  (or 
legs).  I  hope  she  will  cure  me,  as  she  has  cured  so  many  others, 
I  have  great  confidence  in  her  power!" 


330 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


"  Each  one  gives  twice,  nay,  ten  times  as  much  as  before  to 
the  poor  cripple,  making  him  promise  that  if  he  is  cured,  he  will 
come  back  and  show  himself,  that  they  may  bless  the  good  St, 
Anne  with  him.  When  he  arrives  here,  he  gives  me  sometimes 
one,  sometimes  five  dollars,  to  say  mass  for  him.  I  take  the 
money,  for  I  would  be  a  fool  to  refuse  it  when  I  know  that  his 
purse  has  been  so  well  filled.  During  the  celebration  of  the  mass, 
when  he  receives  the  communion,  1  hear  generally,  a  great  noise, 
cries  of  joy!  A  miracle!  A  miracle!!  The  crutches  are  thrown 
on  the  floor,  and  the  cripple  walks  as  well  as  you  or  I !  And  the 
last  act  of  that  religious  comedy  is  the  most  lucrative  one,  for  he 
fulfills  his  promise  of  stopping  at  every  house  he  had  ever  beea 
seen  with  his  crutches.  He  narrates  how  he  was  miraculously 
cured,  how  his  feet  and  legs  became  suddenly  all  right.  Tears  of 
joy  and  admiration  flow  from  every  eye.  The  last  cent  of  that 
family  is  generally  given  to  the  impostor,  who  soon  grows  rich 
at  the  expense  of  his  dupes.  This  is  the  plain,  but  true  story,  of 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  of  the  cures  w^rought  in  my 
church.  The  hundredth,  is  upon  people  as  honest,  but,  pardon 
me  the  expression,  as  blind  and  superstitious  as  you  are;  they 
are  really  cured,  for  they  were  really  sick.  But  their  cures  are 
the  natural  effects  of  the  great  efforts  of  the  will.  It  is  the  re- 
sult of  a  happy  combination  of  natural  causes  which  work  to- 
gether on  the  frame,  and  kill  the  pain,  expel  the  disease  and  re- 
store to  health,  just  as  I  was  cured  of  a  most  horrible  toothache, 
some  years  ago.  In  the  paroxysm,  I  went  to  the  dentist  and  re- 
quested him  to  extract  the  affected  tooth.  Hardly  had  his  knife 
and  other  surgical  instruments  come  before  my  eyes  than  the 
pain  disappeared.  I  quietly  took  my  hat  and  left,  bidding  a 
hearty  'good-by'  to  the  dentist,  who  laughed  at  me  every  time 
we  met,  to  his  heart's  content. 

"  One  of  the  weakest  points  of  our  religion  is  in  the  ridicu- 
lous, I  venture  to  say,  diabolical  miracles,  performed  and  believed 
every  day  among  us,  with  the  so-called  relics  and  bones  of  the 
saints. 

"But,  don't  you  know  that,  for  the  most  part,  these  relics 
;ire    nothing     but    chickens'     or    sheeps'     bones.        And    what 


THE    MIRACLES     OF    ROME.  33I 

could  not  say,  were  I  to  tell  you  of  what  I  know  of  the  daily 
miraculous  impostures  of  the  scapulars,  holy  water,  chaplets  and 
medals  of  every  kind.  Were  I  a  pope,  I  would  throw  all  these 
mummeries,  which  come  from  paganism,  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
and  would  present  to  the  eyes  of  the  sinners,  nothing  but  Christ 
and  Him  crucified  as  the  object  of  their  faith,  invocation  and 
hope,  for  this  life  and  the  next,  just  as  the  Apostle  Paul,  Peter 
and  James  do  in  their  Epistles." 

I  cannot  repeat  here,  all  that  I  heard,  that  night,  from  that 
old  relative,  against  the  miracles,  relics,  scapulars,  purgatory, 
false  saints  and  ridiculous  practices  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  It 
would  take  too  long,  for  he  spoke  thr«e  hours  as  a  real  Protes- 
tant. Sometimes  what  he  said  to  me  seemed  according  to  com- 
mon sense,  but  as  it  was  against  the  practices  of  my  church,  and 
against  my  personal  practices,  I  was  exceedingly  scandalized  and 
pained,  and  not  at  all  convinced.  I  pitied  him  for  having  lost 
his  former  faith  and  piety.  I  told  him  at  the  end,  without  cere- 
mony: "I  heard,  long  ago,  that  the  bishops  did  not  like  you, 
but  I  knew  not  why.  However,  if  they  could  hear  what  you 
think  and  say  here  about  the  miracles  of  St.  Anne,  they  would 
surely  interdict  you." 

"Will  you  betray  me?"  he  added,  "and  will  you  report  our 
conversation  to  the  bishop?" 

"No,  my  cousin,"  I  replied,  "I  would  prefer  to  be  burned 
to  ashes.  I  will  not  sell  your  kind  hospitality  for  the  traitor's 
money." 

It  was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  we  parted  to  go  to 
our  sleeping  rooms.  But  that  night  was  again  a  sleepless  one 
to  me.  Was  it  not  too  sad  and  strange  for  me  to  see  that  that 
old  and  learned  priest  was  secretly  a  Protestant! 

The  next  morning,  the  crowds  began  to  arrive,  not  by  hun- 
dreds, but  by  thousands,  from  the  surrounding  parishes.  The 
channel  between  "L'Isle  D'Orleans"  and  St.  Anne,  was  liter- 
ally covered  with  boats  of  every  size,  laden  with  men  and  wo- 
men who  wanted  to  hear  from  my  own  lips,  the  history  of  my 
miraculous  cure,  and  see,  with  their  own  eyes,  the  picture  of  the 
two  saints  who  had  appeared  to  me.     At    lo  a.  m.,  more  than 


332  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

10,000  people  were  crowded  inside  and  outside  the  walls  of  the 
Church. 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  my  emotion  and  of  the  emotion 
of  the  multitude  when,  after  telling  them  in  a  simple  and  plain 
way,  what  I  then  considered  a  miraculous  fact,  I  disclosed  to 
their  eyes,  and  presented  it  to  their  admiration  and  worship. 
There  were  tears  rolling  on  every  cheek  and  cries  of  admiration 
and  joy  from  every  lip. 

The  picture  represented  me  dying  in  my  bed  of  sufferings, 
and  the  two  saints  seen,  at  a  distance,  above  me,  and  stretching 
their  hands,  as  if  to  say:  "You  will  be  cured."  It  was  hung  on 
the  walls,  in  a  conspicuous  place,  where  thousands  and  thousands 
have  come  to  worship  it  from  that  day  to  the  year  1858,  when 
the  curate  was  ordered  by  the  bishop  to  burn  it,  for  it  had  pleased 
our  merciful  God,  that  very  year,  to  take  away  the  scales  which 
were  on  my  eyes  and  show  me  his  saving  light,  and  I  had  pub- 
lished all  over  Canada,  my  terrible,  though  unintentional  error, 
in  believing  in  that  false  miracle.  I,  however,  was  honest  in 
my  belief  in  a  miraculous  cure;  and  the  apparition  of  the  two 
saints  had  left  such  a  deep  impression  on  my  mind,  that,  I  con- 
fess it  to  my  shame,  the  first  week  after  my  conversion,  I  very 
often  said  to  myself:  "How  is  it  that  I  now  believe  that  the 
Church  of  Rome  is  false,  when  such  a  miracle  has  been  wrought 
on  me  as  one  of  her  priests?" 

But,  our  God,  whose  mercies  are  infinite,  knowing  my  hon- 
esty when  a  slave  of  Popery,  was  determined  to  give  me  the  full 
understanding  of  my  errors  in  this  way. 

About  a  month  after  my  conversion,  in  1858,  I  had  to  visit  a 
dying  Irish  convert  from  Romanism,  who  had  caught  in  Chi- 
cago, the  same  fever  which  so  nearly  killed  me  at  the  Marine 
Hospital  of  Quebec.  I  again  caught  the  disease,  and  during 
twelve  days,  passed  through  the  same  tortures  and  suffered  the 
same  agonies  as  in  1837.  But  this  time,  I  was  really  happy  to 
die;  there  was  no  fear  for  me  to  see  the  good  works  as  a  grain 
of  sand  in  my  favor,  and  the  mountains  of  my  iniquities  in  the 
balance  of  God  against  me.  I  just  had  given  up  my  pharisaical 
holiness  of  old;  it  was  no  more  in   my  good  works,  my  aliXM, 


THE    MIRACLES    OF    ROME, 


333 


my  penances,  my  personal  efforts,  I  was  trusting  to  be  saved; 
it  was  in  Jesus  alone.  My  good  works  were  no  more  put  by 
me  in  the  balance  of  the  justice  of  God  to  pay  my  debts  and  to 
appeal  for  mercy.  It  was  the  blood  of  Jesus,  the  Lamb  slain 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  for  me,  which  was  in  the  bal- 
ance. It  was  the  tears  of  Je^s,  the  nails,  the  crown  of  thorns, 
the  heavy  cross,  the  cruel  death  of  Jesus  only,  which  was  thore 
to  pay  my  debts  and  to  cry  for  mercy.  I  had  no  fear  then,  for 
I  lyiew  that  I  was  saved  by  Jesus,  and  that  that  salvation  was 
a  perfect  act  of  His  love.  His  mercy  and  His  power;  I  was  glad 
to  die. 

But  when  the  doctor  had  left  me,  the  thirteenth  day  of  my 
sufferings,  saying  the  very  same  words  of  the  doctors  of  Quebec: 
"  He  has  only  a  few  minutes  to  live,  if  he  be  not  already  dead," 
the  kind  friends  who  were  around  my  bed,  filled  the  room  with 
their  cries!  Although,  for  three  or  four  days,  I  had  not  moved 
a  finger,  said  a  single  word,  or  given  any  sign  of  life,  I  was  per- 
fectly conscious.  I  had  heard  the  words  of  the  doctor  and  I  was 
glad  to  exchange  the  miseries  of  this  short  life  for  that  eternity 
of  glory  w^hich  my  Saviour  had  bought  for  me.  I  only  regretted 
to  die  before  bringing  more  of  my  dear  countrymen  out  of  the 
idolatrous  religion  of  Rome,  and  from  the  lips  of  my  soul,  I  said: 
"  Dear  Jesus,  I  am  glad  to  go  with  thee  just  now,  but  if  it  be 
thy  will  to  let  me  live  a  few  years  more,  that  I  may  spread  the 
light  of  the  gospel  among  my  countrymen;  grant  me  to  live  a 
few  years  more,  and  I  will  bless  thee  eternally,  with  my  con- 
verted countrymen,  for  thy  mercy.  This  prayer  had  scarcely 
reached  the  mercy  seat,  when  I  saw  a  dozen  bishops  marching 
toward  me,  sword  in  hand,  to  kill  me.  As  the  first  sword  raised 
to  strike  was  coming  down  to  split  my  head,  I  made  a  desperate 
effort,  wrenched  it  from  the  hand  of  my  would-be  murderer, 
and  struck  such  a  blow  on  his  neck  that  the  head  rolled  down  to 
the  floor.  The  second,  third,  fourth,  and  so  on  to  the  last, 
rushed  to  kill  me ;  but  I  struck  such  terrible  blows  on  the  necks 
of  every  one  of  them,  that  twelve  heads  were  rolling  on  the  floor 
and  swimming  in  a  pool  of  blood.  In  my  excitement,  I  cried  to 
my  friends  around  me:  "  Do  you  not  see  the  heads  rolling  and 
the  blood  flowing  on  the  floor  ? " 


334  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

And  suddenly  I  felt  a  kind  of  electric  shock  from  head  to  foot. 
1  was  cured!  perfectly  cured!!  I  asked  my  friends  for  some- 
thing to  eat;  I  had  not  taken  any  food  for  twelve  days.  And 
with  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude  to  God,  they  complied  with  my 
request. 

This  last  cure  was  not  only  the  perfect  cure  of  the  body,  but 
it  was  a  perfect  cure  of  the  soul.  I  understood  then  clearly  that 
the  first  was  not  more  miraculous  than  the  second.  I  had  a  per- 
fect understanding  of  the  diabolical  forgeries  and  miracles 'of 
Rome.  I  was  not  cured  or  saved  by  the  saints,  the  bishops  or 
the  Popes,  but  by  my  Grod,  through  his  son  Jesus. 


Chapter  XXXIII. 

TCr  NOMINATION  AS  CURATE  OF  BEAXJPOBT— DEQBADATION 
AND  BTJIN  OF  THAT  PLACE  THROUGH  DRUNKENNESS— 
BTY  OPPOSITION  TO  MY  NOMINATION  USELESS— PREPARA- 
TIONS TO  ESTABLISH  A  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY— I  WRITE  TO 
FATHER  MATHEW  FOR  ADVICE. 

THE  2 1st  of  September,  1838,  was  a  day  of  desolation  to 
me.  On  that  day  I  received  the  letter  of  my  bishop, 
appointing  me  curate  of  Beauport. 

Many  times,  I  had  said  to  the  other  priests,  when  talking  about 
our  choice  of  the  different  parishes,  that  I  would  never  consent 
to  be  curate  of  Beauport. 

That  parish,  which  is  a  kind  of  a  suburb  of  Quebec,  was  too 
justly  considered  the  very  nest  of  the  drunkards  of  Canada. 
With  a  soil  of  unsurpassed  fertility,  inexhaustible  lime  quarries, 
gardens  covered  with  most  precious  vegetables  and  fruits, 
forests  near  at  hand  to  furnish  wood  to  the  city  of  Quebec,  at 
their  doors,  the  people  of  Beauport  were,  nevertheless,  classed 
among  the  poorest,  most  ragged  and  wretched  people  of  Canada. 
For  almost  every  cent  they  were  getting  at  the  market  went 
into  the  hands  of  the  saloon-keepers. 

Hundreds  of  times  I  had  seen  the  streets  which  led  from  St. 
Roch  to  the  upper  town  of  Quebec  almost  impassable,  when 
the  dnmkards  of  Beauport  were  leaving  the  market  to  go 
home. 

How  many  times  I  heard  them  fill  the  air  with  their  cries 
and  blasphemies ;  and  saw  the  streets  reddened  with  their  blood, 
when  fighting  with  one  another,  like  mad  dogs 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Begin,  who  was  their  cure  since  1835,  had 
accepted  the  moral  principles  of  the  great  Roman  Catholic 
•♦  Theologia  Liguori,"  which  says,   "  that  a  man  is  not  guilty  of 

•as 


336  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  sin  of  drunkenness,  so  long  as  he  can  distinguish  between  a 
small  pin  and  a  load  of  hay."  Of  course  the  people  would  not 
find  themselves  guilty  of  sin  so  long  as  their  eyes  could  make 
that  distinction. 

After  weeping  to  my  heart's  content  at  the  reading  of  the 
letter  from  my  bishop,  which  had  come  to  me  as  a  thunderbolt, 
my  first  thought  was  that  my  misfortune,  though  very  great,  was 
not  irretrievable.  I  knew  that  there  were  many  priests  who  were 
as  anxious  to  become  curates  of  Beauport  as  I  was  opposed  to  it. 

My  hope  w'as  that  the  bishop  would  be  touched  by  my  tears, 
if  not  convinced  by  my  arguments,  and  that  he  would  not 
persist  in  putting  on  my  shoulders  a  burden  which  they  could 
not  carry. 

I  immediately  went  to  the  palace,  and  did  all  in  my  power  to 
persuade  his  lordship  to  select  another  priest  for  Beaufort. 

He  listened  to  my  arguments  with  a  good  deal  of  patience 
and  kindness,  and  answered: 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  forget  too  often  that  '  implicit 
and  perfect  obedience'  to  his  superiors  is  the  virtue  of  a  good 
priest?  You  have  given  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble  and  disap- 
pointment by  refusing  to  relieve  the  good  Bishop  Proven- 
cher  of  his  too  heavy  burden.  It  was  at  my  suggestion,  you 
know  very  well,  that  he  had  selected  you  to  be  his  co-worker 
along  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific,  by  consenting  to  become  the 
first  Bishop  of  Oregon.  Your  obstinate  resistance  to  your 
superiors  in  that  circumstance,  and  in  several  other  cases,  is  one 
of  your  weak  points.  If  you  continue  to  follow  your  own 
mind  rather  than  obey  those  whom  God  has  chosen  to  guide 
you,  I  really  fear  for  your  future.  I  have  already  too  often 
yielded  to  your  rebellious  character.  Through  respect  to  myself, 
and  for  your  own  good,  to-day  I  must  force  you  to  obey  me. 
You  have  spoken  of  the  drunkenness  of  the  people  of  Beauport, 
as  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  should  not  put  you  at  the  head  of 
that  parish;  but  this  is  just  one  of  the  reasons  why  I  have 
chosen  you.  You  are  the  only  priest  I  know^,  in  my  diocese, 
able  to  struggle  against  the  long-rooted  and  detestable  evil,  with 
a  hope  of  success. 


NOMINATED  CyRATE  OF  BEAUPORT.  23* 

"  '  ^uod scriptum  scriptum  est.''  Your  name  is  entered  in  our 
official  registers  as  the  curate  of  Beauport;  it  will  remain  there 
till  I  find  better  reasons  than  those  you  have  given  me  to  change 
my  mind.  After  all,  you  cannot  complain ;  Beauport  is  not  only 
the  most  beautiful  parsonage  in  Canada,  but  it  is  one  of  the  most 
splendid  spots  in  the  world.  In  your  beautiful  parsonage,  at  the 
door  of  the  old  capital  of  Canada,  you  will  have  the  privileges 
of  the  city,  and  the  enjoyments  of  some  of  the  most  splendid 
scenery  of  this  continent.  If  you  are  not  satisfied  with  me 
to-day,  I  do  not  know   what  I  can  do  to  please  you." 

Though  far  from  being  reconciled  to  my  new  position,  I  saw 
there  was  no  help;  I  had  to  obey.  As  my  predecessor,  Mr. 
Begin,  was  to  sell  all  his  house  furniture,  before  taking  charge 
of  his  far  distant  parish.  La  Riviere  Quelle,  he  kindly  invited 
me  to  go  and  buy,  on  long  credit,  what  I  wished  for  my  own 
use,  which  I  did. 

The  whole  parish  was  on  the  spot  long  before  me,  partly  to 
show  their  friendly  sympathy  for  their  late  pastor,  and  partly  to 
see  their  new  curate.  I  was  not  long  in  the  crowd  without 
seeing  that  my  small  stature  and  my  leanness  were  making  a 
very  bad  impression  on  the  people,  who  were  accustomed  to  pay 
their  respxects  to  a  comparatively  tall  man,  whose  large  and  square 
shoulders  were  putting  me  in  the  shade. 

Many  jovial  remarks,  though  made  in  half- suppressed  tones, 
came  to  my  ears,  to  tell  me  that  I  was  cutting  a  poor  figure  by 
the  side  of  my  jolly  predecessor. 

"  He  is  hardly  bigger  than  my  tobacco-box,"  said  one  not  far 
from  me;  "  I  think  I  could  put  him  in  my  vest  pocket." 

"Has  he  not  the  appearance  of  a  salted  sardine!"  whispered  a 
woman  to  her  neighbor,  with  a  hearty  laugh. 

Had  I  been  a  little  wiser,  I  could  have  redeemed  myself  by 
some  amiable  or  funny  words,  which  would  have  sounded  pleas- 
antly in  the  ears  of  my  new  parishioners. 

But,  unfortunately  for  me,  that  wisdom  is  not  among  the  gifts 
I  received  from  nature.  After  a  couple  of  hours  of  auction,  a 
large    cloth    was    suddenly     removed     from  a  long    table,  and 


33^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

presented  to  our  sight  an  incredible  number  of  wine  and  beei- 
glasses,  of  empty  decanters  and  bottles  of  all  sizes  and  quality. 

This  brought  a  burst  of  laughter  and  clapping  of  hands  from 
almost  every  one.  All  eyes  were  turned  toward  me,  and  I  heard 
from  hundreds  of  lips:    "This  is  for  you,  Mr.  Chiniquy." 

Without  weighing  my  words,  I  instantly  answered:  "  I  do 
not  come  to  Beauport  to  buy  wine  glasses  and  bottles,  but  to 
break  them." 

These  words  fell  upon  their  ears  like  a  spark  of  fire  on  a 
train  of  powder.  Nine-tenths  of  the  multitude,  without  being 
very  drunk,  had  emptied  from  four  to  ten  glasses  of  beer  or  rum,, 
which  Rev.  Mr.  Begin  himself  was  offering  them  in  a  corner  of 
the  parsonage.  A  real  deluge  of  insults  and  cursings  over- 
whelmed me ;  and  I  soon  saw  that  the  best  thing  I  could  do  was 
to  leave  the  place  without  noise,  and  by  the  shortest  way. 

I  immediately  went  to  the  bishop's  palace  to  try  again  to 
persuade  his  lordship  to  put  another  curate  at  the  head  of  such  a 
people. 

"  You  see,  my  lord,"  I  said,  "  that  by  my  indiscreet  and  rash 
answer  I  have  forever  lost  the  respect  and  confidence  of  that 
people.  They  already  hate  me;  their  brutal  cursings  have  fallen 
upon  me  like  balls  of  fire.  I  prefer  to  be  carried  to  my  grave 
next  Sabbath  than  have  to  address  such  a  degraded  people.  I 
feel  that  I  have  neither  the  moral  nor  the  physical  power  to  do 
any  good  there." 

"  I  differ  from  you,"  replied  the  bishop,  "  Evidently  the 
people  wanted  to  try  your  mettle,  by  inviting  you  to  buy  those 
glassee,  and  you  would  have  lost  yourself  by  yielding  to  their 
desire.  Now  they  have  seen  that  you  are  brave  and  fearless.  It 
is  just  what  the  people  of  Beauport  want;  I  have  known  them 
for  a  long  time.  It  is  true  that  they  are  drunkards ;  but,  apart  from 
that  vice,  there  is  not  a  nobler  people  under  heaven.  They 
have,  literally,  no  education,  but  they  possess  marvellous  common 
sense,  and  have  many  noble  and  redeeming  qualities,  which  you 
will  soon  find  out.  You  took  them  by  surprise  when  you  boldly 
said  you  wanted  to  break  their  glasses  and  decanters.  Believe 
me,  they  will  bless  you  if,  by  the  grace  of  God,  you  fulfill  your 


NOMINATED  CURATE  OF  BEAUFORT. 


339 


prophecy ;  though  it  will  be  a  miracle  if  you  succeed  in  making 
the  people  of  Beauport  sober.  But  you  must  no*^  despair.  Trust 
iu  God;  fight  as  a  good  soldier,  and  Jesus  Christ  will  win  the 
victory." 

Those  kind  words  of  my  bishop  did  me  good,  though  I  would 
have  preferred  being  sent  to  the  back  woods  of  Canada,  than  to 
the  great  parish  of  Beauport.  I  felt  that  the  only  thing  that  I 
had  to  do  was  to  trust  in  God  for  success,  and  to  fight  as  if  I 
were  to  gain  the  day.  It  came  to  my  mind  that  I  had  committed 
a  great  sin  by  obstinately  refusing  to  become  bishop  of  Oregon, 
and  my  God,  as  a  punishment,  had  given  me  the  very  parish  for 
which  I  felt  an  almost  insurmountable  repugnance. 

The  next  Sunday  was  a  splendid  day,  and  the  church  of  Beau- 
port was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity  by  the  people,  eager  to  see 
and  hear,  for  the  first  time,  their  new  pastor. 

I  had  spent  the  last  three  days  in  prayers  and  fastings.  God 
knows  that  never  a  priest,  nor  any  minister  of  the  gospel, 
ascended  the  pulpit  with  more  exalted  views  of  his  sublime  func- 
tions than  I  did  that  day,  and  never  a  messenger  of  the  gospel 
had  been  more  terrified  than  I  was,  when  in  that  pulpit,  by  the 
consciousness  of  his  own  demerits,  inability  and  incompetency,  in 
the  face  of  the  tremendous  responsibilities  of  his  position.  My 
first  sermon  was  on  the  text:  "  Woe  unto  me  if  I  preach  not  the 
gospel"  (i  Cor.  ix.:  i6).  With  a  soul  and  heart  filled  with  the 
profoundest  emotions,  a  voice  many  times  suffocated  by  uncon- 
trollable sobs,  I  expounded  to  them  some  of  the  awful  responsi- 
bilities of  a  pastor.  The  effect  of  that  sermon  was  felt  to  the 
last  day  of  my  priestly  ministry  in  Beauport. 

After  the  sermon,  I  told  them:  "I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of 
you.  As  it  is  the  first,  I  hope  you  will  not  rebuke  me.  I  have, 
just  now,  given  you  some  of  the  duties  of  your  poor  young  curate 
toward  you;  I  want  you  to  come  again  this  afternoon  at  half- 
past  two  o'clock,  that  I  may  give  you  some  of  your  duties  toward 
your  pastor."  At  the  appointed  hour  the  church  was  still 
more  crowded  than  in  the  morning,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
that  my  merciful  God  blessed  still  more  that  second  address 
than  the  first. 


340  FIFTY     YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

The  text  was:  "When  he  (the  shepherd)  putteth  forth  his 
own  sheep,  he  goeth  befoie  them,  and  the  sheep  follow  him,  for 
they  know  his  voice."  (Jno.  x.  :  4. ) 

Those  two  sermons  on  the  Sabbath  were  a  startling  innova- 
tion in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  Canada,  which  brought 
upon  me,  at  once,  many  bitter  remarks  from  the  bishop  and  sur- 
rounding curates.  Their  unanimous  verdict  was  that  I  wanted 
to  become  a  little  reformer.  They  had  not  the  least  doubt  that  in 
my  pride  I  wanted  to  show  to  the  people  "  that  I  was  the  most 
zealous  priest  of  the  country,"  This  was  not  only  whispered 
from  ear  to  ear  among  the  clergy,  but  several  times  it  was  thrown 
into  my  face  in  the  most  insulting  manner.  However,  my  God 
knew  that  my  only  motives  were,  first,  to  keep  my  people  away 
from  the  taverns,  by  having  them  before  their  altars  during  the 
greatest  part  of  the  Sabbath  day;  second,  to  impress  more 
on  their  minds  the  great  saving  and  regenerating  truths  I 
preached,  by  presenting  them  twice  on  the  same  day  under  dif- 
ferent aspects. 

I  found  such  benefits  from  those  two  sermons  that  I  contin- 
ued the  practice  during  the  four  years  I  remained  in  Beauport, 
though  I  had  to  suffer  and  hear  in  silence,  many  humiliating  and 
cutting  remarks  from  many  co-priests. 

I  had  not  been  more  than  three  months  at  the  head  of  that 
parish,  when  I  determined  to  organize  a  temperance  society  on 
the  same  principles  as  Father  Mathew,  in  Ireland. 

I  opened  my  mind,  at  first,  on  that  subject  to  the  bishop,  with 
the  hope  that  he  would  throw  the  influence  of  his  position  in 
favor  of  the  new  association,  but,  to  my  great  dismay  and  sur- 
prise, not  only  did  he  turn  my  project  into  ridicule,  but  absolutely 
forbade  me  to  think  any  more  of  such  an  innovation. 

"Those  temperance  societies  are  a  Protestant  scheme,"  he 
said.  ■  "  Preach  against  drunkenness,  but  let  the  respectable  peo- 
ple who  are  not  drunkards  alone.  St.  Paul  advised  his  disciple 
Timothy  to  drink  wine.  Do  not  try  to  be  more  zealous  than  they 
were  in  those  apostolic  days." 

I  left  the  bishop  much  disappointed,  but  did  not  give  up  my 
plan.     It  seemed  to  me  if  I  could  gain  the  neighboring  priests  to 


NOMINATED    CURATE    OF     BEAUPORT. 


341 


_ji»in  with  me  in  my  crusade  I  wanted  to  preach  against  the  usage 
of  intoxicating  drinks,  we  might  bring  about  a  glorious  reform 
in  Canada,  as  Father  Mathew  was  doing  in  Ireland. 

But  the  priests,  without  a  single  exception,  laughed  at  me, 
turned  my  plans  into  ridicule,  and  requested  me  in  the  name  of 
common  sense,  never  to  speak  any  more  to  them  of  giving  up 
their  social  glass  of  wine. 

I  shall  never  he  able  to  give  any  idea  of  my  sadness,  when  I 
saw  that  I  was  to  be  opposed  by  my  bishop  and  the  whole 
clergy  in  the  reform  which  I  considered  then,  more  and  more 
every  day,  the  only  plank  of  salvation,  not  only  of  my  dear  peo- 
ple of  Beauport,  but  of  all  Canada.  God  alone  knows  the  tears 
I  shed,  the  long,  sleepless  nights  I  have  passed  in  studying, 
praying,  meditating  on  that  great  and  holy  work  of  Beauport. 
I  had  recourse  to  all  the  saints  of  heaven  for  more  strength  and 
light;  for  I  was  determined,  at  any  cost,  to  try  and  form  a  tem- 
perance society. 

But  every  time  I  wanted  to  begin,  I  was  frightened  by  the 
idea,  not  only  of  the  wrath  of  the  whole  clergy,  which  would 
hunt  me  down,  but  still  more  of  the  ridicule  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, which  would  overwhelm  me  in  case  of  a  failure.  In  these 
perplexities,  I  thought  I  would  do  well  to  write  to  Father 
Mathew,  and  ask  him  his  advice  and  the  help  of  his  prayers. 
That  noble  apostle  of  temperance  of  Ireland  answered  me  in  an 
eloquent  letter,  and  pressed  me  to  begin  the  work  in  Canada  as 
he  had  done  in  Ireland,  relying  on  God,  without  paying  any 
attention  to  the  opposition  of  man. 

The  wise  and  Christian  words  of  that  great  and  worthy  Irish 
priest  came  to  me  as  the  voice  of  God ;  and  I  determined  to 
begin  the  work  at  once,  though  the  whole  world  should  be 
against  me. 

I  felt  that  if  God  was  in  my  favor,  I  would  succeed  in 
reforming  my  parish  and  my  country  in  spite  of  all  the  priests 
and  bishops  of  the  world,  and  I  was  right.  Before  putting  the 
plow  into  the  ground,  I  had  not  only  prayed  to  God  and  all  his 
saints,  almost  day  and  night,  during  many  months,  but  I  had 
studied  all   the  best  books  written   in  England,  France  and  the 


342  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

United  States  on  the  evil  wrought  by  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks.  I  had  taken  a  pretty  good  course  of  anatomy  in  the 
Marine  Hospital  under  the  learned  Dr.  Douglas. 

I  was  then  well  posted  on  the  great  subject  I  was  to  bring 
before  my  country.  I  knew  the  enemy  I  was  to  attack.  And 
the  weapons  which  would  give  him  the  death  blow  were  in  my 
hands.  I  only  wanted  my  God  to  strengthen  my  hands  and 
direct  my  blows.  I  prayed  to  Him,  and  in  His  great  mercy  He 
heard  m« 


Chapter  XXXIV. 


HAKD  OF  GK)D  IN  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  TEUCPBR- 
AKOE  SOCIETY  IN  BEAUPOBT  AND  VICINITY. 

**A^Y  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,"  saith  the  Lord.  And, 
iVl  we  may  add.  His  works  are  not  like  the  works  of  man. 
This  great  truth  has  never  been  better  exemplified  than  in  the 
marvellous  rapidity  with  which  the  great  temperance  reformation 
grew  in  Canada,  in  spite  of  the  most  formidable  obstacles.  To 
iraise  any  man  for  such  work  seems  to  me  a  kind  of  blasphemy, 
^hen  it  is  so  visibly  the  work  of  the  Lord. 

I  had  hardly  finished  reading  the  letter  of  Ireland's  Apostle 
of  Temperance,  when  I  fell  on  my  knees  and  said:  "Thou 
knowest,  O  my  God,  that  I  am  nothing  but  a  sinner.  There  is 
no  light,  no  strength,  in  thy  poor,  unprofitable  servant.  There- 
fore come  down  into  my  heart  and  soul,  to  direct  me  in  that 
temperance  reform  which  thou  hast  put  into  my  mind  to  estab- 
lish. Without  thee,  I  can  do  nothing,  but  with  thee,  I  can  do 
all  things." 

This  was  on  Saturday  night,  March  20th,  1839.  ^^^  "^'^^^ 
morning  was  the  first  Sabbath  of  Lent.  I  said  to  the  people 
after  the  sermon:  "  I  have  told  you,  many  times,  that  I  sincerely 
believe  it  is  my  mission  from  God  to  put  an  end  to  the  unspeak- 
able miseries  and  crimes  engendered  every  day,  here  and  in  our 
whole  country,  by  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks.  Alcohol  is 
the  greatest  enemy  of  your  souls  and  your  bodies.  It  is  the  most 
implacable  enemy  of  your  husbands,  your  wives  and  your  chil- 
dren. It  is  the  most  formidable  enemy  of  our  dear  country  and 
our  holy  religion.  I  must  destroy  that  enemy.  But  I  cannot 
fight  alone.  I  must  form  an  army  and  raise  a  banner  in  your 
midst,  around  which   all   the   soldiers  of  the   gospel  will  rally. 

343 


344 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


Jesus  Christ  himself  will  be  our  general.  He  will  bless  and 
sanctify  us — He  will  lead  us  to  victory.  The  next  three  days 
will  be  consecrated  by  you  and  by  me  in  preparing  to  raise  that 
army.  Let  all  those  who  wish  to  fill  its  ranks,  come  and  pass 
these  three  days  with  me  in  prayer  and  meditation  at  the  feet  of 
our  sacred  altars.  Let  even  those  who  do  not  want  to  be 
soldiers  of  Christ,  or  to  fight  the  great  and  glorious  battles 
which  are  to  be  fought,  come,  through  curiosity,  to  see  a  most 
marvellous  spectacle.  I  invite  every  one  of  you,  in  the  name  of 
our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  whom  alcohol  nails  anew  to  the  cross 
every  day.  I  invite  you  in  the  name  of  the  holy  Virgin  Mary, 
and  of  all  the  saints  and  angels  of  God,  who  are  weeping  in 
heaven  for  the  crimes  committed  every  day  by  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks.  I  invite  you  in  the  names  of  the  wives, 
whom  I  see  here  in  your  midst,  weeping  because  they  have 
drunkard  husbands.  I  invite  you  to  come  in  the  names  of  the 
fathers  whose  hearts  are  broken  by  drunkard  children.  I  invite 
you  to  come  in  the  name  of  so  many  children  who  are  starving, 
naked  and  made  desolate  by  their  drunkard  parents.  I  invite 
you  to  come  in  the  name  of  your  immortal  souls,  which  are  to 
be  eternally  damned  if  the  giant  destroyer,  Alcohol,  be  not 
driven  from  our  midst." 

The  next  morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  my  church  was  crammed 
by  the  people.  My  first  address  was  at  half-past  eight  o'clock, 
the  second  at  10.30  a.  m.,  the  third  at  2  p.  m.,  and  the  fourth  at 
five.  The  intervals  between  the  addresses  were  filled  by  beauti- 
ful hymns  selected  for  the  occasion. 

Many  times  during  my  discourse,  the  sobs  and  the  cries  of  the 
people  were  such  that  I  had  to  stop  speaking,  to  mix  my  sobs 
and  my  tears  with  those  of  my  people.  The  first  day  seventy- 
five  men,  from  among  the  most  desperate  drunkards,  enrolW 
themselves  under  the  banner  of  Temperance.  The  second  dajf 
I  gave  again  four  addresses,  the  effects  of  which  were  still  more 
blessed  in  their  result.  Two  hundred  of  my  dear  parishioners 
were  enrolled  in  the  grand  army  which  was  to  fight  against 
their  implacable  enemy. 

But  it    would    require    the    hand   of  an  angel  to  write  the 


Establishment  of  temperance  society.  3x5 

history  of  the  third  day,  at  the  end  of  which,  in  the  midst  of 
tears,  sobs,  and  cries  of  joy,  three  hundred  more  of  that  noble 
people  swore,  in  the  presence  of  their  God,  never  to  touch,  taste, 
nor  handle  the  cursed  drinks  with  which  Satan  inundates  the 
earth  with  desolation,  and  fills  hell  with  eternal  cries  of  despair. 

During  these  three  days,  more  than  two- thirds  of  my  people 
had  publicly  taken  the  pledge  of  temperance,  and  had  solemnly 
said,  in  the  presence  of  God,  at  the  feet  of  their  altars,  "  For  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the  grace  of  God,  I  promise  that  I 
will  never  take  any  intoxicating  drink,  except  as  a  medicine.  1 
also  pledge  myself  to  do  all  in  my  power,  by  my  words  and  ex- 
ample, to  persuade  others  to  make  the  same  sacrifice." 

The  majority  of  my  people,  among  whom  we  counted  the 
most  degraded  drunkards,  were  changed  and  reformed,  not  by 
me  surely,  but  by  the  visible,  direct  work  of  the  great  and 
merciful  God,  who  alone  can  change  the  heart  of  man.  , 

As  a  great  number  of  people  from  the  surrounding  parishes, 
and  even  from  Quebec,  had  come  to  hear  me  the  third  day, 
through  curiosity,  the  news  of  that  marvellous  work  spread  very 
quickly  throughout  the  whole  country.  The  press,  both  French 
and  English,  were  unanimous  in  their  praises  and  felicitations. 
But  when  the  Protestants  of  Quebec  were  blessing  God  for  that 
reform,  the  French  Canadians,  at  the  example  of  their  priests, 
denounced  me  as  a  fool  and  heretic. 

The  second  day  of  our  revival,  I  had  sent  messages  to  four  of 
the  neighboring  curates,  respectfully  requesting  them  to  come 
and  see  what  the  Lord  was  doing,  and  help  me  to  -bless  Him, 
But  they  refused.  They  answered  my  note  with  their  con- 
temptuous silence.  One  only,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Roy,  curate  of 
Charlesbourg,  deigned  to  write  me  a  few  words,  which  I  copy 
here: 

« 
Rev.  Mr.  Chiniquy.  Curate  of  Beauport. 

My  dear  Confrere : — Please  forgive  me  if  I  cannot  forget  the  respect  I 
owe  to  myself,  enough  to  go  and  see  vour  fooleries. 

Truly  yours, 

PiBR&s  Roy. 

Charlesbourg,  March  5th,  1839. 


34^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  indignation  of  the  bishop  knew  no  bounds.  A  few  days 
after,  he  ordered  me  to  go  to  his  palace,  and  give  an  account  of 
what  he  called  my  "  strange  conduct." 

When  alone  with  me,  he  said:  "  Is  it  possible,  Mr.  Chiniquy, 
that  you  have  so  soon  forgotten  my  prohibition  not  to  establish 
that  ridiculous  temperance  society  in  your  parish?  Had  you 
compromised  yourself  alone  by  that  Protestant  comedy — for  it 
is  nothing  but  that — I  would  remain  silent,  in  my  pity  for  you. 
But  you  have  compromised  our  holy  religion  by  introducing  a 
society  whose  origin  is  clearly  heretical.  Last  evening,  the 
venerable  Grand  Vicar  Demars  told  me  that  you  would  sooner 
or  later  become  a  Protestant,  and  that  this  was  your  first  step. 
Do  you  not  see  that  the  Protestants  only  praise  you?  Do  you 
not  blush  to  be  praised  only  by  heretics?  Without  suspecting 
it,  you  are  just  entering  a  road  which  leads  to  your  ruin.  You 
have  publicly  covered  yourself  with  such  ridicule  that  I  fear  your 
usefulness  is  at  an  end,  not  only  in  Beauport,  but  in  all  my 
diocese.  I  do  not  conceal  it  from  you,  my  first  thought,  when, 
an  eye-witness  told  me  yesterday  what  you  had  done,  was  to 
interdict  you.  I  have  been  prevented  from  taking  that  step  only 
by  the  hope  that  you  will  undo  what  you  have  done.  I  hope 
that  you  yourself  will  dissolve  that  Anti-Catholic  association,  and 
promise  to  put  an  end  to  these  novelties,  which  have  too  strong 
a  smell  of  heresy  to  be  tolerated  by  your  bishop." 

I  answered:  "  My  lord,  your  lordship  has  not  forgotten  that 
it  was  absolutely  against  my  own  will  that  I  was  appointed 
curate  of  Beauport;  and  God  knov/s  that  you  have  only  to  say  a 
word,  and  without  a  murmur,  I  will  give  you  my  resignation, 
that  you  may  put  a  better  priest  at  the  head  of  that  people, 
which  I  consider,  and  which  is  really,  to-day,  the  noblest  and  the 
most  sober  people  of  Canada.  But  I  will  put  a  condition  to  the 
resignation  of  my  position.  It  is,  that  I  will  be  allowed  to 
publish  before  the  world,  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Begin,  my  prede- 
cessor, has  never  been  troubled  by  his  bishop  for  having  allowed 
his  people,  during  twenty-three  years,  to  swim  in  the  mire  of 
drunkenness ;  and  that  I  have  been  disgraced  by  my  bishop,  and 
turned  out   from    that   same   parish,  for  having   been  the  instru- 


ESTABLISHMENT    OF    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETX. 


347 


ment>  by  the  mercy  of  God,  in  making  them  the  most  sober  peo- 
ple of  Canada." 

The  poor  bishop  felt  at  once  that  he  could  not  stand  on  the 
ground  he  had  taken  with  me.  He  was  a  few  minutes  without 
knowing  what  to  say.  He  saw  also  that  his  threats  had  no  in- 
fluence over  me,  and  that  I  was  not  ready  to  undo  what  I  had 
done. 

After  a  painful  silence  of  a  minute  or  two,  he  said: 
"  Do  you  not  see  that  the  solemn  promises  you  have  extorted 
from  those  poor  drunkards  are  rash  and  unwise ;  they  will  break 
them  at  the  first  opportunity.      Their  future  state  of  degradation, 
after  such  an  excitement,  will  be  worse  than  the  first." 

I  answered :  "  I  would  partake  of  your  fears  if  that  change 
were  my  work;  but  as  it  is  the  Lord's  work,  we  have  nothing 
to  fear.  The  works  of  men  are  weak  and  of  short  duration,  but 
the  works  of  God  are  solid  and  permanent. 

"  About  the  prophecy  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Demars,  that  I 
have  taken  my  first  step  towards  Protestantism,  by  turning  a 
drunken  into  a  sober  people,  I  have  only  to  say  that  if  that 
prophecy  be  true,  it  would  show  that  Protestantism  is  more  apt 
than  our  holy  religion  to  work  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
good  of  the  people.  I  hope  that  your  lordship  is  not  ready  to 
accept  that  conclusion,  and  that  you  will  not  then  trouble  your- 
Jelf  with  the  premises.  The  venerable  Grand  Vicar,  with 
many  other  priests,  would  do  better  to  come  and  see  what  the 
Lord  is  doing  in  Beauport,  than  to  slander  me  and  turn  false 
prophets  against  its  curate  and  people.  My  only  answer  to  the 
remarks  of  your  lordship,  that  the  Protestants  alone  praise  me, 
when  the  Roman  Catholic  priests  and  people  condemn  me, 
proves  only  one  thing,  viz:  that  Protestants,  on  this  question, 
understand  the  Word  of  God  and  have  more  respect  for  it  than 
we  Roman  Catholics.  It  would  prove  also  that  they  understand 
the  interests  of  humanity  better  than  we  do,  and  that  they  have 
more  generosity  than  we  have,  to  sacrifice  their  selfish  propensi- 
ties to  the  good  of  all.  I  take  the  liberty  of  saying  to  your  lord- 
ship, that  in  this,  as  in  many  other  things,  it  is  high  time  that 
we  should  open  our  eyes    to  our    false    position.       Instead    of 


348  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

remaining  at  the  lowest  step  of  the  ladder  of  one  of  the  most 
Christian  virtues,  temperance,  we  must  raise  ourselves  to  the  top 
where  Protestants  are  reaping  so  many  precious  fruits.  Besides, 
would  your  lordship  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me  why  I  am  de- 
nounced and  abused  here,  and  by  my  fellow-priests  and  my  bishop, 
for  forming  a  temperance  society  in  my  parish,  when  Father 
Mathew,  who  wrote  to  me  lately  to  encourage  and  direct  me  in 
that  work,  is  publicly  praised  by  his  bishops  and  blessed  by  the 
Pope  for  covering  Ireland  with  temperance  societies? 

"  Is  your  lordship  ready  to  prove  to  me  that  Samson  was  a 
heretic  in  the  camp  of  Israel,  when  he  fulfilled  the  promise  made 
by  his  parents,  that  he  would  never  drink  any  wine  or  beer;  and 
John,  the  Baptist,  was  he  not  a  heretic  and  a  Protestant  as  I  am, 
when,  to  obey  the  voice  of  God,  he  did  what  I  do  to-day,  with 
my  dear  people  of  Beauport  ?  " 

At  that  very  moment  the  sub-secretary  entered  to  tell  the 
bishop  that  a  gentleman  wanted  to  see  him  immediately  on 
pressing  business,  and  the  bishop  abruptly  dismissed  me,  to  my 
great  comfort;  and  my  impression  was  that  he  was  as  glad  to  get 
rid  of  me  as  I  w^as  to  get  rid  of  him. 

With  the  exception  of  the  secretary,  Mr.  Cazeault,  all  the 
priests  I  met  that  day  and  the  next  month,  either  gave  me  the 
cold  shoulder  or  overwhelmed  me  with  their  sarcasms.  One  of 
them  who  had  friends  in  Beauport,  w^as  bold  enough  to  try  to 
go  through  the  whole  parish  to  turn  me  into  ridicule  by  saying 
that  I  was  half  crazy,  and  the  best  thing  the  people  could  do 
was  to  drink  moderately  to  my  health  w^hen  they  went  to 
town. 

But  at  the  third  house,  he  met  a  woman,  who,  after  listening 
to  the  bad  advice  he  was  giving  to  her  husband,  said  to  him :  ^  I 
do  not  know  if  our  pastor  is  a  fool  in  making  people  sober,  but 
I  know  you  are  a  messenger  of  the  devil,  w^hen  you  advise  nay 
husband  to  drink  again.  You  know  that  he  w^as  one  of  the  most 
desperate  drunkards  of  Beauport.  You  personally  know  also 
what  blows  I  have  received  from  him  when  he  was  drunk;  how 
poor  and  miserable  we  were;  how  many  children  had  to 
run  on  the  streets,  half   naked,  and   beg  in  order  not  to  43tarT« 


ESTABLISHMENT    OF    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  34a 

with  me!  Now  that  my  hushand  has  taken  the  pledge  of  tem- 
perance, we  have  every  comfort;  my  dear  children  are  well  fed 
and  clothed,  and  I  find  myself  as  in  a  little  paradise.  If  you  do 
not  go  out  of  this  immediately,  I  will  turn  you  out  with  my 
broomstick." 

And  she  would  have  fulfilled  her  promise,  had  not  the  priest 
had  the  good  sense  to  disapper  at  the  double-quick. 

The  next  four  months  after  the  foundation  of  the  society  in 
Beauport,  my  position  when  with  the  other  priests  was  very 
painful  and  humiliating.  I  consequently  avoided  their  company 
as  much  as  possible.  And  as  for  my  bishop,  I  took  the  resolu- 
tion never  to  go  and  see  him,  except  he  should  order  me  into  his 
presence.  But  my  merciful  God  indemnified  me  by  the  unspeak- 
able joy  I  had  in  seeing  the  marvellous  change  wrought  by  Him 
among  my  dear  people.  Their  fidelity  in  keeping  the  pledge 
was  really  wonderful,  and  soon  became  the  object  of  the  admir- 
ation of  the  whole  city  of  Quebec  and  of  the  surrounding  coun- 
try. The  change  was  so  sudden,  so  complete  and  so  permanent, 
that  the  scoffing  bishops  and  priests,  with  their  friends,  had,  at 
last,  to  blush  and  be  silent. 

The  public  aspect  of  the  parish  was  soon  changed,  the  houses 
were  repaired,  the  debts  paid,  the  children  well  clad.  But  what 
8p>oke  most  eloquently  about  the  marvellous  reform,  was  that  the 
seven  thriving  saloons  of  Beauport  were  soon  closed,  and  their 
owners  forced  to  take  to  other  occupations.  Peace,  happiness, 
abundance  and  industry,  everywhere  took  the  place  of  the  riots, 
fighting,  blasphemies  and  the  squalid  misery  which  prevailed 
before.  The  gratitude  and  respect  of  that  noble  people  for 
their  young  curate  knew  no  bounds;  as  my  love  and  admiration 
for  them  cannot  be  told  by  human  words. 

However,  though  the  great  majority  of  that  good  people  had 
taken  the  pledge,  and  kept  it  honorably,  there  was  a  small 
minority,  composed  of  the  few  who  never  had  been  drunkards, 
who  had  not  yet  enrolled  themselves  under  our  blessed  banners. 
Though  they  were  glad  of  the  reform,  it  was  very  difficult  to 
persuade  them  to  give  up  their  social  glass!  I  thought  it  was 
my  duty  to  show   them   in    a  tangible  way,  what  I  had  so  often 


350 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


proved  with  my  words  only,  that  the  drinking  of  the  social  glass 
of  wine,  or  of  beer,  is  an  act  of  folly,  if  not  a  crime.  I  asked  my 
kind  and  learned  Doctor  Douglas  to  analyze,  before  the  people, 
the  very  wine  and  beer  used  by  them,  to  show  that  it  was 
nothing  else  but  a  disgusting  and  deadly  poison.  He  granted 
my  favor.  During  four  days  that  noble  philanthropist  extracted 
the  alcohol,  which  is  not  only  in  the  most  common,  but  in  the 
most  costly  and  renowned  wines,  beer,  brandy  and  whiskey. 
He  gave  that  alcohol  to  several  cats  and  dogs,  which  died  in  a 
few  minutes  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  people. 

These  learned  and  most  interesting  experiments,  coupled  with 
his  eloquent  and  scientific  remarks,  made  a  most  profound  im- 
pression. It  was  the  corner-stone  of  the  holy  edifice  which  our 
merciful  God  built  with  his  own  hands  in  Beauport.  The  few 
recalcitrants  joined  with  the  rest  of  their  dear  friends  to  show  to 
our  dear  Canada  that  the  temperance  societies  are  nothing  else 
than  drops  of  living  water  which  comes  from  the  fountains  of 
eternal  life,  to  reform  and  save  the  world. 


Chapter  XXXV. 

FOUNDATION  OF  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETIES  IN  THE  EIQH- 
BOEING  PARISHES— PBOVLDENTLAL  ARRIVAL  OP  SIONSIO- 
NOR  DE  FORBIN  JANSON,  BISHOP  OF  NANCY— HE  PUBLICLY 
DEFENDS  ME  AGAINST  THE  BISHOP  OF  QUEBEC,  AND  FOR- 
EVER  BREAKS  THE  OPPOSITION  OF  THE  CLERGY. 

THE  people  of  Beauport  had  scarcely  been  a  year  enrolled 
under  the  banners  of  temperance,  when  the  seven  thriving 
taverns  of  that  parish  were  deserted  and  their  owners  forced  to 
try  some  more  honorable  trade  for  a  living.  This  fact,  published 
by  the  whole  press  of  Quebec,  more  than  anything  forced  the 
opponents,  especially  among  the  clergy,  to  silence,  without  abso- 
lutely reconciling  them  to  my  views.  However,  it  was  becoming 
every  day  more  and  more  evident  to  all  that  the  good  done  in 
Beauport  was  incalculable,  both  in  a  material  and  moral  point  of 
view.  Several  of  the  best  thinking  people  of  the  surrounding 
parishes  began  to  say  to  one  another-.  "  Why  should  we  not 
try  to  bring  into  our  midst  this  temperance  reformation  which  is 
doing  so  much  good  in  Beauport?"  The  wives  of  drunkards 
would  say :  "  Why  does  not  our  curate  do  here,  what  the  curate 
of  Beauport  has  done  there?  " 

On  a  certain  day,  one  of  those  unfortunate  women,  who  had 
received,  with  a  good  education,  a  rich  inheritance,  which  her 
husband  had  spent  in  dissipation,  came  to  tell  me  that  she  had 
gone  to  her  curate  to  ask  him  to  establish  a  temperance  society 
in  his  parish,  as  we  had  done  in  Beauport ;  but  he  had  told  her 
"to  mind  her  own  business."  She  had  then  respectfully 
requested  him  to  invite  me  to  come  and  help  to  do  for  his  par- 
ishioners what  I  had  done  for  mine,  but  she  had  been  sternly 
rebuked  at  the  mention  of  my  name.  The  poor  woman  was 
weeping,  when  she  said :       "  Is  it  possible  that  our  priests  are  so 

35' 


35"2  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

indifferent  to  our  sufferings,  and  that  they  will  let  the  demon  <A 
drunkenness  torture  us  as  long  as  we  live,  when  God  gives  us 
such  an  easy  and  honorable  way  to  destroy  his  power  for  ever? " 

My  heart  was  touched  by  the  tears  of  that  lady,  and  I  said  to 
her:  "I  know  a  way  to  put  an  end  to  the  opposition  of  your 
curate,  and  force  him  to  bring  among  you  the  reformation  you 
so  much  desire;  but  it  is  a  very  delicate  matter  for  me  to  mention 
to  you.  I  must  rely  upon  your  sacred  promise  of  secrecy,  before 
opening  my  mind  to  you  on  tliat  subject." 

"  I  take  my  God  to  witness,"  she  answered,  "  that  I  will 
never  reveal  your  secret."  "  Well,  madame,  if  I  can  rely  upon 
your  discretion  and  secrecy,  I  will  tell  you  an  infallible  way  to 
force  your  priest  to  do  what  has  been  done  here." 

«Oh!  for  God's  sake,"  she  said,  "tell  me  what  to  do." 

I  replied:  "  The  first  time  you  go  to  confession,  say  to  your 
priest  that  you  have  a  new  sin  to  confess  which  is  very  difficult 
to  reveal  to  him.  He  will  press  you  more  to  confess  it.  You 
will  then  say: 

"' Father,  I  confess  I  have  lost  confidence  in  you.'  Being 
asked  'Why?'  you  will  tell  him:  'Father,  you  know  the  bad 
treatment  I  have  received  from  my  drunken  husband,  as  well  as 
hundreds  of  other  wives  in  your  parish  from  theirs;  you  know 
the  tears  we  have  shed  on  the  ruin  of  our  children,  who  are 
destroyed  by  the  bad  example  of  their  drunken  fathers;  you 
know  the  daily  crimes  and  unspeakable  abominations  caused  by 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks;  you  could  dry  our  tears  and  make 
us  happy  wives  and  mothers,  you  could  convert  our  husbands 
and  save  our  children,  by  establishing  the  society  of  temperance 
here,  as  it  is  in  Beauport,  and  you  refuse  to  do  it.  How,  then, 
can  I  believe  you  are  a  good  priest,  and  that  there  is  any  charity 
and  compassion  in  you  for  us.''  " 

"  Listen  with  a  repectf ul  silence  to  what  he  will  tell  you ; 
accept  his  penance,  and  when  he  asks  you  if  you  regret  that  sin, 
answer  him  that  you  cannot  regret  it  till  he  has  taken  the  provi- 
dential means  which  God  offers   him  to  convert  the  drunkards. 

"  Get  as  many  other  women  whom  you  know  are  suffering 
as  you  do,  as  you  can,  to  go  and   confess  to  him  the  same  thing; 


DEFENDED    BY    THE    BISHOP    OF    NANCY. 


353 


and  you  will  see  that  his  obstinancy  will  melt  as  the  snow  befor« 
the  rays  of  the  sun  in  May." 

She  was  a  very  intelligent  lady :  She  saw  at  once  that  she  had 
in  hand  an  irresistible  power  to  force  her  priest  out  of  his  shame- 
ful and  criminal  indifference  to  the  welfare  of  his  people.  A 
fortnight  later  she  came  to  tell  me  that  she  had  done  what  I  had 
advised  her,  and  that  more  than  fifty  other  respectable  women 
had  confessed  to  their  curate  that  they  had  lost  confidence  in 
him,  on  account  of  his  lack  of  zeal  and  charity  for  his  people. 

My  conjectures  were  correct.  The  poor  priest  was  beside 
himself,  when  forced,  every  day,  to  hear  from  the  very  lips  of 
his  most  respectable  female  parishioners,  that  they  were  losing 
confidence  in  him.  He  feared  lest  he  should  lose  his  fine  parish 
near  Quebec,  and  be  sent  to  some  of  the  backwoods  of  Canada. 
Three  weeks  later,  he  was  knocking  at  my  door,  where  he 
had  not  been  since  the  establishment  of  the  temperance  society. 
He  was  very  pale,  and  looked  anxious.  I  could  see  in  his  coun- 
tenance that  I  owed  the  honor  of  this  visit  to  his  fair  penitents. 
However,  I  was  happy  to  see  him.  He  was  considered  a  good 
priest,  and  had  been  one  of  my  best  friends  before  the  formation 
of  the  temperance  society.  I  invited  him  to  dine  with  me,  and 
made  him  feel  at  home  as  much  as  possible,  for  I  knevv^  by  his 
embarrassed  manner  that  he  had  a  very  difficult  proposition  to 
make.     I  was  not  mistaken.     He  at  last  said: 

"Mr.  Chiniquy,  we  had,  at  first,  great  prejudices  against 
your  temperance  society ;  but  we  see  its  blessed  fruits  in  the  great 
transformation  of  Beauport.  Would  you  be  kind  enough  to 
preach  a  retreat  of  temperance,  during  three  days,  to  my  people, 
as  you  have  done  here  ? " 

I  answered:  "Yes,  sir;  with  the  greatest  pleasure.  But  it 
is  on  condition  that  you  will  yourself  be  an  example  of  the  sac- 
rifice, and  the  first  to  take  the  solemn  pledge  of  temperance,  in 
the  presence  of  your  people." 

"  Certainly,"  he  answered ;  "  for  the  pastor  must  be  an  ex- 
ample to  his  people." 

Three  weeks  later,  his  parish  had  nobly  followed  the  example 
of  Beauport,  and  the  good  curate  had  no  words  to  express  his 


354  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

joy.  Without  losing  a  day,  he  went  to  the  two  other  curates  of 
what  is  called  "  La  Cote  de  Beaupre,"  persuaded  them  to  do 
what  he  had  done,  and  six  weeks  after,  all  the  saloons  from 
Beauport  to  St.  Joachim  were  closed;  and  it  would  have  been 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  persuade  any  one  in  that  whole 
region  to  drink  a  glass  of  any  intoxicating  drink. 

Little  by  little,  the  country  priests  were  thus  giving  up  their 
prejudices,  and  were  bravely  rallying  around  our  glorious  ban- 
ners of  temperance.  But  my  bishop,  though  less  severe,  was  still 
very  cold  toward  me.  At  last,  the  good  providence  of  God  forced 
him,  through  a  great  humiliation,  to  count  our  society  among 
the  greatest  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings  of  the  age. 

At  the  end  of  August,  1840,  the  public  press  informed  us 
that  the  Count  de  Forbin  Janson,  Bishop  de  Nancy,  in  France, 
was  just  leaving  New  York  for  Montreal.  That  bishop,  who 
was  the  cousin  and  minister  to  Charles  the  Tenth,  had  been  sent 
into  exile  by  the  French  people,  after  the  king  had  lost  his 
crow^n  in  the  Revolution  of  1830.  Father  Mathew  had  told  me, 
in  one  of  his  letters,  that  this  bishop  had  visited  him,  and  blessed 
his  \vork  in  Ireland,  and  had  also  persuaded  the  Pope  to  send 
him  his  apostolical  benediction. 

I  saw,  at  once,  the  importance  of  gaining  the  approbation  of 
this  celebrated  man,  before  he  had  been  prejudiced  by  the  bishop 
against  our  temperance  societies.  I  asked  and  obtained  leave  of 
absence  for  a  few  days,  and  went  to  Montreal,  which  I  reached 
just  an  hour  after  the  French  bishop.  I  went  immediately  to 
pay  my  homage  to  hiin,  told  him  all  about  our  temperance  w^ork, 
asking  him,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  throw  bravely  the  weight  of 
his  great  name  and  jDosition  in  the  scale  in  favor  of  our  temper- 
ance societies.  He  promised  he  would,  adding :  "  I  am  perfectly 
persuaded  that  drunkenness  is  not  only  the  great  and  common 
sin  of  the  people,  but  still  more  of  the  priests  in  America,  as 
w^ell  as  in  Ireland.  The  social  habit  of  drinking  the  detestable 
and  poisonous  wines,  brandies  and  beer  used  on  this  continent, 
and  in  the  northern  parts  of  Europe,  where  the  vine  cannot 
grow,  is  so  general  and  strong,  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
save  the  people  from  becoming  drunkards,  except  through  an 


DEFENDED    BY    THE    BISHOP    OF    NANCY. 


355 


association  in  which  the  eHte  of  society  will  work  together  to 
change  the  old  and  pernicious  habits  of  common  life.  I  have 
seen  Father  Mathew,  who  is  doing  an  incalculable  good  in  Ire- 
land ;  and,  be  sure  of  it,  I  shall  do  all  in  my  power  to  strengthen 
your  hands  in  that  great  and  good  work.  But  do  not  say  to  any- 
body that  you  have  seen  me." 

Some  days  later,  the  Bishop  of  Nancy  was  m  Quebec,  the 
guest  of  the  Seminary,  and  a  grand  dinner  was  given  in  his 
honor,  to  which  more  than  one  hundred  priests  were  invited, 
with  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  his  coadjutor,  N.  G.  Turgeon, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  M.  Q.  R.  Bourget. 

As  one  of  the  youngest  curates,  I  had  taken  the  last  seat, 
which  was  just  opposite  the  four  bishops,  from  whom  I  was 
separated  only  by  the  breadth  of  the  table.  When  the  rich  and 
rare  viands  had  been  well  disposed  of,  and  the  most  delicate 
fruits  had  replaced  them,  bottles  of  the  choicest  wines  were 
brought  on  the  table  in  incredible  numbers.  Then  the  superior 
of  the  college,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Demars,  knocked  on  the  table  to 
command  silence,  and  rising  on  his  feet,  he  said  at  the  top  of  his 
voice:  "Please,  my  lord  bishops,  and  all  of  you,  reverend  gen- 
tlemen, let  us  drink  to  the  health  of  my  Lord  Count  de  Forbin 
Janson,  Primate  of  Lorraine  and  Bishop  of  Nancy." 

The  bottles  passing  around  were  briskly  emptied  into  the 
large  glasses  put  before  every  one  of  the  guests.  But  when  the 
wine  was  handed  to  me,  I  passed  it  to  my  neighbor  without 
taking  a  drop,  and  filled  my  glass  with  water.  My  hope  was 
that  nobody  had  paid  any  attention  to  what  I  had  done ;  but  I 
was  mistaken.  The  eyes  of  my  bishop,  my  Lord  Signaie,  were 
upon  me.  With  a  stern  voice,  he  said :  "  Mr.  Chiniquy,  what 
are  you  doing  there?  Put  wine  in  your  glass,  to  drink  with  us 
the  health  of  Mgr.  de  Nancy." 

These  unexpected  words  fell  upon  me  as  a  thunderbolt,  and 
paralyzed  me  with  terror.  I  felt  as  at  the  approach  of  the  most 
terrible  tempest  I  had  ever  experienced.  My  blood  ran  cold  in 
my  veins;  I  could  not  utter  a  word.  For  what  could  I  say, 
there,  without  compromising  myself  forever.  To  openly  resist 
my  bishop,  in  the  presence  of  such  an  august  assembly,  seemed 


35^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

impossible.  But  to  obey  him  was  also  impossible;  foi*  I  had 
promised  my  God  and  my  country  never  to  drink  any  wine.  I 
thought,  at  first,  that  I  could  disarm  my  superior  by  my  mod- 
esty and  my  humble  silence.  However,  I  felt  that  all  eyes  were 
upon  me.  A  real  chill  of  terror  and  unspeakable  anxiety  was 
running  through  my  whole  frame.  My  heart  began  to  beat  so 
violently  that  I  could  not  breathe.  I  wished,  then,  I  had  followed 
my  first  impression,  which  was  not  to  come  to  that  dinner.  I 
think  I  would  have  suffocated,  had  not  a  few  tears  rolled  down 
from  my  eyes,  and  helped  the  circulation  of  my  blood.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Laf ranee,  w^ho  was  by  me,  nudged  me,  and  said: 
^'Do  you  not  hear  the  order  of  my  Lord  Signaie?  Why  do 
you  not  answer,  by  doing  Nvhat  you  are  requested  to  do?"  I 
still  remained  mute,  just  as  if  nobody  had  spoken  to  me.  My 
eyes  were  cast  down ;  I  wished  then  I  were  dead.  The  silence 
of  death,  reigning  around  the  tables,  told  me  that  every  one 
was  waiting  for  my  answer;  but  my  lips  were  sealed.  After 
a  minute  of  that  silence,  which  seemed  as  long  as  a  whole  year, 
the  bishop,  with  a  loud  and  angry  voice  which  filled  the  large 
room,  repeated :  "  Why  do  you  not  put  wine  in  your  glass,  and 
drink  to  the  health  of  my  Lord  Forbin  Janson,  as  the  rest  of  us 
are  doing? " 

I  felt  I  could  not  be  silent  any  longer.  "  My  lord,"  I  said, 
"with  a  subdued  and  trembling  voice,  "  I  have  put  in  my  glass 
what  I  w^ant  to  drink.  I  have  promised  my  God  and  my  country 
that  I  would  never  drink  any  more  wine." 

The  bishop,  forgetting  the  respect  he  owed  to  himself  and 
to  those  around  him,  answered  me  in  the  most  insulting  manner: 
"You  are  nothing  but  a  fanatic,  and  you  want  to  reform  us." 

These  words  struck  me  as  the  shock  of  a  galvanic  battery, 
and  transformed  me  into  a  new  man.  It  seemed  as  if  they  had 
added  ten  feet  to  my  stature  and  a  thousand  pounds  to  my 
weight.  I  forgot  that  I  was  the  subject  of  that  bishop,  and 
remembered  that  I  was  a  man,  in  the  presence  of  another  man. 
I  raised  my  head  and  opened  my  eyes;  as  quick  as  lightning  I 
rose  to  my  feet,  and  addressing  the  Grand  Vicar  Demars,  super- 
ior of  the  seminary,  I  said  with   calmness:     "  Sir,  was   it  that  I 


DEFENDED    BY     THE     BISHOP     OF     NANCY. 


357 


might  be  insulted  at  your  table  that  you  have  invited  me  here? 
Is  it  not  your  duty  to  defend  my  honor  when  I  am  here,  your 
guest  ?  But,  as  you  seem  to  forget  what  you  owe  to  your  guests, 
I  will  take  my  own  defense  against  my  unjust  aggressor."  Then 
turning  towards  the  Bishop  de  Nancy,  I  said:  "My  Lord  de 
Nancy,  I  appeal  to  your  lordship  from  the  unjust  sentence  of 
my  own  bishop.  In  the  name  of  God,  and  of  His  Son,  Jesus 
Christ,  I  request  you  to  tell  us,  here,  if  a  priest  cannot,  for  his 
Saviour's  sake,  and  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men,  as  well  as 
for  his  own  self-denial,  give  up  forever  the  use  of  wine  and 
other  intoxicating  drinks,  without  being  abused,  slandered  and 
insulted,  as  I  am  here,  in  your  presence.'"' 

It  was  evident  that  my  words  had  made  a  deep  impression 
on  the  whole  company.  A  solemn  silence  followed  for  a  few 
seconds,  which  was  interrupted  only  by  my  bishop,  who  said  to 
the  Bishop  de  Nancy:    "  Yes,  yes,  my  lord;  give  us  your  sentence." 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  excitement  of  every  one  in 
that  multitude  of  priests,  who,  accustomed  from  their  infancv, 
abjectly  to  submit  to  their  bishop,  were,  for  the  first  time,  in  the 
presence  of  such  a  hand-to-hand  conflict  between  a  powerless, 
humble,  xmprotected  young  curate  and  his  all-powerful,  proud 
and  haughty  archbishop. 

The  Bishop  of  Nancy,  at  first,  refused  to  grant  my  request. 
He  felt  the  difficulty  of  his  position ;  but  after  Bishop  Signaie 
had  united  his  voice  to  mine,  to  press  him  to  give  his  verdict,  he 
rose  and  said: 

"My  Lord  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  and  you,  Mr.  Chiniquy, 
please  withdraw  your  request.  Do  not  press  me  to  give  my 
views  on  such  a  new,  but  important  subject.  It  is  only  a  few 
days  since  I  came  in  your*  midst.  It  w^ill  not  do  that  I  should  so 
soon  become  your  judge.  The  responsibility  of  a  judgment  in 
such  a  momentous  matter  is  too  great.     I  cannot  accept  iv." 

But  when  the  same  pressing  request  was  repeated  by  nine- 
tenths  of  that  vast  assembly  of  priests;  and  that  the  archbishop 
pressed  him  more  and  more  to  pronounce  his  sentence,  he  raised 
his  eyes  and  hands  to  heaven,  and  made  a  silent  but  ardent  prayer 
to  God.     His  countenance  took  an  air  of  dignity,  I  might  &ay 


35^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

inajesty,  which  gave  him  more  the  appearance  of  an  old  prophet 
than  of  a  man  of  our  day.  Then,  casting  his  eyes  upon  his  audi- 
ence, he  remained  a  considerable  time,  meditating.  All  eyes 
were  upon  him,  anxiously  waiting  for  the  sentence.  There  was 
an  air  of  grandeur  in  him,  at  that  moment,  which  seemed  to  tell 
us  that  the  purest  blood  of  the  great  kings  of  France  was  flow- 
ing in  his  veins.  At  last,  he  opened  his  lips,  but  it  was  again 
pressingly  to  request  me  to  settle  the  difficulty  with  the  arch- 
bishop among  ourselves,  and  to  discharge  him  of  that  responsi- 
bility. But  we  both  refused  again  to  grant  him  his  request,  and 
pressed  him  to  give  his  judgment.  All  this  time,  I  was  standing, 
having  publicly  said  that  I  would  never  sit  again  at  that  table, 
imless  that  insult  was  wiped  away. 

Then  he  said  with  unspeakable  dignity:  "My  Lord  of  Que- 
bec! Here,  before  us,  is  our  young  priest,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  who, 
once  on  his  knees,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  his  angels,  for  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  good  of  his  own  soul  and  the  good  of 
his  country,  has  promised  never  to  drink!  We  are  the  witnesses 
that  he  is  faithful  to  his  promise,  though  he  has  been  pressed  to 
break  it  by  your  lordship. 

"  And  because  he  keeps  his  pledge  with  such  heroism,  your 
lordship  has  called  him  a  fanatic!  Now,  I  am  requesfied  by 
every  one  here,  to  pronounce  my  verdict  on  that  painful  occur- 
rence. Here  it  is!  Mr.  Chiniquy  drinks  no  wine!  But,  if  I 
look  through  the  past  ages,  when  God  himself  was  ruling  his 
own  people,  through  his  prophets,  I  see  Samson,  who,  by  the 
special  order  of  God,  never  drank  wine  or  any  other  intoxicating 
drink!  If  from  the  Old  Testament,  I  pass  to  the  New,  I  see 
John  the  Baptist,  the  precursor  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who 
to  obey  the  command  of  God,  never  drank  any  wine  ! !  When  I 
look  at  Mr.  Chiniquy,  and  see  Samson  at  his  right  hand  to  pro- 
tect him;  and  John  the  Baptist  at  his  left  to  bless  him,  I  find  his 
position  so  strong  and  impregnable,  that  I  would  not  dare  attack 
or  condemn  him!" 

These  words  w^ere  pronounced  in  the  most  eloquent  and  dig- 
nified manner,  and  were  listened  to  with  a  most  respectful  and 
breathless  attention. 


DEFENDED    BY    THE    BISHOP    OF    NANCY. 


359 


Bishop  tie  Nancy,  keeping  his  gravity,  sat  down,  emptied  his 
wine  glass  into  a  tumbler,  filled  it  with  water,  and  drank  to  my 
health. 

The  poor  archbishop  was  so  completely  confounded  and  hu- 
miliated, that  every  one  felt  for  him.  The  few  minutes  spent 
at  the  table,  after  this  extraordinary  act  of  justice,  seemed  op- 
pressive to  every  one.  Scarcely  any  one  dared  to  look  at  his 
neighbor,  or  speak,  except  in  a  low  and  subdued  tone,  as  when  a 
great  calamity  h^  just  occurred. 

Nobody  thought  of  drinking  his  wine;  and  the  health  of  the 
Bishop  de  Nancy  was  left  undrunk.  But  a  good  number  of 
priests  filled  their  glasses  with  water,  and  giving  me  a  silent  sign 
of  approbation,  drank  to  my  health. 

The  society  of  temperance  had  been  dragged  by  her  enemies 
to  the  battle-field,  to  be  destroyed ;  but  she  bravely  fought,  and 
gained  the  victory.  Now,  she  was  called  to  begin  her  triumph- 
ant march  through  our  dear  Canada. 


Chapter  XXXVL 

THE  GOD  OF  BOME  EATEN  BY  A  RAT. 

HAS  God  given  us  ears  to  hear,  eyes  to  set,  and  intelligence 
to  understand?  The  Pope  says,  no!  But  the  Son  of  God 
says,  yes.  One  of  the  most  severe  rebukes  of  our  Saviour  to 
His  disciples,  was  for  their  not  paying  sufficient  attention  to 
what  their  eyes  had  seen,  their  ears  heard,  and  their  intelligence 
perceived.  "Perceive  ye  not  yet,  neither  understand.?  Have 
ye  your  heart  yet  hardened.''  Having  eyes,  see  ye  not,  having 
ears,  hear  ye  not?  and  do  not  ye  remember?" — (Mark  viii:  17, 
18.) 

This  solemn  appeal  of  our  Saviour  to  our  common  sense,  is 
the  most  complete  demolition  of  the  whole  fabric  of  Rome.  The 
day  that  a  man  ceases  to  believe  that  God  would  give  us  our 
senses  and  our  intelligence  to  ruin  and  deceive  us,  but  that  they 
were  given  to  guide  us,  he  is  lost  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  The 
Pope  knows  it;  hence  the  innumerable  encyclicals,  laws,  and 
regulations  by  which  the  Roman  Catholics  are  warned  not  to 
trust  the  testimony  of  their  ears,  eyes,  or  intelligence. 

"Shut  your  eyes,"  says  the  Pope  to  his  priests  and  people;  "I 
will  keep  mine  opened,  and  I  will  see  for  you.  Shut  your  ears, 
for  it  is  most  dangerous  for  you  to  hear  what  is  said  in  the  world. 
I  will  keep  my  ears  opened,  and  will  tell  you  what  you  must 
know.  Remember  that  to  trust  your  own  intelligence,  in  the 
research  of  truth,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God,  is 
sure  perdition.  If  you  want  to  know  anything,  come  to  me:  I 
am  the  only  sure  infallible  fountain  of  truth,"  saith  the  pope. 

And  this  stupendous  imposture  is  accepted  by  the  people  and 

the  priests  of  Rome  with  a  mysterious  facility,  and  retained  with 

a  most  desolating  tenacity. 

360 


THE  GOD  OF  ROME  EATEN  BY  A  RAT.         361 

It  is  to  them  what  the  iron  ring  is  to  the  nose  of  the  ox, 
when  a  rope  is  once  tied  to  it.  The  poor  animal  loses  its  self- 
control.  Its  natural  strength  and  energies  will  avail  it  nothing; 
it  must  go  left  or  right,  at  the  will  of  the  one  who  holds  the  end 
of  the  rope. 

Reader,  please  have  no  contempt  for  the  unfortunate  priests 
and  people  of  Rome,  but  pity  them,  when  you  see  them  walking 
in  the  ways  into  which  intelligent  beings  ought  not  to  take  a 
step.  They  cannot  help  it.  The  ring  of  the  ox  is  at  their  nose, 
and  the  Pope  holds  the  end  of  the  rope.  Had  it  not  been  for 
that  ring,  I  would  not  have  been  long  at  the  feet  of  the  wafer 
god  of  the  Pope.  Let  me  tell  you  of  one  of  the  shining  rays  of 
truth,  which  were  evidently  sent  by  our  merciful  God,  with  a 
mighty  power,  to  open  my  eyes.  But  I  could  not  follow  it;  the 
iron  ring  was  at  my  nose;  and  the  Pope  was  holding  the  end  of 
the  rope. 

This  was  after  I  had  been  put  at  the  head  of  the  magnificent 
parish  of  Beauport,  in  the  spring  of  1840.  There  was  living  at 
"  La  jeune  Lorette,"  an  old  retired  priest,  who  was  blind.  He 
was  born  in  France,  where  he  had  been  condemned  to  death, 
under  the  Reign  of  Terror.  Escaped  from  the  guillotine,  he 
had  fled  to  Canada,  where  the  bishop  of  Quebec  had  put  him  in 
the  elevated  post  of  Chaplain  of  the  Ursuline  Nunnery.  He 
had  a  fine  voice,  was  a  good  musician,  and  had  some  pretensions 
to  the  title  of  poet.  Having  composed  a  good  number  of  church 
hymns,  he  had  been  called  "  Pere  Cantique, "  but  his  real  name 
was  "Pere  Daule."  His  faith  and  piety  were  of  the  most 
exalted  character  among  the  Roman  Catholics;  though  these  did 
not  prevent  him  from  being  one  of  the  most  amiable  and  jovial 
men  I  ever  saw.  But  his  blue  eyes,  sweet  as  the  eyes  of  the 
dove ;  his  fine  yellow  hair,  falling  on  his  shoulders  as  a  golden 
fieece ;  his  white,  rosy  cheeks,  and  his  constantly  smiling  lips, 
had  been  too  much  for  the  tender  hearts  of  the  good  nuns.  It 
was  not  a  secret  that  "  Pere  Cantique,"  when  young,  had  made 
several  interesting  conquests  in  the  monastery.  There  was  no 
wonder  at  that.  Indeed,  how  could  that  young  and  inexperienced 
butterfly  escape  damaging  his  golden   wings,  at  the  numberless 


364  FIFTY     VP;ARS     in     THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

burning  lamps  of  the  fair  virgins?  But  the  mantle  of  charity 
had  been  put  on  the  wounds  which  the  old  warrior  had  received 
on  that  formidable  battlefield,  from  which  even  the  Davids, 
Samsons,  Solomons,  and  many  others,  had  escaped  only  after 
being  mortally  wounded. 

To  help  the  poor,  blind  priest,  the  curates  around  Quebec 
used  to  keep  him  by  turn  in  their  parsonages,  and  give  him  the 
care  and  marks  of  respect  due  to  his  old  age.  After  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Roy,  curate  of  Charlesbourg,  had  kept  him  five  or  six 
weeks,  I  had  taken  him  to  my  parsonage.  It  was  in  the  month 
of  May — a  month  entirely  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  to  whom  Father  Daule  was  a  most  devoted  priest. 
His  zeal  was  really  inexhaustible,  when  trying  to  prove  to  us 
how  Mary  was  the  surest  foundation  of  the  hope  and  salvation 
of  sinners;  how  she  was  constantly  appeasing  the  just  wrath  of 
her  son  Jesus,  who,  w^ere  it  not  for  his  love  and  respect  to  her, 
would  have,  long  since,  crushed  us  down. 

The  Councils  of  Rome  have  forbidden  their  blind  priests  to 
sav  their  mass;  but  on  account  of  high  piety,  he  had  got  from 
the  Pope  the  privilege  of  celebrating  the  short  mass  of  the 
Virgin,  which  he  knew  perfectl\'  by  heart.  One  morning, 
when  the  old  priest  v\'as  at  the  altar,  saying  his  mass,  and  I  was 
in  the  vestry,  hearing  the  confessions  of  the  people,  the  young 
servant  boy  came  to  me  in  haste,  and  said,  "  Father  Daule  calls 
you;  please  come  quick." 

Fearing  something  wrong  had  happened  to  my  old  friend,  I 
lost  no  time,  and  ran  to  him.  I  found  him  nervously  tapping  the 
altar  with  his  two  hands,  as  in  an  anxious  search  for  some  very 
precious  thing.  When  very  near  to  him,  I  said:  "What  do  you 
want?"  He  answered  with  a  shriek  of  distress:  "The  good 
god  has  disappeared  from  the  altar.  He  is  lost!  (J'^i  perdu  le 
Bon  Dieu.  II  est  disparu  de  dessus  I'autel!")  Hoping  that  he 
was  mistaken,  and  that  he  had  only  thrown  away  the  good  god, 
"  Le  Bon  Dieu,"  on  the  floor,  by  some  accident,  I  looked  on  the 
altar,  at  his  feet,  everywhere  I  could  suspect  that  Xh^  good  god 
might  have  been  moved  awa^■  by  some  mistake  of  the  hand. 
But  the  most  minute  search  was  of  no  avail;  the  good  god  could 


THE    GOD    OF    ROMK    EATEN    BY    A    RAT.  363 

not  be  found.  I  really  felt  stunned.  At  first,  remembering  the 
thousand  miracles  I  had  read  of  the  disappearance  and  marvellous 
changes  of  form  of  the  wafer  god,  it  came  to  my  mind  that  we 
were  in  the  presence  of  some  great  miracle ;  and  that  my  eyes 
were  to  see  some  of  these  great  marvels  of  which  the  books  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  are  filled.  But  I  had  soon  to  change  my 
mind,  when  a  thought  flashed  through  iny  memory,  which 
chilled  the  blood  in  my  veins.  The  church  of  Beauport  was 
inhabited  by  a  multitude  of  the  boldest  and  most  insolent  rats  I 
have  ever  seen.  Many  times,  when  saying  my  mass,  I  had  seen 
the  ugly  nose  of  several  of  them,  who,  undoubtedly  attracted  by 
the  smell  of  the  fresh  wafer,  wanted  to  make  their  breakfast 
with  the  body,  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  my  Christ.  But,  as  I 
was  constantly  in  motion,  or  praying  with  a  loud  voice,  the  rats 
had  invariably  been  frightened  and  fled  away  into  their  secret 
quarters.  I  felt  terror-stricken  at  the  thought  that  the  good 
god  (Le  Bon  Dicu)  had  been  taken  away  and  eaten  by  the 
rats. 

Father  Daule  so  sincerely  believed  what  all  the  priests  of 
Rome  arc  bound  to  believe,  that  he  had  the  power  to  turn  the 
wafer  into  God,  that,  after  he  had  pronounced  the  words  by 
which  the  great  mar\el  was  wrought,  he  used  to  pass  from  five 
to  fifteen  minutes  in  silent  adoration.  He  was  then  as  motionless 
as  a  marble  statue,  and  his  feelings  were  so  strong  that  often 
torrents  of  tears  used  to  flow  from  his  eyes  on  his  cheeks. 
Leaning  my  head  toward  the  distressed  old  priest,  I  asked  him : 
"  Have  you  not  remained,  as  you  are  used,  a  long  time  motion- 
less, in  adoring  the  good  god,  after  the  consecration  ? " 

He  quickly  answered,  "  Yes,  but  what  has  this  to  do  with  the 
loss  of  the  good  god  ? ' 

I  replied  in  a  low  voice,  but  with  a  real  accent  of  distress  and 
awe,  "  Some  rats  have  dragged  and  eaten  the  good  god ! " 

"  What  do  you  say  ? "  replied  Father  Daule.  "  The  good 
god  carried  away  and  eaten  by  rats  ? " 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  about  it." 

"My  God!  my  God!  what  a  dreadful  calamity  upon  me!** 
rejoined  the   old   man;  and   raising   his   hands   and   his   eyes  to 


364  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

beaven,  he  cried  out  again,  "  My  God !  my  God !  Why  have 
you  not  taken  away  my  life  before  such  a  misfortune  could  fall 
upon  me!"  He  could  not  speak  any  longer;  his  voice  was 
;hoked  by  his  sobs 

At  first,  I  did  not  know  what  to  say;  a  thousand  thoughts, 
some  very  grave,  some  exceedingly  ludicrous,  crossed  my  mind 
more  rapidly  than  I  can  say  them.  I  stood  there,  as  nailed  to 
the  floor,  by  the  old  priest,  who  was  weeping  as  a  child,  till  he 
asked  me,  with  a  voice  broken  by  his  sobs,  "  What  must  I  do 
now  ? "  I  answered  him :  "  The  Church  has  foreseen  occur- 
rences of  that  kind,  and  provided  for  them  the  remedy.  The 
only  thing  you  have  to  do  is  to  get  a  new  wafer,  consecrate  it, 
and  continue  your  mass  as  if  nothing  strange  had  occurred.  I 
will  go  and  get  you,  just  now,  new  bread."  I  went,  without 
losing  a  moment,  to  the  vestry,  got  and  brought  a  new  wafer, 
which  he  consecrated  and  turned  into  a  new  god,  and  finished 
his  mass,  as  I  had  told  him.  After  it  was  over,  I  took  the  dis- 
consolate old  priest  by  the  hand  to  my  parsonage  for  breakfast. 
But  all  along  the  way  he  rent  the  air  with  his  cries  of  distress. 
He  would  hardly  taste  anything,  for  his  soul  was  drowned  in  a 
sea  of  trouble.  I  vainly  tried  to  calm  his  feelings,  by  telling  him 
that  it  was  no  fault  of  his;  that  this  strange  and  sad  occurrence 
was  not  the  first  of  that  kind;  that  it  had  been  calmly  foreseen 
by  the  Church,  which  had  told  us  what  to  do  in  these  circum- 
stances; that  there  was  no  neglect,  no  fault,  no  offence  against 
God  or  man  on  his  part. 

But  as  he  would  not  pay  the  least  attention  to  what  I  said,  I 
felt  the  only  thing  I  had  to  do  was  to  remain  silent  and  respect 
his  grief,  by  letting  him  unburden  his  heart  by  his  lamentations 
and  tears. 

I  had  hoped  that  his  good  common  sense  would  help  him  to 
overcome  his  feelings,  but  I  was  mistaken ;  his  lamentations  were 
as  long  as  those  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  expressions  of  his  grief  as 
bitter. 

At  last,  I  lost  patience,  and  said:  "  My  dear  Father  Daule, 
allow  me  to  tell  you  respectfully  that  it  is  quite  time  to  stop  these 
lamentations    and    tears.       Our    great    and    just    God    cannot 


THE    GOD    OF    ROME    EATEN    BY    A    RAT.  365 

like  Buch  an  excess  of  sorrow  and  regret  about  a  thing  which 
was  only,  and  entirely,  under  the  control  of  His  power  and 
eternal  wisdom." 

"  What  do  you  say  there  ? "  replied  the  0I4  priest,  with  a 
vivacity  which  resembled  anger. 

"  I  say  that,  as  it  was  not  in  your  power  to  foresee  or  to 
avoid  that  occurrence,  you  have  not  the  least  reason  to  act  and 
speak  as  you  do.  Let  us  keep  our  regrets  and  our  tears  for  our 
sins;  we  cannot  shed  too  many  tears  on  them.  But  there  is  no 
sin  here,  and  there  must  be  some  i"easonable  limit  to  our  sorrow. 
If  anybody  had  to  weep  and  regret  without  measure  what  has 
happened,  it  would  be  Christ.  For  He  alone  could  foresee  that 
event,  and  he  alone  could  prevent  it.  Had  it  been  His  will  to 
oppose  this  sad  and  mysterious  act,  it  was  in  His,  not  in  our 
power  to  prevent  it.  He  alone  has  suffered  from  it,  because  it 
was  His  will  to  suffer  it." 

"Mr.  Chiniquy,"  he  replied,  "you  are  quite  a  young  man, 
and  I  see  you  have  the  want  of  attention  and  experience  which 
are  often  seen  among  young  priests.  You  do  not  pay  a  sufficient 
attention  to  the  awful  calamity  which  has  just  occurred 
in  your  church.  If  you  had  more  faith  and  piety  you 
would  weep  with  me  instead  of  laughing  at  my  grief.  How 
can  you  speak  so  lightly  of  a  thing  which  makes  the  angels  of 
God  weep?  Our  dear  Saviour  dragged  and  eaten  by  rats  ! 
Oh!  great  God!  does  not  this  surpass  the  humiliation  and  horrors 
of  Calvary?" 

"  My  dear  Father  Daule,"  I  replied,  "  allow  me  respectfully 
to  tell  you  that  I  understand,  as  well  as  you  do,  the  nature  of  the 
deplorable  event  of  this  morning.  I  would  have  given  my  blood 
to  prevent  it.  But  let  us  look  at  that  fact  in  its  proper  light. 
It  is  not  a  moral  action  for  us;  it  did  not  depend  on  our  will 
more  than  the  spots  of  the  sun.  The  only  one  who  is  account- 
able for  that  fact  is  our  God!  For,  again,  I  say,  that  He  was 
the  only  one  who  could  foresee  and  prevent  it.  And,  to  give 
you  plainly  my  own  mind,  I  tell  you  here  that  if  I  were  God 
Almighty,  and  a  miserable  rat  would  come  to  eat  me,  I  would 
strike  him  dead  before  he  could  touch  me." 


366  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

There  is  no  need  of  confessing  it  here;  every  one  who  reads 
these  pages,  and  pays  attention  to  this  conversation,  will  under- 
stand that  my  former  so  robust  faith  in  my  priestly  power  of 
changing  the  wafer  into  my  God  had  melted  away  and  evapor- 
ated from  my  mind,  if  not  entirely,  at  least  to  a  great  extent. 

Great  and  new  lights  had  flashed  through  my  soul  in  that 
hour;  evidently  my  God  wanted  to  open  my  eyes  to  the  awful 
absurdities  and  impieties  of  a  religion  whose  God  could  be 
dragged  and  eaten  by  rats.  Had  I  been  faithful  to  the  saving 
lights  which  were  in  me  then,  I  was  saved  in  that  very  hour; 
and  before  the  end  of  that  day  I  would  have  broken  the  shame- 
ful chains  by  which  the  Pope  had  tied  my  neck  to  his  idol  of 
bread.  In  that  hour  it  seemed  to  me  evident  that  the  dogma  of 
transubstantiation  was  a  most  most  monstrous  imposture,  and 
my  priesthood  an  insult  to  God  and  man. 

My  intelligence  said  to  me  v^'ith  a  thundering  voice:  "Do 
not  remain  any  longer  the  priest  of  a  God  whom  you  make  e\'ery 
day,  and  whom  the  rats  can  eat." 

Though  blind.  Father  Daule  understood  very  well  by  the 
stern  accents  of  my  voice,  that  my  faith  in  the  god  whom  he 
had  created  that  morning,  and  whom  the  rats  had  eaten,  had 
been  seriously  modified,  if  not  entirely  crumbled  down.  He 
remained  silent  for  some  time,  after  which  he  invited  me  to 
sit  by  him ;  and  he  spoke  to  me  with  a  pathos  and  an  authority 
which  my  youth  and  his  old  age  alone  could  justify.  He  gave 
me  the  most  awful  rebuke  I  ever  had;  he  opened  on  my 
poor  wavering  intelligence,  soul  and  heart,  all  the  cataracts  of 
heaven.  He  overwhelmed  me  with  a  deluge  of  Holy  Fathers, 
Councils  and  infallible  Popes,  who  had  believed  and  preached 
before  the  whole  world,  in  all  ages,  the  dogma  of  transubstanti- 
ation. 

If  I  had  paid  attention  to  the  voice  of  my  intelligence,  and 
accepted  the  lights  which  my  merciful  God  was  giving  me,  I 
could  easily  have  smashed  the  arguments  of  the  old  priest  of 
Rome.  But  what  has  the  intelligence  to  do  in  the  Church  of 
Rome?  What  could  my  intelligence  say?  I  was  forbidden 
to  hear  it.     What  was  the  weight  of   my  poor,  isolated  intelli- 


THE  GOD  OF  ROME  EATEN  BY  A  RAT.         367 

gence,  when  put  in  the  balance  against  so  many  learned,  holy 
infallible  intelligences? 

Alas!  I  was  not  aware,  then,  that  the  weight  of  the  intelli- 
gence of  God,  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost  was  on  my  side; 
and  that,  weighted  against  the  intelligence  of  the  Popes,  they 
were  greater  than  all  the  words  against  a  grain  of  sand. 

One  hour  after,  shedding  tears  of  regret,  I  was  at  the  feet  of 
Father  Daule,  in  the  confessional  box,  confessing  the  great  sin  I 
had  committed  by  doubting,  for  a  moment,  of  the  power  of  the 
priests  to  change  a  wafer  into  God. 

The  old  priest,  whose  voice  had  been  like  a  lion's  voice,  when 
speaking  to  the  unbelieving  curate  of  Beauport,  had  become 
sweet  as  the  voice  of  a  lamb  when  he  had  me  at  his  feet,  con- 
fessing my  unbelief.  He  gave  me  my  pardon.  For  my  pen- 
ance, he  forbade  me  ever  to  say  a  word  on  the  sad  end  of  the 
god  he  had  created  that  morning;  for,  said  he:  "This  would 
destroy  the  faith  of  the  most  sincere  Roman  Catholics."  For 
the  other  part  of  the  penance,  I  had  to  go  on  my  knees  every 
day,  during  nine  days,  before  the  fourteen  images  of  the  way  of 
the  cross,  and  say  a  penitential  psalm  before  every  picture,  which 
I  did.  But  the  sixth  day  the  skin  of  my  knees  was  pierced,  and 
the  blood  was  flowing  freely.  I  suffered  real  torture  every  time 
I  kneeled  down,  and  at  every  step  I  made.  But  it  seemed  to  me 
that  these  terrible  tortures  were  nothing  compared  to  my  great 
iniquity ! 

I  had  refused,  for  a  moment, to  believe  that  a  man  can  create 
his  God  with  a  wafer!  and  I  had  thought  that  a  church  which 
adores  a  god  eaten  by  rats  must  be  an  idolatrous  church  I 


Chapter  XXXVII. 


VISIT  OF  A   PROTESTANT  STBANQEB— HE  THROWS  AN  ARROW 
INTO  MY  PRIESTLY  SOUL  NEVER  TO  BE  TAKEN  OUT. 


A  FEW  days  before  the  arrival  of  Bishop  de  Forbin  Janson,  I 
was  alone  in  my  study,  considering  my  false  position 
toward  my  ecclesiastical  superiors,  on  account  of  my  establishing 
the  temperance  society  against  their  formal  protest.  My. heart 
was  sad.  My  partial  success  had  not  blinded  me  to  the  reality 
of  my  deplorable  isolation  from  the  great  mass  of  the  clergy. 
With  very  few  exceptions,  they  were  speaking  of  me  as  a  dan- 
gerous man.  They  had  even  given  me  the  nickname  of  "  Le 
reformateur  au  petit  pied''''  (small-sized  reformer),  and  were 
losing  no  opportunity  of  showing  me  their  supreme  contempt 
and  indignation,  for  what  they  called  my  obstinacy. 

In  that  sad  hour,  there  were  many  clouds  around  my  horizon, 
and  my  mind  was  filled  with  anxiety;  when,  suddenly,  a  stranger 
knocked  at  my  door.  He  was  a  good-sized  man,  his  smiling 
lips  and  honest  face  were  beaming  with  the  utmost  kindness. 
His  large  and  noble  forehead  told  me,  at  once,  that  my  visitor 
was  a  man  of  superior  intellect.  His  whole  mien  was  that  of  a 
true  gentleman. 

He  pressed  my  hand  with  the  cordiality  of  an  old  friend,  and 
giving  me  his  name,  he  told  me  at  once  the  object  of  his  visit,  in 
these  words. 

"  I  do  not  come  here  only  in  my  name ;  but  it  is  in  the  name 
of  many,  if  not  of  all  the  English-speaking  people  of  Quebec 
and  Canada.  I  want  to  tell  you  our  admiration  for  the  great  re- 
form you  have  accomplished  in  Beauport.  We  know  the  stern 
opposition  of  your  superiors  and  fellow-priests  to  your  efforts, 
amd  w^e  admire  you  more  for  that. 

368 


VISIT    OF     A     PROTESTANT    STRANGER.  369 

"  Go  on,  sir,  you  have  on  your  side  the  great  God  of  heaven, 
who  has  said  to  us  all:  '  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it 
is  red,  when  it  giveth  its  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth  itself 
aright.  At  the  last,  it  biteth  like  a  serpent,  it  stingeth  like  an 
adder.' 

"  Take  courage,  sir,"  he  added;  "you  have,  on  your  side,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  Jesus  Christ  himself,  who  has  inspired  his 
Apostle  Paul  to  say :  '  I  will  not  drink  any  wine  if  it  can  be  a 
cause  of  sin  to  my  neighbor.'  Fear  not  man,  sir,  when  God  the 
Father,  and  His  son,  Jesus  Christ,  are  on  your  side.  If  j^ou  find 
any  opposition  from  some  quarter,  and  if  deluded  men  turn  you 
into  ridicule  when  gou  are  doing  such  a  Christian  work,  bless  ths 
Lore).  For  Jesus  Christ  has  said:  'Blessed  are  they  who  do 
liunger  and  thirst  after  righteouness,  for  they  shall  be  filled. 
Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile  you  and  persecute  you, 
and  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you,  falsely,  for  my 
sake.' 

"  I  come  also  to  tell  you,  sir,  that  if  there  are  men  who 
oppose  you,  there  are  many  more  who  are  praying  for  you  day 
and  night,  asking  our  Heavenly  Father  to  pour  upon  you  His 
most  abundant  blessiiigs. 

"  Intoxicating  drinks  are  the  curse  of  this  young  country.  It 
is  the  most  deadly  foe  of  every  father  and  mother,  the  most 
implacable  enemy  of  every  child  in  Canada.  It  is  the  ruin  of 
our  rich  families,  as  well  as  the  destruction  of  the  poor. 

"  The  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  under  any  form  or  pretext 
is  an  act  of  supreme  folly ;  for  alcohol  kills  the  body  and  damns 
the  soul  of  its  blind  victim. 

"You  have,  for  the  first  time,  raised  the  glorious  banners  of 
temperance  among  the  French  Canadian  people;  though  you  are 
alone,  to-day,  to  lift  it  up,  be  not  discouraged;  for,  before 
long,  you  will  see  your  intelligent  countrymen  rallying  around  it, 
to  help  you  to  fight  and  conquer. 

"  No  doubt  the  seed  you  sow  to-day  is  often  watered  with 
your  tears;  but  before  long  you  will  reap  the  richest  crop, 
and  your  heart  will  be  filled  with  joy  when  your  grateful  country 
will  bless  your  name.*' 


370  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

After  a  few  other  sentences  of  the  same  elevated  sentiments, 
he  hardly  gave  me  time  enough  to  express  my  feelings  of 
gratitude,  and  said :  "  I  know  you  are  very  busy,  I  do  not  want 
to  trespass  upon  3'our  time.  Good-bye,  sir;  may  the  Lord  bless 
you,  and  be  your  keeper  in  all  your  ways." 

He  pressed  my  hand,  and  soon  disappeared.  I  would  try, 
in  vain,  to  express  what  I  felt  when  alone  with  my  God,  after 
that  strange  and  providential  visit.  My  first  thought  was  to  fall 
on  my  knees  and  thank  that  merciful  God  for  having  sent  me 
such  a  messenger  to  cheer  me  in  one  of  the  darkest  hours  of  my 
life;  for  every  word  from  his  lips  had  fallen  on  my  wounded  soul 
as  the  oil  of  the  Good  Samaritan  on  the  bleeding  wounds  of  the 
traveler  to  Jericho.  There  had  been  such  an  elevation  of 
thought,  such  a  ring  of  true,  simple  but  sublime  faith  and  piety; 
such  love  of  man  and  fear  of  God  in  all  that  he  had  said.  It 
was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  words  so  conformable  to  my 
personal  views  and  profound  convictions  on  that  subject.  That 
stranger,  whose  visit  had  passed  as  quickly  as  the  visit  of  an 
angel  from  God,  had  filled  my  heart  with  such  joy  and  surprise 
at  the  unexpected  news  that  all  the  English-speaking  people  of 
Canada  were  praying  for  me! 

However,  I  did  not  fall  on  my  knees  to  thank  God ;  for  my 
sentiments  of  gratitude  to  God  were  suddenly  chilled  by  the 
unspeakable  humiliation  I  felt  when  I  considered  that  that 
stranger  was  a  Protestant! 

The  comparison  I  was  forced  to  make  between  the  noble 
sentiments,  the  high  philosophy,  the  Chiistian  principles  of  that 
Protestant  layman  with  the  low  expressions  of  contempt,  the 
absolute  want  of  generous  and  Christian  thoughts  of  my  bishop 
and  my  fellow-priests  when  they  were  turning  into  ridicule  that 
temperance  society  which  God  was  so  visibly  presenting  to  us  as 
the  best,  if  not  the  only  way,  to  save  the  thousands  of  drunkards 
who  were  perishing  around  us,  paralyzed  my  lips,  bewildered 
my  miud,  and  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  utter  a  word  of 
prayer.  My  first  sentiments  of  joy  and  of  gratitude  to  God 
soon  gave  way  to  sentiments  of  unspeakable  shame  and  distress. 

I  was  forced  to  acknowledge   that   these    Protestants,  whom 


VISIT    OF    A    PROTESTANT    STRANGER.  37, 

my  Church  had  taught  me,  through  all  her  councils,  to  anathe- 
matize and  curse  as  the  damned  slaves  and  followers  of  Satan, 
were,  in  their  principles  of  morality,  higher  above  us  than  the 
heavens  are  above  the  earth!  I  had  to  confess  to  myself  that 
those  heretics,  whom  my  Church  had  taught  me  to  consider  as 
rebels  against  Christ  and  His  Church,  knew  the  laws  of  God 
and  followed  them  much  more  closely  than  ourselves.  They 
had  raised  themselves  to  the  highest  degree  of  Christian  tem- 
perance, when  my  bishops,  with  their  priests,  were  swimming 
in  the  deadly  waters  of  drunkenness! 

A  voice  seemed  crying  to  me:  "  Where  is  the  superiority  of 
holiness  of  your  proud  Church  of  Rome  over  those  so-called 
heretics,  who  follow  more  closely  the  counsels  and  precepts  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ?'' 

1  tried  to  stifle  that  voice,  but  1  could  not.  Louder  and 
louder  it  was  heard  asking  me:  "  Who  is  nearer  God — the 
bishop,  who  so  obstinately  opposes  a  reform  which  is  so  evidently 
according  to  the  Divine  Word,  or  those  earnest  followers  of  the 
gospel,  who  make  the  sacrifice  of  their  old  and  most  cherished 
usages  with  such  pleasure,  when  they  see  it  is  for  the  good  of 
their  fellow-men  and  the  glory  of  God?"' 

I  wished  then  to  be  a  hundred  feet  below  the  ground,  in 
order  not  to  hear  those  questions  answered  within  my  soul. 
But  there  was  no  help;  I  had  to  hear  them,  and  to  blush  at  the 
reality  before  my  eyes. 

Pride!  yes,  diabolical  pride!  is  the  vice,  par  excellence^  of 
every  priest  of  Rome.  Just  as  he  is  taught  to  believe  and  say 
that  his  church  is  far  above  every  other  church,  so  he  is  taught 
to  believe  and  say  that,  as  a  priest,  he  is  above  all  the  kings, 
emperors,  governors  and  presidents  of  this  world.  That  pride 
is  the  daily  bread  of  the  pope,  the  bishop,  the  priests,  and  even 
the  lowest  layman  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 

It  is  also  the  great  secret  of  their  power  and  steength.  It  is 
this  diabolical  pride  which  nerves  them  with  an  iron  will,  to 
bring  down  everything  to  their  feet;  subject  every  human  being 
to  their  will,  and  tie  Q\^ry  neck  to  the  wheels  of  their  chariot. 
It  is  this   fearful   pride  which  so  often   gives   them   that   stoicai 


372 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


patience  and  indomitable  courage  in  the  midst  of  the  most  cruel 
pain,  or  in  the  face  of  the  most  appalling  death,  which  so  many- 
deluded  Protestants  take  for  Christian  courage  and  heroism. 
The  priest  of  Rome  believes  that  he  is  called  by  God  Almighty 
to  rule,  subdue  and  govern  the  world.  With  all  those  preroga- 
tives that  he  fancies  granted  him  by  heaven,  he  builds  up  a  high 
pyramid,  on  the  top  of  which  he  seats  himself,  and  from  that 
elevation  looks  down  with  the  utmost  contempt  on  the  rest  of 
the  world. 

If  anyone  suspects  that  I  exaggerate  in  thus  speaking  of  the 
pride  of  the  priest,  let  him  read  the  following  haughty  words 
which  Cardinal  Manning  puts  on  the  lips  of  the  pope  in  one  of 
his  lectures : 

"  I  acknowledge  no  civil  power;  I  am  the  subject  of  no  prince. 
I  am  more  than  this.  I  claim  to  be  the  supreme  judge  and 
director  of  the  conscience  of  men :  of  the  peasant  who  tills  his 
field  and  of  the  prince  who  sits  ujion  the  throne;  of  the  house- 
hold that  lives  in  the  shade  of  privacy,  and  the  legislator  that 
makes  laws  for  the  kingdom.  I  am  the  sole,  last,  supreme  judge 
of  what  is  right  or  wrong." 

Is  it  not  evident  that  the  Holy  Ghost  speaks  of  this  pride  of 
the  priests  and  of  the  pope — the  high  priest  of  Rome — when  he 
says:  "That  man  of  sin,  that  son  of  perdition,  who  opposeth 
and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is 
worshipped,  so  that  he,  as  God,  sits  in  the  temple  of  God,  show- 
ing himself  that  he  is  God." 

That  caste  pride  which  was  in  me,  though  I  did  not  see  it 
then,  as  it  is  in  every  priest  of  Rome,  though  he  does  not  sus- 
pect it,  had  received  a  rude  check,  indeed,  from  that  Protestant 
visitor.  Yes,  I  must  confess  it,  he  had  inflicted  a  deadly  wound 
on  my  priestly  pride ;  he  had  thrown  a  barbed  arrow  into  my 
priestly  soul  which  I  tried  many  times,  but  always  in  vain,  to 
take  away.  The  more  I  attempted  to  get  rid  of  this  arrow,  the 
deeper  it  went  through  my  very  bones  and  marrow.  That 
strange  visitor,  who  caused  me  to  pass  so  many  hours  and  days 
of  humiliation,  when  forcing  me  to  blush  at  the  inferiority 
of  the  Christian  principles  of  my  Church  compared  with  those 


VISIT    OF    A    PROTESTANT    STRANGER.  373 

of  the  Protestants,  is  well  known  in  Canada,  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  as  the  founder  and  first  editor  of  two  of  the 
best  religious  papers  of  America,  the  Montreal  Witness  and  the 
New  York   Witness.     His  name  is  John  Dougall. 

As  he  is  still  living,  I  am  happy  to  have  this  opportunity  of 
thanking  and  blessing  him  again  for  the  visit  he  paid  to  the 
young  curate  of  Beauport  forty-five  years  ago. 

I  was  not  aware  then  that  the  wounds  inflicted  by  that  un- 
known but  friendly  hand  was  one  of  the  great  favors  bestowed 
upon  me  by  my  merciful  God;  but  I  understand  it  now.  Many 
rays  of  light  have  since  come  from  the  wounds  which  my 
priestly  pride  received  that  day.  Those  rays  of  light  helped 
much  to  expel  the  darkness  which  surrounded  me,  by  leading 
me  to  see,  in  spite  of  myself,  that  the  vaunted  holinesa  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  is  a  fraud. 


Chapter    XXXVIII. 

ERECTION  OF  THE  COLUMN  OF  TEMPERANCE-  SOHOOIj  BTTHjD- 
INGS  -ADDRESSES-A  NOBIiE  AND  TOTJCHINO  ACT  OP  THE 
PEOPLE  OF  BEAUPORT. 

THE  battle   fought   and   gained  at   the  grand  dinner  of  the 
Quebec  Seminary  by  the  society  of  temperance  had  been 
decisive. 

Tiie  triumpli  was  as  complete  as  it  was  glorious.  Hereafter 
her  march  to  the  conquest  of  Canada  was  to  be  a  triumph.  Her 
blessed  banners  were  soon  to  be  planted  over  all  the  cities,  towns 
and  villages  of  my  dear  country. 

To  commemorate  the  expression  of  their  joy  and  gratitude  to 
God  to  the  remotest  generations,  the  people  of  Beauport  erected 
the  beautiful  Column  of  Temperance,  which  is  still  seen  half- 
way between  Quebec  and  the  Montmorency  Falls.  The  Bishop 
de  Nancy,  my  Lord  Forbin  Janson,  blessed  that  first  monument 
of  temperance,  September  7th,  1841,  in  the  midst  of  an  immense 
multitude  of  people. 

The  parishes  of  St.  Peter,  St.  John,  St.  Famille  (Orleans 
Island),  with  St.  Michel  were  the  first  after  Lange  Gardien, 
Chateau  Richer,  St.  Anne  and  St.  Joachin,  to  request  me  to 
preach  on  temperance. 

Soon  after,  the  whole  population  of  St.  Roch,  Quebec,  took 
the  pledge  with  a  wonderful  unanimity,  and  kept  it  long  with 
marvellous  fidelity.  In  order  to  show  to  the  whole  country 
their  feelings  of  gratitude,  they  preseiited  me  with  a  fine  picture 
of  the  Column  of  Temperance  and  a  complimentary  address, 
written  and  delivered  by  one  of  the  most  promising  young  men 
of  Quebec,  Mr.  John  Cauchon,  who  was  raised  some  years  later 
to  the  dignity  of  a  Cabinet  Minister,  and  w^ho  has  been  the 
worthy  lieutenant-governor  of  Manitoba. 

37+ 


ERECTION'    OF    THE    COLUMN    OF    TEMPERANCE.  375 

That  address  was  soon  followed  by  another  from  the  citizens 
of  Quebec  and  Beauport,  presented  along  with  my  portrait,  by 
Mr.  Joseph  Parent,  then  editor  of  the  Canadien^  and  afterwards 
Provincial  Secretary  of  Canada. 

What  a  strange  being  man  is!  How  fickle  are  his  judg- 
ments! In  1842,  they  had  no  words  sufficiently  flattering  to 
praise  the  very  man  in  the  face  of  whom  they  were  spitting  in 
1838,  for  doing  the  very  same  thing!  Was  I  better  for  estab- 
lishing the  society  of  temperance  in  1842  than  I  was  in  establish- 
ing it  in  1838?  No!  And  was  I  worse  when,  in  1S3S,  bishops, 
priests  and  people  were  abusing,  slandering  and  giving  me  bqd 
names  for  raising  the  banners  of  temperance  over  my  country, 
than  I  was  in  continuing  to  lift  it  up  in  1842?      No? 

The  sudden  and  complete  change  of  the  judgment  of  men  in 
such  a  short  period  of  time  had  the  good  and  providential  effect 
of  filling  my  mind  \vith  the  most  supreme  indifference,  not  to 
say  contempt,  for  what  men  thought  or  said  of  me. 

Yea!  this  sudden  passage  from  condemnation  to  that  of 
praise,  when  I  was  doing  the  very  same  work,  had  the  good 
effect  to  cure  me  of  that  natural  pride  which  one  is  apt  to  feel 
when  publicly  applauded  by  men. 

It  is  to  that  knowledge,  acquired  when  young,  that  I  owe 
the  preservation  of  my  dignity  as  man  and  priest,  when  all  my 
bishops  and  their  priests  were  arrayed  against  me  at  the  dining 
table  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec.  It  is  that  knowledge,  also, 
that  taught  me  not  to  forget  that  I  was  nothing  but  a  worm  of 
the  dust  and  an  unprofitable  servant  of  God,  when  the  same 
men  overwhelmed  me  with  their  unmerited  praises. 

Let  not  my  readers  think,  however,  that  I  was  absolutely 
indifferent  to  this  change  of  public  feeHng;  for  no  words  can 
tell  the  joy  I  felt  at  the  assurance  which  these  public  manifesta- 
tions afforded  me  that  the  cause  of  temperance  was  to  triumph 
everywhere  in  my  country. 

Let  me  here  tell  a  fact  too  honorable  to  the  people  of  Beau- 
port  to  be  omitted.  As  soon  as  the  demon  of  intemperance  was 
driven  from  my  parish,  I  felt  that  my  first  duty  was  to  give  my 
attention  to  education,  which  had  been  so  shamefully   neglected 


376  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

by  my  predecessors  that  there  was  not  a  single  school  in  the 
parish  worthy  of  that  name.  I  proposed  my  plan  to  the  people, 
asked  their  co-operacion  and  set  to  work  without  delay. 

I  began  by  erecting  the  fine  stone  school  house  near  the 
church,  on  the  site  of  the  old  parsonage.  The  old  walls  were 
pulled  down,  and  on  the  old  foundation  a  good  structure  was 
soon  erected  with  the  free  collections  raised  in  the  village.  But 
the  work  was  hardly  half  finished  when  I  found  myself  without 
a  cent  to  carry  it  on.  I  saw  at  once  that,  having  no  idea  of  the 
value  of  education,  the  people  would  murmur  at  my  asking  any 
more  money.  I  therefore  sold  my  horse,  a  fine  animal  given 
me  by  a  rich  uncle,  and  with  the  money  finished  the  building. 

My  people  felt  humiliated  and  pained  at  seeing  their  pastor 
obliged  to  walk  Avhen  going  to  Quebec  or  visiting  the  sick. 
They  said  to  each  other;  "  Is  it  not  a  burning  shame  for  us  to 
have  forced  our  young  curate  to  sell  his  fine  horse  to  build  our 
school  houses,  when  it  would  have  been  so  easy  to  do  that  work 
ourselves?     Let  us  repair  our  faults." 

On  my  return  from  establishing  the  society  of  temperance  in 
St.  John,  two  weeks  later,  my  servant  man  said  to  me: 

"Please,  Mr.  le  Cure,  come  to  the  stable  and  see  a  very 
curious  thing." 

"  What  curious  thing  can  there  be  ?  "  I  answered. 
"  Well,  sir,  please  come  and  you  will  see." 
What  was  both  my  surprise  and  pleasure  to  find  one  of  the 
most  splendid  Canadian  horses  there,  as  mine!  For  my  servant 
said  to  me:  "During  your  absence  the  people  have  raised  five 
hundred  dollars  and  bought  this  fine  horse  for  you.  They  say 
they  do  not  want  any  longer  to  see  their  curate  walking  in  the 
mud.  When  they  drove  the  horse  here,  that  I  might  present 
him  to  you  as  a  surprise  on  your  arrival,  I  heard  them  saying 
that,  with  the  temp>erance  society,  you  have  saved  them  more 
than  five  hundred  dollars  every  week  in  money,  time  and  health, 
and  that  it  was  only  an  act  of  justice  to  give  you  the  savings  of 
a  week." 

The  only  way  of  expressing  my  gratitude  to  my  noble 
people  was  to  redouble  my  exertions  in  securing  the  benfits  of 


ERECTION  OF  THE  COLUMN  OF  TEMPERANCE.     3^7 

a  good  education  to  their  children.  I  soon  proposed  to  the 
people  to  build  another  snhool  house  two  miles  distant  from  the 
first. 

But  I  was  not  long  wkhout  seeing  that  this  new  enterprise 
was  to  be  still  more  uphill  work  than  the  first  one  among  the 
people,  of  whom  hardly  one  in  fifty  could  sign  his  name. 

"  Have  not  our  fathers  done  well  without  those  costly  schools  ?" 
said  many.  "  What  is  the  use  of  spending  so  much  money  for 
a  thing  that  does  not  add  a  day  to  our  existence,  nor  an  atom  to 
our  comfort?  " 

I  soon  felt  confronted  by  such  a  deadly  indifference,  not  to 
say  opposition,  on  the  part  of  my  best  farmers,  that  I  feared  for 
a  few  days  lest  I  had  really  gone  too  far.  The  last  cent  of  my 
own  revenues  was  not  only  given,  but  a  little  personal  debt 
created  to  meet  the  payments,  and  a  round  sum  of  $500  had  to 
be  found  to  finish  the  work.  ).  visited  the  richest  man  of  Beau- 
port  to  ask  him  to  come  to  my  rescue.  Forty  years  before  he 
had  come  to  Beauport  barefooted,  without  a  cent,  to  work.  He 
had  employed  his  first  earned  dollars  in  purchasing  some  rum, 
with  which  he  had  doubled  his  money  in  two  hours;  and  had 
continued  to  double  his  money,  at  that  rate,  in  the  same  way, 
till  he  was  worth  nearly  $200,000. 

He  had  then  stopped  selling  rum,  to  invest  his  money  in  city 
properties.  He  answered  me:  "My  dear  curate,  I  would  have 
no  objections  to  give  you  the  $500  you  want,  if  I  had  not  met 
the  Grand  Vicar  Demars  yesterday,  who  warned  me,  as  an  old 
friend,  <igainst  what  he  calls  your  dangerous  and  exaggerated 
views  in  reference  to  the  education  of  the  peo]31e.  He  advised 
me,  for  your  own  good,  and  the  good  of  the  people,  to  do  all  in 
my  power  to  induce  you  to  desist  from  your  plan  of  covering 
our  parishes  with  schools." 

"  Will  you  allow  me,"  I  answered,  "  to  mention  our  conversa- 
tion to  Mr.  Demars,  and  tell  him  what  you  have  just  said  about 
his  advising  you  to  oppose  me  in  my  efforts  to  promote  the  inter- 
ests of  education  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,  by  all  means,"  answered  Mr.  Des  Roussell.  "  T 
allow  you  to  repeat  to  the  venerable  superior  of  the  Seminary  of 


378  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Quebec  what  he  said  to  me  yesterday;  it  was  not  a  secret,  foi' 
there  were  several  other  farmers  of  Beauport  tu  whom  he  said 
the  very  same  thing.  If  you  ignore  that  the  priests  of  Quebec 
are  opposed  to  your  plans  of  educating'our  children  you  must  be 
the  only  one  who  does  not  know  it,  for  it  is  a  public  fact.  Your 
difficulties  in  raising  the  funds  you  want  come  only  from  the 
opposition  of  the  rest  of  the  clergy  to  you  in  this  matter;  we 
have  plenty  of  money  in  Beauport  to-day,  and  we  would  ieel 
happy  to  help  you.  But  you  understand  that  our  good-will  is 
somewhat  cooled  by  the  opposition  of  men  whom  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  respect." 

I  replied .  "  Do  you  not  remember,  my  dear  Mr.  Des  Rous- 
sell,  that  those  very  same  priests  opposed  me  in  the  same  way 
in  my  very  first  efforts  to  establish  the  temperance  society  in 
your  midst?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  he  answered  with  a»smile,  "  we  remember  it  well, 
but  you  have  converted  them  to  your  views  now." 

•»  Well,  my  dear  sir,  I  hope  we  shall  convert  them  also  in 
this  question  of  education." 

The  very  next  morning,  I  was  knocking  at  the  door  of  the 
Rev.  Grand  Vicar  Demars,  after  I  had  tied  my  splendid  horse 
in  the  courtyard  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec.  I  was  received 
with  the  utmost  marks  of  courtesy.  Without  losing  any  time, 
I  repeated  to  the  old  superior  what  Mr.  Des  Roussell  had  told 
me  of  his  opposition  to  my  educational  plans,  and  respectfully 
asked  him  if  it  were  true. 

The  poor  Grand  Vicar  seemed  as  if  thunder-sti'uck  by  my 
abrupt,  though  polite  question.  He  tried,  at  first,  to  explain 
what  he  had  said,  by  taking  a  long  circuit,  but  I  mercilessly 
brought  him  to  the  point  at  issue,  and  forced  him  to  say,  "  Yes,  I 
said  it." 

I  then  rejoined  and  said:  "Mr.  Grand  Vicar,  I  am  only  a 
child  before  you,  when  comparing  my  age  with  yours;  however, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be  the  curate  of  Beauport.  It  is  in  that 
capacity  that  I  respectfully  ask  you  by  what  right  you  oppose 
iTiy  plans  for  educating  our  children?" 

"  I  hope,  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  he  answered,  "  that  you  do  not  mean 


ERECTION    OF    THE    COLUMN    OF    TEMPERANCE.  379 

to  say  that  I  am  the  enemy  of  education ;  for  I  would  answer 
you  that  this  is  the  first  house  of  education  on  this  continent,  and 
that  I  was  at  its  head  before  you  were  born.  I  hope  that  I  have 
the  right  to  beheve  and  say  that  the  old  Superior  of  the  Seminary 
of  Quebec  understands  as  well  as  the  young  curate  of  Beauport 
the  advantage  of  a  good  education.  But  I  will  repeat  to  you 
what  I  said  to  Mr.  Des  Roussell,  that  it  is  a  great  mistake  to 
introduce  such  a  general  system  of  education  as  you  want  to  do 
in  Beauport.  Let  every  parish  have  its  well  educated  notary, 
doctor,  merchants,  and  a  few  others  to  do  the  public  business; 
that  is  enough.  Our  parishes  of  Canada  are  models  of  peace 
and  harmony  under  the  direction  of  their  good  curates,  but  they 
will  become  unmanageable  the  very  day  your  system  of  educa- 
tion spreads  abroad ;  for  then  all  the  bad  propensities  of  the 
heart  will  be  developed  with  an  irresistible  force.  Besides,  you 
know  that  since  the  conquest  of  Canada  by  Protestant  England, 
the  Protestants  are  waiting  for  their  opportunity  to  spread  the 
Bible  among  our  people.  The  only  barrier  we  can  oppose  to 
that  danger  is  to  have  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  only  a  very 
limited  number  of  our  people  who  can  read  or  write.  For  as 
soon  as  the  common  people  are  able  to  read,  they  will,  like  Adam 
and  Eve,  taste  the  forbideen  fruit;  they  will  read  the  Bible,  turn 
Protestant,  and  be  lost  for  time  and  eternity." 

In  my  answer,  among  other  things,  I  said :  "  Go  into  the 
country,  look  at  the  farm  which  is  well  cultivated,  ploughed  with 
attention  and  skill,  richly  manured,  and  sown  with  good  seed,  is 
it  not  infinitely  more  pleasant  and  beautiful  to  live  on  such  a  farm 
than  on  one  which  is  neglected,  unskilfully  managed  and  covered 
with  noxious  weeds?  Well,  the  difference  between  a  well- 
educated  and  an  uneducated  people  is  still  greater  in  my  mind. 

"  I  know  that  the  priests  of  Canada,  in  general,  have  your 
views,  and  it  is  for  that  reason  that  the  parish  of  Beauport,  with 
its  immense  revenues,  has  been  left  without  a  school  worthy  the 
name,  from  its  foundation  till  my  going  there.  But  my  views 
are  absolutely  different;  and  as  for  your  fear  of  the  Bible,  I 
confess  we  are  antipodes  to  each  other.  I  consider  that  one  of 
the  greatest  blessings  God  has  bestowed  upon  me,  is  that  I  have 


380  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

read  the  Bible  when  I  was  on  my  mother's  knees.  I  do  not  even 
conceal  from  you  that  one  of  my  objects  in  giving  a  good 
education  to  every  boy  and  girl  of  Beauport,  is  to  put  the  gospel 
of  Christ  in  their  hands  as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  read  it." 

At  the  end  of  our  conversation,  w^hich  was  very  excited  on 
both  sides,  though  kept  in  the  bounds  of  politeness  during  nearly 
two  horns,  I  said:  "Mr.  Grand  Vicar,  I  did  not  come  here  to 
convert  you  to  my  views — this  would  have  been  impertinence  on 
my  part;  nor  can  you  convert  me  to  yours,  if  you  are  trying  it^ 
for  you  know  I  have  the  bad  reputation  of  being  a  hard  case.  1 
came  to  ask  you,  as  a  favor,  to  let  me  work  according  to  my 
conscience  in  a  parish  which  is  mine  and  not  yours.  Do  not 
interfere  any  more  in  my  affairs  between  me  and  my  parish- 
ioners than  you  would  like  me  to  interfere  in  the  management  of 
your  seminary.  As  you  would  not  like  me  to  critize  you  before 
your  pupils  and  turn  you  into  ridicule,  please  cease  adding  to  my 
difficulties  among  my  people,  by  continuing  in  the  future  what 
you  have  done  in  the  past. 

"  You  know,  Mr.  Grand  Vicar,  that  I  have  always  respected 
you  as  my  father;  you  have  many  times  been  my  adviser,  m}' 
confessor  and  my  friend;  I  hope  you  will  grant  me  the  favor  I 
ask  from  you  in  the  name  of  our  common  Saviour.  It  is  for 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  good  of  the  people  and  pastor  of 
Beauport  that  I  make  this  prayer." 

The  old  priest  was  a  kind-hearted  man.  These  last  words 
melted  his  heart.  He  promised  what  I  wanted,  and  we  parted 
from  each  other  on  better  terms  than  I  had  expected  at  first. 

When  crossing  the  courtyard  of  the  seminary,  I  saw  the 
Archbishop  Signaie,  who,  coming  from  taking  a  ride,  had  stopped 
to  look  at  my  horse  and  admire  it.  When  near  him,  I  said : 
"My  lord,  this  is  a  bishop's  horse,  and  ought  to  be  in  your 
hands." 

"  It  is  what  I  was  saying  to  my  secretary,"  replied  the  bishop. 
"  How  long  is  it  since  you  got  it  ?  " 

"  Only  a  few  days  ago,  my  lord." 

"Have  you  any  intention  of  selling  it?" 

"  I  would,  if  it  would  please  my  bishop,"  I  replied. 


ERECTION'    OF    THE    COLUMN    OF    TEMPERANCE.  381 

"  What  is  the  price?"  asked  the  bishop. 
**  Those  who  gave  it  to  me  paid  $500  for  it,"  I  replied. 

"Oh!  oh!  that  is  too  dear,"  rejoined  the  bishop;  "with  five 
hundred  dollars  we  can  get  five  good  horses.  Two  hundred 
would  be  enough." 

"  Your  lordship  is  joking.  Were  I  as  rich  as  I  am  poor,  one 
thousand  doHars  would  not  take  that  noble  animal  from  my 
hands,  except  to  have  it  put  in  the  carosse  of  my  bishop." 

"  Go  and  make  a  check  for  two  hundred  dollars  to  the  order 
of  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  said  the  bishop  to  his  sub-secretary,  Mr. 
Belisle. 

When  the  secretary  had  gone  to  make  the  check,  the  bishop 
being  alone  with  me,  took  from  his  portfeuille  three  bank  bills 
of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  and  put  them  into  my  hands,  say- 
ing: "This  will  make  up  your  $500,  when  my  secretary  gives 
you  the  check.  But  please  say  nothing  to  anybody,  not  even  to 
my  secretary.  I  do  not  like  to  have  my  private  affairs  talked  of 
around  the  corners  of  the  streets.  That  horse  is  the  most 
splendid  I  ever  saw,  and  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  having 
sold  it  to  me." 

I  was  also  very  glad  to  have  $500  in  hand.  For  with  $300 
I  could  finish  my  school  house,  and  there  was  $200  more  to 
begin  another,  three  miles  distant. 

Just  two  weeks  later,  when  I  was  dressing  myself  at  sunrise, 
my  servant  came  to  my  room  and  said :  "  There  are  twenty 
men  on  horseback  who  want  to  speak  to  you." 

"Twenty  men  on  horseback  who  want  to  speak  to  me!"  I 
answered.     "  Are  you  dreaming?  " 

"  I  do  not  dream,"  answered  my  young  man;  "there  they 
are  at  the  door,  on  horseback,  waiting  for  you." 

I  was  soon  dressed  and  in  the  presence  of  twenty  of  my  best 
farmers,  on  horseback,  who  had  formed  themselves  in  a  half- 
circle  to  receive  me. 

"What  do  you  want,  my  friends?"  I  asked  them. 

One  of  them,  who  had  studied  a  few  years  in  the  Seminary 
of  Quebec,  answered: 

"  Dear  pastor,  we  come  in  the  name  of  the  whole  people  of 


3S2  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMK. 

Beauport  to  ask  your  pardon  for  having  saddened  your  heart  bj 
not  coming  as  we  ought  to  your  help  in  the  superhuman  efforts 
you  make  to  give  good  schools  to  our  children.  This  is  the 
result  of  our  ignorance.  Having  never  gone  to  school  ouis^ves, 
the  greater  part  of  us  have  never  know^n  the  value  of  educa- 
tion. But  the  heroic  sacrifices  you  have  made  lately  have 
opened  our  eyes.  They  ought  to  have  been  opened  at  the  sale 
of  your  first  horse.  But  we  were  in  need  of  another  lesson  to 
understand  our  meanness.  However,  the  selling  of  the  second 
horse  has  done  more  than  anything  else  to  awaken  us  from  our 
shameful  lethargy.  The  fear  of  receiving  a  new  rebuke  from 
us,  if  you  made  another  appeal  to  our  generosity,  has  forced 
you  to  make  that  new  sacrifice.  The  first  news  came  to  us  as  a 
thunderbolt.  But  there  is  always  some  light  in  a  thunderbolt. 
Through  that  light  we  have  seen  our  profound  degradation,  in 
shutting  our  ears  to  your  earnest  and  paternal  appeals  in  favor 
of  our  own  dear  children.  Be  sure,  dear  pastor,  that  we  are 
ashamed  of  our  conduct.  From  this  day,  not  only  our  hearts 
but  our  purses  are  yours,  in  all  you  want  to  do  to  secure 
a  good  education  for  our  families.  However,  our  principal 
object  in  coming  here  to-day  is  not  to  say  vain  words,  but 
to  do  an  act  of  reparation  and  justice.  Our  first  thought,  when 
we  heard  that  you  had  sold  the  horse  we  had  given  you,  was 
to  present  you  with  another.  We  have  been  prevented  from  doing 
this  by  the  certainty  that  you  would  sell  it  again,  either  to 
help  some  poor  people  or  to  build  another  school  house.  As 
we  cannot  bear  to  see  our  pastor  walking  in  the  mud  when 
going  to  the  city  or  visiting  us,  we  have  determined  to  put 
another  horse  into  your  hands,  but  in  such  a  way  that  you  will 
not  have  the  right  to  sell  it.  We  ask  you  then,  as  a  favor,  to 
select  the  best  horse  here  among  these  twenty  which  are  before 
you,  and  to  keep  it  as  long  as  you  remain  in  our  midst,  which 
we  hope  will  be  very  long.  It  will  be  returned  to  its  present 
possessor  if  you  leave  us;  and  be  sure,  dear  pastor,  that  the  one 
of  us  who  leaves  his  horse  in  your  hands  will  be  the  most  happy 
and  proudest  of  all." 

When  speaking   thus,  that    noble-hearted   man  had    several 


ERECTION    OF    THE    COLUMN     OF    TEMPERANCE.  383 

times  been  unable  to  conceal  the  tears  which  were  rolling  down 
his  cheeks,  and  more  than  once  his  trembling  voice  had  been 
choked  by  his  emotion. 

I  tried  in  vain  at  first  to  speak.  My  feelings  of  gratitude 
and  admiration  could  be  expressed  only  with  my  tears.  It  took 
some  time  before  I  could  utter  a  single  word.  At  last  I  said; 
*'  My  dear  friends,  this  is  too  much  for  your  poor  pastor.  I 
feel  overwhelmed  by  this  grand  act  of  kindness.  I  do  not  say 
that  I  thank  you — the  word  thank  is  too  small,  too  short  and 
insignificant  to  tell  you  what  your  poor  unworthy  pastor  feels 
at  what  his  eyes  see  and  his  ears  hear  just  now.  The  great  and 
merciful  God,  who  has  put  those  sentiments  into  your  hearts* 
alone  can  repay  you  for  the  joy  with  which  you  fill  my  soul.  T 
would  hurt  your  feelings,  I  know,  by  not  accepting  your  offer- 
ing. I  accept  it.  But  to  punish  your  speaker,  Mr.  Parent,  for 
his  complimentary  address,  I  will  take  his  horse  for  the  time  I 
am  curate  of  Beauport,  which  I  hope  will  be  till  I  die."  And  I 
laid  my  hand  on  the  bridle  of  the  splendid  animal. 

There  was  then  a  struggle  which  I  had  not  expected.  Every 
one  of  the  nineteen  whom  I  left  with  their  horses  began  to  cry: 
"Oh!  do  not  take  that  horse;  it  is  not  worth  a  penny;  mine  is 
much  stronger,"  said  one.  "  Mine  is  much  faster,"  cried  out 
another.  "  Mine  is  a  safe  rider,"  said  a  third.  Every  one  wanted 
me  to  take  his  horse,  and  tried  to  persuade  me  that  it  was  the 
best  of  all;  they  really  felt  sorry  that  they  were  not  able  to 
change  my  mind. 

Has  any  one  ever  felt  more  happy  than  I  was  in  the  midst 
of  these  generous  friends? 

The  memory  of  that  happy  hour  will  never  pass  away  from 
my  mind. 


Chapter    XXXIX. 

8BNT  TO  SUCCEED  BEV.  MB.  VABIN,  CUBATE  OF  KAMOUBASKA 
-STEBN  OPPOSITION  OF  THAT  CUBATE  AND  THE  SUB- 
BOUNDING  PRIEST  AND  PEOPLE-HOUBS  OF  DESOLATION 
IN  KAMOUBASKA-THE  GOOD  MASTEB  ALLA7S  THE  TEMP- 
EST, AND  BIDS  THE  WAVES  BE  STILL,. 

ON  the  morning  of  the  25th  of  August,  1842,  we  blessed  and 
opened  the  seventh  school  of  Beauport.  From  that  day 
all  the  children  were  to  receive  as  good  an  education  as  could  be 
given  in  any  country  place  of  Canada.  Those  schools  had  been 
raised  on  the  ruins  of  the  seven  taverns  which  had  so  long 
spread  ruin,  shame,  desolation  and  death  over  that  splendid 
parish.  My  heart  was  filled  with  an  unspeakable  joy  at  the 
sight  of  the  marvellous  things  which,  by  the  hand  of  God,  had 
been  wrought  in  such  a  short  time. 

At  about  two  p.  M.  of  that  never-to-be-forgotten  day,  after  I 
had  said  my  vespers,  and  was  alone,  pacing  the  alleys  of  my 
garden,  under  the  shade  of  the  old  maple  trees  bordering  the 
northern  part  of  that  beautif  iil  spot,  I  was  reviewing  the  struggles 
and  the  victories  of  these  last  four  years.  It  seemed  that  every- 
thing around  me — not  only  the  giant  trees  which  were  protect- 
ing me  from  the  burning  sun,  but  even  the  humblest  grasses  and 
flowers  of  my  garden — had  a  voice  to  tell  me,  "  Bless  the  Lord 
for  His  mercies." 

At  my  feet  the  majestic  St.  Lawrence  was  rolling  its  deep 
waters;  beyond,  the  old  capital  of  Canada,  Quebec,  with  its 
massive  citadel,  its  proud  towers,  its  bristling  cannons,  its  numer- 
ous houses  and  steeples,  with  their  tin  roofs  reflecting  the 
light  of  the  sun  in  myriads  of  rays,  formed  such  a  spectacle 
of  fairy  beauty  as  no  pen  can  describe.      The  fresh  breeze  from 


SENT    TO     KAMOURASKA. 


385 


the  river,  mingled  with  the  perfume  of  the  thousand  flowers  of 
my  parterre,  bathed  me  in  an  atmosphere  of  fragrance.  Never 
jet  had  I  enjoyed  life  as  at  that  hour.  All  the  sanguine  desires 
of  my  heart  and  the  holy  aspirations  of  my  soul  had  been  more 
than  realized.  Peace,  harmony,  industry,  abundance,  happiness, 
religion  and  education  had  come  on  the  heels  of  temperance,  to 
gladden  and  cheer  the  families  which  God  had  entrusted  to  me. 
The  former  hard  feelings  of  my  ecclesiastical  superiors  had  been 
changed  into  sentiments  and  acts  of  kindness,  much  above  my 
merits.  With  the  most  sincere  feelings  of  gratitude  to  God,  I 
said  with  the  old  prophet,  "  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul." 

By  the  great  mercy  of  God,  that  parish  of  Beauport,  which 
at  first  had  appeared  to  me  as  a  bottomless  abyss,  in  which  I  was 
to  perish,  had  been  changed  for  me  into  an  earthly  paradise. 
There  was  only  one  desire  in  my  heart.  It  was  that  I  never 
should  be  removed  froi|i  it.  Like  Peter  on  Mount  Tabor,  I 
wanted  to  pitch  my  tent  in  Beauport  to  the  end  of  my  life.  But 
the  rebuke  which  had  shamed  Peter  came  as  quickly  as  light- 
ning to  show  me  the  folly  and  vanity  of  my  dreams. 

Suddenly  the  carrosse  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  came  in  sight^ 
and  rolled  down  to  the  door  of  the  parsonage.  The  sub-secre- 
tary, the  Rev.  Mr.  Belisle,  alighting  from  it,  directed  his  steps 
towards  the  garden,  where  he  had  seen  me,  and  handed  me  the 
following  letter  from  the  Right  Rev.  Turgeon,  Coadjutor  of 
Quebec : 

My  dear  Mons.  Chiniquy  : 

His  lordship  Bishop  Signaie  and  I  wish  to  confer  with  you  on  a  most 
important  matter.  We  have  sent  our  carriage  to  bring  you  to  Quebec. 
Please  come  without  the  least  delay. 

Truly  yours, 

^  Flav.  Turgeon. 

One  hour  after,  I  was  with  the  two  bishops.  My  Lord 
Signaie  said: 

"  Monseigneur  Turgeon  will  tell  you  why  we  have  sent  for 
you  in  such  haste." 

"Mons.  Chiniquy,"  said  Bishop  Turgeon,  "is  not  Kamour- 
«6ka  your  birthplace  ?  " 


386  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"Yes,  my  lord." 

"Do  you  like  that  place,  and  do  you  interest  yourself  much 
in  its  welfare?  " 

"Of  course,  my  lord,  I  like  Kamouraska;  not  only  because  it 
is  my  birthplace,  and  the  most  happy  years  of  my  youth  were 
spent  in  it,  birt  also  because,  in  my  humble  opinion,  the  beauties 
of  its  scenery,  the  purity  of  its  atmosphere,  the  fine  manners  and 
proverbial  intelligence  of  its  people,  make  it  the  very  gem  of 
Canada." 

"  You  know,"  rejoined  the  bishop,  "  that  Rev.  Mons.  Varin 
has  been  too  infirm,  these  last  years,  to  superintend  the  spiritual 
interest  of  that  important  place,  it  is  impossible  to  continue  put- 
ting a  young  vicar  at  the  head  of  such  a  parish,  w^here  hundreds 
of  the  best  families  of  the  aristocracy  of  Quebec  and  Montreal 
resort  every  summer.  We  have,  too  long,  tried  that  experiment 
of  young  priests  in  the  midst  of  such  p.  people.  It  has  been  a 
failure.  Drunkenness,  luxury  and  immoralities  of  the  most  de- 
grading kind  are  eating  up  the  very  life  of  Kamouraska  to-day. 
Not  less  than  thirty  illegitimate  births  are  known  and  registered 
in  different  places  from  Kamouraska  these  last  twelve  months. 
It  is  quite  time  to  stop  that  state  of  affairs,  and  you  are  the  only 
one,  Mons.  Chiniquy,  on  whom  we  can  rely  for  that  great  and 
diflicult  work." 

These  words  passed  through  my  soul  as  a  two-edged  sword. 
My  lips  quivered,  I  felt  as  if  I  were  choking,  and  my  tongue^ 
with  difficulty  muttered :  "  My  lord,  I  hope  it  is  not  your  inten- 
tion to  remove  me  from  my  dear  parish  of  Beauport." 

"  No,  Mons.  Chiniquy,  we  will  not  make  use  of  our  authori- 
ty, to  break  the  sacred  and  sweet  ties  which  unite  you  to  the 
parish  of  Beauport.  But  we  will  put  before  your  conscience  the 
reasons  we  have  to  wish  you  at  the  head  of  the  great  and  im- 
portant parish  of  Kamoui'ska." 

For  more  than  an  hour,  the  two  bishops  made  strong  appeals, 
to  my  charity  for  the  multitudes  who  w^ere  sunk  into  the  abyss 
of  drunkenness  and  every  vice,  and  had  no  one  to  save 
them. 

"See  how  God  and  men  are  blessing  you  to-day,"  added  the 


SENT    TO     KAMOURASKA.  3S7 

Aruhbishop  Signaie,  for  what  you  have  done  in  Beauport !  Will 
they  not  bless  you  still  more,  if  you  save  that  great  and  splendid 
parish  of  Kamouraska,  as  you  have  saved  Beauport?  Will  not 
a  double  crown  be  put  upon  your  forehead  by  your  bishops,  your 
country  and  you  God,  if  you  consent  to  be  the  instrument  of  the 
mercies  of  God  towards  the  people  of  your  own  birthplace,  and 
the  surrounding  country,  as  you  have  just  been  for  Beauport 
and  its  surrounding  parishes?  Can  you  rest  and  live  in  peace 
now  in  Beauport,  when  you  hear  day  and  night  the  voice  of  the 
multitudes  who  cry:  'Come  to  our  help,  w^e  are  perishing?' 
What  will  you  answer  to  God,  at  the  last  day,  when  He  will 
show  you  the  thousands  of  precious  souls  lost  at  Kamouraska, 
because  you  refused  to  go  to  their  rescue?  As  Monseigneur 
Turgeon  has  said,  we  will  not  make  use  of  our  authority  to  force 
you  to  leave  your  present  position ;  we  hope  that  the  prayers  of 
your  bishops  will  be  enough  for  you.  We  know  what  a  great 
sacrifice  it  will  be  for  you  to  leave  Beauport  to-day ;  but  do  not 
forget  that  the  greater  the  sacrifice,  the  more  precious  will  the 
crown  be." 

My  bishops  had  spoken  to  me  with  such  kindness!  Their 
paternal  and  friendly  appeals  had  surely  more  power  over  me 
than  orders.  Not  without  many  tears;  but  with  a  true  good 
will,  I  consented  to  give  up  the  prospects  of  peace  and  comfort 
which  were  in  store  for  me  in  Beauport,  to  plunge  myself  again 
into  a  future  of  endless  trouble  and  warfare,  by  going  to 
Kamouraska. 

There  is  no  need  of  saying  that  the  people  of  Beauport  did 
all  in  their  power  to  induce  the  bishops  to  let  me  remain  among 
them  some  time  longer.  But  the  sacrifice  had  to  be  made.  I 
gave  my  farewell  address  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  September; 
in  the  midst  of  indescribable  cries,  sobs  and  tears,  and  on  the  17th 
of  the  same  month,  I  was  on  my  way  to  Kamouraska.  I  had 
left  everything  behind  me  at  Beauport,  even  to  my  books,  in 
order  to  be  freer  in  that  formidable  conflict  which  seemed  to  be 
in  store  for  me  in  my  new  parish. 

When  I  took  leave  of  the  bishops  of  Quebec,  they  showed 
me  a  letter  just  received  by  them  from  Mons.  Varin,  filled  with 


3^  FIFTY    YEARS    I>f    THE    CHURCH    OK    ROME 

the  most  bitter  expressions  of  indignation  on  account  of  tlie  choice 
of  such  a  fanatic  and  fire-brand  as  Chiniquy,  for  a  place  so  well 
known  for  its  peaceful  habits  and  harmony  among  all  classes." 
The  last  words  of  the  letter  were  as  follows: 

**The  clei'gy  and  people  of  Kamouraska  and  vicinity  consider 
the  appointment  of  Mons.  Chiniquy  to  this  parish  as  an  insult, 
and  we  hope  and  pray  that  your  lordship  will  change  your  mind 
on  the  subject." 

In  showing  me  the  letter,  my  lord  Signaie  and  Turgeon  said: 
"We  fear  that  you  will  have  more  trouble  than  we  expected 
with  the  old  curate  and  his  partisans,  but  we  commend  you  to  the 
grace  of  God  and  the  protection  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  remember- 
ing that  our  Saviour  has  said:  'Fear  not,  I  have  overcome  the 
world.'" 

I  arrived  at  Kamouraska  the  21st  of  September,  1842,  on 
one  of  the  finest  days  of  the  year.  But  my  heart  was  filled  with 
an  unspeakable  desolation,  for  all  along  the  way,  the  curates  had 
told  me  that  the  people,  with  their  old  pastor,  were  unanimous 
in  their  opposition  to  my  going  there.  It  was  even  rumored 
that  the  doors  of  the  church  would  be  shut  against  me,  the  next 
Sunday.  To  this  bad  news  were  added  two  very  strange  facts. 
My  brother  Achilles,  who  was  living  at  St.  Michel,  was  to  drive 
me  from  that  place  to  St.  Roch  des  Aulnets,  whence  my  other 
brother  Louis,  would  take  me  to  Kamouraska.  But  we  had  not 
traveled  more  than  five  or  six  miles,  when  the  wheel  of  the  newly 
finished  and  beautifully  painted  buggy,  having  struck  a  stone, 
the  seat  was  broken  into  fragments,  and  we  both  fell  to  the 
ground. 

By  chance,  as  my  brother  was  blessing  the  man  who  sold 
him  that  rig  for  a  new  and  first-class  conveyance,  a  traveler 
going  the  same  way  passed  by.  I  asked  him  for  a  place  in  his 
caleche,  bade  adieu  tc  my  brother,  and  consoled  him  by  saying: 
♦'  As  you  have  lost  your  fine  buggy  in  my  service,  I  will  give 
you  a  better  one." 

Two  days  after,  my  second  brother  was  driving  me  to  my 
destination,  and  when  about  three  or  four  miles  from  Kamour- 
aska, his  fine  horse  stepped  on  a  long  nail  which  was  on  the 


SENT    TO     KAMOURASKA.  389 

road,  fell  down  and  died  inthe  awfiil  convulsions  of  tetanus.  I 
took  leave  of  him,  and  consoled  him  also  hy  promising  to  o-ive 
him  another  horse. 

Another  carriage  took  me  safely  to  the  end  of  my  journey. 
However,  having  to  pass  by  the  church,  which  was  about  200 
yards  from  the  parsonage,  I  dismissed  my  driver  at  the  door  of 
the  sacred  edifice,  and  took  my  satchel  in  hand,  which  was  my 
only  baggage,  entered  the  church  and  spent  more  than  an  hour 
in  fervent  prayers,  or  rather  in  cries  and  tears.  I  felt  so  heart- 
sick that  I  needed  that  hour  of  rest  and  prayer.  The  tears  I  shed 
there  relieved  my  burdened  spirit. 

A  few  steps  from  me,  in  the  cemetery,  lay  the  sacred  remains 
of  my  beloved  mother,  whose  angelic  face  and  memory  were 
constantly  before  me.  Facing  me  was  the  altar  w^here  I  had 
made  my  first  communion;  at  my  left,  was  the  pulpit  which  was 
to  be  the  battlefield  where  I  had  to  fight  the  enemies  of  my  God 
and  my  people,  who,  I  had  been  repeatedly  told,  were  cursing 
and  grinding  their  teeth  at  me.  But  the  vision  of  that  old  curate 
I  had  soon  to  confront,  and  who  had  written  such  an  impudent 
letter  against  me  to  the  bishops,  and  the  public  opposition  of  the 
surrounding  priests  to  my  coming  into  their  midst,  were  the 
most  discouraging  aspects  of  my  new  position.  I  felt  as  if  my 
soul  had  been  crushed.  My  very  existence  seemed  an  unbear- 
able burden. 

My  new  responsibilities  came  so  vividly  before  my  mind  in 
that  distressing  hour,  that  my  courage,  for  a  moment,  failed  me. 
I  reproached  myself  for  the  act  of  folly  in  yielding  to  the 
request  of  the  bishops.  It  seemed  evident  that  I  had  accepted 
a  burden  too  heavy  for  me  to  bear.  But  I  prayed  with  all  the 
fervor  of  my  soul  to  God  and  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  wept  to 
my  heart's  content. 

There  was  a  marvellous  power  in  the  prayers  and  tears  which 
came  from  my  heart.  I  felt  as  a  new  man.  I  seemed  to  hear 
the  trumpet  of  God  calling  me  to  the  battlefield.  My  only 
business  then  was  to  go  and  fight,  I'elying  on  Him  alone  for  vic- 
tory. I  took  my  traveling  bag,  went  out  of  the  church,  and 
walked   slowly   towards   the  parsonage,  which   has  been   burnt 


39©  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

since.  It  was  a  splendid  two-story  building,  eighty  feet  i«i 
length,  with  capacious  cellars.  It  had  been  built  shortly  after 
the  conquest  of  Canada,  as  a  store  for  contraband  goods;  but 
after  a  few  years  of  failure,  became  the  parsonage  of  the  parish. 

The  Rev.  Mons.  Varin,  though  infirm  and  sick,  had  watched 
me  from  his  window,  and  felt  bewildered  at  my  entering  the 
church  and  remaining  so  long. 

I  knocked  the  first  door,  but  as  nobody  answered,  I  opened 
it,  and  crossed  the  first  large  room  to  knock  at  the  second  door; 
but,  here  also,  no  answer  came  except  from  two  furious  little 
dogs.  I  entered  the  room,  fighting  the  dogs,  which  bit  me  sev- 
eral times.  I  knocked  at  the  third  and  fourth  doors  with  the 
same  result — no  one  to  receive  me. 

I  knew  that  the  next  was  the  old  curate's  sleeping-room.  At 
my  knocking,  an  angry  voice  cried  out:     "Walk  in." 

I  entered,  made  a  step  toward  the  old  and  infirm  curate,  who 
was  sitting  in  his  large  arm  chair.  As  I  was  about  to  salute 
him,  he  angrily  said:  "The  people  of  Beauport  have  made 
great  efforts  to  keep  you  in  their  midst,  but  the  people  of  Kamour- 
aska  will  make  as  great  an  effort  to  turn  you  out  of  this  place." 

"  Mons.  le  Cure,"  I  answered  calmly,  "  God  knoweth  that  I 
never  desired  to  leave  Beauport  for  this  place.  But  I  think  it  is 
that  great  and  merciful  God  who  has  brought  me  here  by  the 
hand;  and  I  hope  He  will  help  me  to  overcome  all  opposition, 
from  whatever  quarter  it  may  come." 

He  replied  angrily:  "Is  it  to  insult  me  that  you  call  me 
♦Mens,  le  Cure.'*'  I  am  no  more  the  curate  of  Kamouraska. 
You  are  the  curate  now,  Mr.  Chiniquy." 

"I  beg  your  pardon,  my  dear  Mr.  Varin;  you  are  still,  I 
hope  you  will  remain  all  your  life,  the  honored  and  beloved 
curate  of  Kamouraska.  The  respect  and  gratitude  I  owe  you 
have  caused  me  to  refuse  the  titles  and  honors  which  our  bishop 
wanted  to  give  me." 

"  But,  then,  if  I  am  the  curate,  what  are  you .'' "  replied  the 
old  priest,  with  more  calmness. 

"I  am  nothing  but  a  simple  soldier  of  Christ,  and  a  sower  of 
the  good  seed  of  the  gospel !  "  I  answered.     "  When  I  fight  the 


SENT    TO    KAMOURASKA. 


391 


common  enemy  in  the  plain,  as  Joshua  did,  you,  like  Moses,  will 
stand  on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  lift  up  your  hands  to  heaven 
send  your  prayers  to  the  mercy-seat,  and  we  will  gain  the  day. 
Then  both  will  bless  the  God  of  our  salvation  for  the  victory." 
"Well!  well  I  this  is  beautiful,  grand  and. sublime,"  said  the 
old  priest,  with  a  voice  filled  with  friendly  emotions.  "  But 
where  is  your  household  furniture,  your  library  ? " 

"•  My  household  furniture,"  I  answered,  "  is  in  this  little  bag, 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand.  I  do  not  want  any  of  my  books,  as 
long  as  I  have  the  pleasure  and  honor  to  be  with  the  good  Mons. 
Varin,  who  will  allow  me,  I  am  sure  of  it,  to  ransack  his  splendid 
library,  and  study  his  rare  and  learned  books." 

"  But  what  rooms  do  you  wish  to  occupy  ?  "  rejoined  the 
good  old  curate. 

"  As  the  parsonage  is  yours,  and  not  mine,"  I  answered, 
"  please  tell  me  where  you  want  me  to  sleep  and  rest.  I  will 
accept,  with  gratitude,  any  room  you  will  offer  me,  even  if  it 
were  in  your  cellar  or  granary.  I  do  not  want  to  bother  you  in 
any  way.  When  I  was  young,  a  poor  orphan  in  your  parish, 
some  twenty  years  ago,  were  you  not  a  father  to  me?  Please 
continue  to  look  upon  me  as  your  own  child,  for  I  have  always 
loved  you  and  considered  you  as  a  father,  and  still  do  the  same. 
Were  you  not  my  guide  and  adviser,  in  my  first  steps  in  the 
ways  of  God?  Please  continue  to  be  my  friend  and  adviser 
to  the  end  of  your  life.  My  only  ambition  is  to  be  your  right- 
hand  man,  and  to  learn  from  your  old  experience  and  your 
sincere  pietv,  how  to  live  and  work  as  a  good  priest  of  Jesus 
Christ." 

I  had  not  finished  the  last  sentence,  when  the  old  man  burst 
into  tears,  threw  himself  into  my  arms,  pressed  me  to  his  heart, 
bathed  me  with  his  tears,  and  said,  with  a  voice  half-suffocated 
by  his  sobs:  "Dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  forgive  me  the  evil  things  I 
have  written  and  said  about  you.  You  are  welcome  in  my  par- 
sonage, and  I  bless  God  to  have  sent  me  such  a  youg  friend, 
who  will  help  me  to  carry  the  burden  of  my  old  age." 

I  then  handed  him  the  bishop's  letter,  which  had  confirmed 
aPi  I  had  said  about  mv  mission  of  peace  towards  him. 


39^ 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 


From  that  day  to  his  death,  which  occurred  six  months  after, 
I  never  had  a  more  sincere  friend  than  Mr.  Varin. 

I  thanked  God,  who  had  enabled  me  at  once,  not  only  to 
disarm  the  chief  of  my  opponents,  but  to  transform  him  into  my 
most  sincere  and  devoted  friend.  My  hope  was  that  the  people 
would  soon  follo-w  their  chief,  and  be  reconciled  to  me,  but  I  did 
not  expect  that  this  would  be  so  soon,  and  from  such  an  unfore- 
seen and  unexpected  cause. 

The  principal  reason  the  people  had  to  oppose  my  coming  to 
Komouraska,  w^as,  that  I  was  the  nephew  of  the  Hon.  Amable 
Dionne,  who  had  made  a  colossal  fortune  at  their  expense.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Varin,  -who  was  always  in  his  debt,  was  also  forced  by 
the  circumstances,  to  buy  everything,  both  for  himself  and  the 
church,  from  him,  and  had  to  pay,  without  a  murmur,  the  most 
exorbitant  prices  for  everything. 

In  that  way,  the  church  and  the  curate,  though  they  had  very 
large  revenues,  had  never  enough  to  clear  their  accounts.  When 
the  people  heard  that  the  nephew  of  Mons.  Dionne  was  their 
curate,  they  said  to  each  other:  "Now  our  poor  church  is  for- 
ever ruined,  for  the  nephew  will,  still  more  than  the  curate,  favor 
his  uncle,  and  the  uncle  will  be  less  scrupulous  than  ever  in  ask- 
ing most  unreasonable  prices  for  his  merchandise." 

They  felt  they  had  more  than  fallen  fromCharybdisintoScylla. 

The  very  next  day  after  my  arrival,  the  beadle  told  me  that 
the  church  needed  a  few^  yards  of  cotton  for  some  repairs,  and 
asked  me  if  he  would  not  go,  as  usual,  to  Mr.  Dionne's  store. 
I  told  him  to  go  there  first,  ask  the  price  of  that  article,  and  then 
go  to  the  other  stores,  ordering  him  to  buy  at  the  cheapest  one. 
Thirty  cents  -was  asked  at  Mr.  Dionne's,  and  only  fifteen  cents 
at  Mr.  St.  Pierre's;  of  course  we  bought  at  the  latter's  store. 

The  day  was  not  over  before  this  apparently  insignificant 
fact  w^as  known  all  over  the  parish,  and  was  taking  the  most  ex- 
traordinary and  unforeseen  proportions. 

Farmers  would  meet  with  their  neighbors,  and  congratulate 
themselves  that,  at  last,  the  j^oke  imposed  upon  them  by  the  old 
curate  and  Mr.  Dionne  was  broken ;  that  the  taxes  they  had  to 
pay  the  store  were  at  an  end,  with  the  monopolv  which  had  cost 


SENT    TO    KAMOURASKA. 


393 


them  so  much  money.  Many  came  to  Mr.  St.  Pierre  to  hear 
from  his  own  lips  that  their  new  curate  had,  at  once,  freed  them 
from  what  they  considered  the  long  and  ignominious  bondage, 
against  which  they  so  often,  but  so  vainly  protested.  For  the 
rest  of  the  week,  this  was  the  only  subject  of  conversation.  They 
congratulated  themselves,  that  they  had,  at  last,  a  priest,  with 
such  an  independent  and  honest  mind,  that  he  would  not  do  them 
any  injustice,  even  to  please  a  relative  in  whose  house  he  had 
spent  the  years  of  his  childhood. 

This  simple  act  of  fair  play  towards  that  people  won  over 
their  affection.  Only  one  little  dark  spot  remained  in  their 
minds  against  me.  They  had  been  told  that  the  only  subject  on 
which  I  could  preach  was:  Rum,  whiskey  and  drunkenness. 
And  it  seemed  to  them  exceedingly  tedious  to  hear  nothing  else 
from  the  curate,  particularly  when  they  were  more  than  ever 
determined  to  continue  drinking  their  social  glasses  of  brandy, 
rum  and  wine. 

There  was  an  immense  crowd  at  church  the  next  Sunday. 
My  text  was:  "  As  the  Father  has  loved  me,  so  have  I  loved 
you."  Showing  them  how  Jesus  had  proved  that  He  was  their 
friend. 

But  their  sentiments  of  piety  and  pleasure  at  what  they  had 
heard  were  nothing  compared  to  their  surprise  when  they  saw 
Ihat  I  had  preached  nearly  an  hour  without  saying  a  word  on 
whiskey,  rum  or  beer. 

People  are  often  compared  to  the  waters  of  the  sea  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  When  you  see  the  roaring  waves  dashing  on 
that  rock  to-day,  as  if  they  wanted  to  demolish  it,  do  not  fear 
that  this  fury  will  last  long.  The  very  next  day,  if  the  wind 
has  changed,  the  same  waters  will  leave  that  rock  alone,  to  sjjend 
their  fury  on  the  opposite  rock.  So  it  was  in  Kamouraska. 
They  were  full  of  indignation  and  wrath  when  I  set  my  feet  in 
their  midst;  but  a  few  days  later,  those  very  men  would  have 
given  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  to  protect  ma.  The  dear 
Saviour  had  evidently  seen  the  threatening  storm  which  was  to 
destroy  His  poor  unprofitable  servant.  He  had  heard  the  roaring 
waves  which  were  dashing  against  me.  So  he  came  down  and 
.  bid  the  storm  "  be  still,"  and  the  waves  be  calm. 


Chaper    XL. 

Oa<%A2nZATIOK  OF  TEMPEIlA2iC£  SOCIETIES  IN  KAMOUBAS- 
KA  AND  SURROUNDING  OOUNTRY-THE  GIRL  IN  THE  GARB 
0¥  A  MAN  IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CURATES  OF  QUEBEC 
AND  EBOULBMENTS  —  FRIGHTENED  BY  THE  SCANDALS 
SKEN  EVERYWHERE  —  GIVE  UP  MY  PARISH  OF  KAMOUB- 
ASEA  TO  JOIN  THE  "  OBLATKS  OF  MARY  IMMACULATE  OF 
LONGOUEIL. " 

TWO  days  after  my  arrival  at  Kainouraska,  I  received  a  letter 
from  the  surrounding  priests,  at  the  head  of  whom  wa« 
the  Grand  Vicar  Mailloux,  expressing  the  liope  that  I  vrould  not 
try  to  form  any  temperance  society  in  my  new  parish,  as  I  had 
done  in  Beauport ;  for  the  good  reasons,  they  said,  that  drunken- 
ness was  not  prevailing  in  that  part  of  Canada,  as  it  was  in  the 
city  of  Quebec.  I  answered  them  politely,  that,  so  long  as  I 
should  be  at  the  head  of  this  new  parish,  I  would  try,  as  I  had 
ever  done,  to  mind  my  own  business,  and  I  hoped  that  my 
neighboring  friends  would  do  the  same.  Not  long  after,  I  saw 
that  the  curates  felt  ashamed  of  their  vain  attempt  to  intimidate 
me. 

She  next  Sabbath,  the  crowd  was  greater  than  at  the  first. 
Having  heard  that  the  merchants  were  to  start  the  next  day, 
with  their  schooners,  to  buy  their  winter  provisions  of  rum,  I 
said,  in  a  very  solemn  way,  before  my  sermon : 

"  My  friends,  I  know  that,  to-morrow^,  the  merchants  leare 
for  Quebec,  to  purchase  their  rum.  Let  me  advise  them,  as  their 
best  friend,  not  to  buy  any ;  and  as  the  ambassador  of  Christ,  I 
forbid  them  to  bring  a  single  drop  of  those  poisonous  drinks 
here.  It  will  surely  be  their  ruin,  if  they  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  this  friendly  advice;  for  they  will  not  sell  a  single 
drop  of  it,  after  next  Sabbath.     That  day,  I  will  show  to  the  in- 

j9-[ 


THE.    GIRL    IN    THK    GARB    OF    A    MAN.  IqC 

telligent  people  of  this  parish,  that  rum,  and  all  the  other  drugs 
sold  here,  under  the  name  of  brandy,  wine  and  beer,  are  nothing 
else  than  disgusting,  deadly  and  cursed  poisons." 

I  then  preached  on  the  words  of  our  Saviour:  "  Be  always 
ready ;  for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  the  hour  when  the  Son 
of  Man  Cometh."  Though  the  people  seemed  much  pleased  and 
impressed  by  that  second  sermon,  they  felt  exceedingly  irritated 
at  my  few  warning  words  to  the  merchants.  When  the  service 
was  ov.er,  they  all  rallied  around  the  merchants  to  tell  them  not 
to  mind  what  they  had  heard. 

"  If  our  young  curate,"  said  they,  "  thinks  he  will  lead  us  by 
the  nose,  as  he  has  done  with  the  drunkards  of  Beauport,  he  will 
soon  see  his  mistake.  Instead  of  one  hundred  tons,  as  you 
brought  last  fall,  bring  us  two  hundred,  this  year;  w^e  will  drink 
them  to  his  health.  We  have  a  good  crop,  and  we  want  to 
spend  a  jolly  winter," 

It  is  probable  that  the  church  of  Kamouraska  had  never  seen 
within  its  walls  such  a  crowd  as  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  Octo- 
ber, 1842.  It  was  literally  crammed.  Curiosity  had  attracted 
the  people,  who,  not  less  eager  to  hear  my  first  grand  sermon 
against  rum,  than  to  see  the  failure  they  expected,  and  wished, 
of  my  first  efforts  to  form  a  temperance  society.  Long  before 
the  public  service,  at  the  door  of  the  church,  as  well  as  during 
the  whole  preceding  week,  the  people  had  pledged  themselves 
never  to  give  up  their  strong  drink,  and  never  to  join  the  tem- 
perance society. 

But  what  are  the  resolutions  of  man  against  God?  Is  He 
not  their  master? 

The  half  of  that  first  sermon  on  temperance  was  not  heard, 
when  that  whole  multitude  had  forgotten  their  public  promise*. 
The  hearts  were  not  only  touched  —  they  were  melted  and 
changed  by  God,  who  wanted  to  show,  once  more,  that  Hin 
works  of  mercy  were  above  all  the  works  of  His  hands. 

From  the  very  first  day  of  my  arrival  in  Kamouraska,  I  had 
made  a  serious  and  exact  inquiry  about  the  untold  miseries  brought 
upon  the  people  by  intoxicating  drinks. 

I  had  found  that,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  twelve  men 


396  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

had  been  drowned,  and  eight  had  been  frozen  to  death,  who  had 
left  twenty  widows  and  sixty  orphans  in  the  most  distressing 
poverty.  Sixty  farmers  had  lost  their  lands,  and  had  been 
obliged  to  emigrate  to  other  places,  where  they  were  suffering 
all  the  pangs  of  poverty  from  the  drunkenness  of  their  parents; 
several  other  families  had  their  properties  mortgaged  for  their 
whole  value,  to  the  rum  merchants,  and  were  expected,  every 
day,  to  be  turned  out  from  their  inheritances,  to  pay  their  rum 
bills.  Seven  mothers  had  died  in  delirium  tremens,  one  had  hung 
herself,  another  drowned  herself  when  drunk.  One  hundred 
thousand  dollars  had  been  paid  to  the  rum  merchants  during  the 
last  fifteen  years.  Two  hundred  thousand  more  were  due  tr 
the  storekeeper;  three-fourths  of  which  were  for  strong  drink. 
Four  men  had  been  murdered,  among  whom  was  their  landlord, 
Achilles  Tache,  from  their  drunken  habits! 

When  I  had  recapitulated  all  these  facts,  which  were  public 
and  undeniable,  and  depicted  the  desolation  of  the  ruined  famil- 
ies, composed  of  their  own  brothers,  sisters,  and  dear  children; 
w^hen  I  brought  before  their  minds,  the  tears  of  the  widows,  the 
cries  of  the  starving  and  naked  children,  the  shame  of  the  fam- 
ilies, the  red  hands  of  the  murderers,  and  the  mangled  bodies  of 
their  victims;  the  eternal  cries  of  the  lost  from  drunkenness,  the 
broken-hearted  fathers  and  mothers,  whose  children  had  been 
destroyed  by  strong  drink;  when  I  proved  to  them  that  there 
was  not  a  single  one  in  their  midst  who  had  not  suffered,  either 
in  his  own  person,  or  in  that  of  his  father  or  mother,  brothers, 
sisters  or  childi^en.  Yes,  when  I  had  given  them  the  simple  and 
awful  story  of  the  crimes  committed  in  their  midst;  the  ruin  and 
deaths,  the  misery  of  thousands  of  precious  souls  for  whom 
Christ  died  in  vain,  the  church  was  filled  with  such  sobs  and 
cries  that  I  often  could  not  be  heard.  Many  times  my  voice 
was  drowned  by  the  indescribable  confusion  and  lamentation  of 
that  whole  multitude.  Unable  to  contain  myself,  several  time* 
1  stopped  and  mingled  my  sobs  and  cries  with  i^hose  of  my 
people. 

When  the  sermon,  which  lasted  two  hours,  was  finished,  I 
asked  all  those  who  were  determined  to  help  me  in  stopping  th« 


THE    GIRL    IN    THE     GARB    OF    A    MAN.  MTl 

ravages  of  intoxicating  drinks,  in  drying  the  tears  which  they 
caused  to  flow,  and  saving  the  precious  souls  they  were  destroy- 
ing, to  come  forward  and  take  the  public  pledge  of  temperance, 
by  kissing  a  crucifix  which  I  held  in  my  hand.  Thirteen  hun- 
dred and  ten  came. 

Not  fifty  of  the  people  had  refused  to  enroll  themselves 
under  the  blessed  and  glorious  banners  of  temperance !  and  these 
few  recalcitrants  came  forward,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  the 
next  time  I  spoke  on  the  subject. 

The  very  same  day,  the  wives  of  the  merchants  sent  des- 
patches to  their  husbands  in  Quebec,  to  tell  them  what  had  been 
done,  and  not  a  single  barrel  of  intoxicating  drinks  was  brought 
by  them.  The  generous  example  of  the  admirable  people  of 
Kamouraska  spoke  with  an  irresistible  eloquence  to  the  other 
parishes  of  that  district,  and  before  long,  the  blessed  banners  of 
temperance  floated  over  all  the  populations  of  St.  Pascal,  St. 
Andrew,  Isle  Verte,  Cacouna,  Riviere  du  Loup,  Rimouski, 
Matane,  St.  Anne,  St.  Roch,  Madawaska,  St.  Benoit,  St.  Luce, 
etc.,  on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  Eboulements, 
La  Malbaye,  and  the  other  parishes  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river;  and  the  people  kept  their  pledge  with  such  fidelity  that 
the  trade  in  rum  was  literally  killed  in  that  part  of  Canada,  as  it 
had  been  in  Beauport  and  its  vicinity. 

The  blessed  fruits  of  this  reform  were  soon  felt  and  seen 
everywhere,  in  the  public  prosperity  and  the  spread  of  education. 
Kamouraska,  which  was  owing  $200,000,  to  the  merchants  in 
1843,  had  not  only  paid  its  interest,  but  had  reduced  its  debt  to 
only  $120,000,  when  I  left  it  to  go  to  Montreal,  in  1846. 

God  only  knows  mv  joy  at  these  admirable  manifestations  of 
his  mercies  toward  my  country.  However,  the  joys  of  man  are 
never  without  their  mixture  of  sadness. 

In  the  good  providence  of  God,  being  invited  by  all  the 
curates  to  establish  temperance  societies  among  their  people,  I 
had  the  sad  opportunity,  as  no  priest  ever  had  in  Canada,  to 
know  the  secret  and  public  scandals  of  each  parish.  When  I 
went  to  the  Eboulements,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  invited 
Dy  the  Rev.  Noel  Toussignant,  I   learned   from  the  very  lips  of 


39^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

that  young  priest,  and  the  ex-priest,  Tetreau,  the   history  of  the 
most  shameful  scandals. 

In  1830,  a  young  priest  of  Quebec,  called  Derome,  had  fallen 
in  love  with  one  of  his  young  female  penitents  of  Vercheres, 
where  he  had  preached  a  few  days,  and  he  had  persuaded  her  to 
follow  him  to  the  parsonage  of  Quebec.  The  better  to  conceal 
their  iniquity  from  the  public,  he  persuaded  his  victim  to  dress 
herself  as  a  young  man,  and  throw  her  dress  into  the  river,  to 
make  her  parents  and  the  whole  parish  believe  that  she  was 
drowned.  I  had  seen  her  many  times  at  the  parsonage  of 
Quebec,  under  the  name  of  Joscpli,  and  had  much  admired  her 
refined  manners,  though  more  than  once  I  was  very  much 
inclined  to  think  that  the  smart  Joseph  was  no  one  else  than  a 
lost  girl.  But  the  respect  I  had  for  the  curate  of  Quebec  (who 
was  the  coadjutor  of  the  bishop)  and  his  young  vicars,  caused 
me  to  reject  those  suspicions  as  unfounded.  However,  many, 
even  among  the  first  citizens  of  the  city,  had  the  same  suspicions, 
and  they  pressed  me  to  go  to  the  coadjutor  and  warn  him;  but  I 
refused,  and  told  those  gentlemen  to  do  that  delicate  work  them- 
selves, and  they  did  it. 

The  position  of  that  high  dignitary  and  his  vicar  was  not 
then  a  very  agreeable  one.  Their  bark  had  evidently  drifted 
into  dangerous  waters.  To  keep  Joseph  among  themselves  was 
impossible,  after  the  friendly  advice  from  such  high  quarters, 
and  to  dismiss  him  was  not  less  dangerous.  He  knew  to  well 
how  the  curate  of  Quebec,  with  his  vicars,  were  keeping  their 
vows  of  celibacy,  to  dismiss  him  without  danger  to  themselves; 
a  single  word  from  his  lips  would  destroy  them.  Happily,  for 
them,  Mr.  Clement,  then  curate  of  the  Eboulements,  was  in 
search  of  such  a  servant,  and  took  him  to  his  parsonage,  after 
persuading  the  bishop-coadjutor  to  give  Joseph  a  large  sum  of 
money  to  seal  his  lips. 

Things  w^ent  on  pretty  smoothly  between  Joseph  and  the 
priest  for  several  years,  till  some  suspicions  arose  in  the  minds  of 
the  sharp-sighted  people  of  the  parish,  who  told  the  curate  that 
k  would  be  safer  and  more  honorable  for  him  to  get  rid  of  his 
servant.      In  order  to  put  an  end    to    those    suspicions,    and   to 


V^ 


THE    GIRL    IN    THE     GARB    OF    A    MAN.  teO 

retain  him  in  the  parsonage,  the  curate  persuaded  him  to  many 
the  daughter  of  a  poor  neighbor. 

The  three  bans  were  published,  and  the  two  girls  were  duly 
married  by  the  curate,  who  continued  his  criminal  intimacies,  in 
the  hope  that  no  one  would  trouble  him  any  more  on  that  sub- 
ject. But  not  long  after  he  was  removed  to  La  Petite  Riviere, 
and  in  1838,  the  Rev,  M.  Tetreau  was  appointed  curate  of  the 
Eboulements,  This  new  priest,  knowing  nothing  of  the  abomin- 
ations which  his  predecessor  had  practiced,  continued  to  employ 
Joseph.  One  day,  when  Joseph  was  working  at  the  gate  of  the 
parsonage,  in  the  presence  of  several  people,  a  stranger  came  and 
asked  him  if  Mr.  Tetreau  was  at  home. 

"Yes,  sir,  Mr.  Curate  is  at  home,"' answered  Joseph;  "but 
as  you  seem  a  stranger  to  the  place,  would  you  allow  me  to  ask 
you  from  what  parish  you  come.''" 

"I  am  not  ashamed  of  my  parish,"  answered  the  stranger. 
"I  come  from  V^ercheres." 

At  the  word  "  Vercheres,"  Joseph  turned  so  pale  that  the 
stranger  was  puzzled.  He  looked  carefully  at  him,  and  ex- 
claimed: 

"Oh!  my  God!  What  do  I  see  here.''  Genevieve!  Gene- 
vieve! over  whom  we  have  mourned  so  long  as  drowned!  Here 
you  are,  disguised  as  a  man !  " 

"Dear  uncle"  (it  was  her  uncle);  "for  God's  sake,  not  a 
word  more  here!" 

But  it  was  too  late;  the  people  who  were  there  had  heard 
the  uncle  and  the  niece.  Their  long  and  secret  suspicions  were 
well-founded.  One  of  their  former  priests  had  kept  a  girl,  un- 
der the  disguise  of  a  man,  in  his  house;  and  to  blind  his  people 
more  thoroughly,  he  had  married  that  girl  to  another,  in  order 
to  have  them  both  in  the  house  when  he  pleased,  without  awak- 
ening any  suspicion ! 

The  news  went,  almost  as  quickly  as  lightning,  from  one  end 
to  the  other  of  the  parish,  and  spread  all  over  the  country,  on 
both  sides  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  I  had  heard  of  that  horror,  but 
I  could  not  believe  it.  However,  I  had  to  believe  it,  when,  on 
the  spot,  I  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  ex-curate,  M.  Tetreau,  and 


400  FIFTY    YEARS    IN     THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  new  curate,  M.  Noel  de  Toussignant,  and  from  the  lips  of 
my  landlord,  the  Honorable  Laterriere,  the  following  details, 
which  had  "come  to  light  only  a  short  time  before. 

The  justice  of  the  peace  had  investigated  the  matter,  in  the 
name  of  public  morality.  Joseph  was  brought  before  the  mag- 
istrates, who  decided  that  a  physician  should  be  charged  to  make, 
not  a.  post  mortem  but  an  ante-mortem  inquest.  The  Honorable 
Laterriere,  who  made  the  inquest,  declared  that  Joseph 
was  a  girl,  and  the  bonds  of  marriage  were  legally  dis- 
solved. 

At  the  same  time,  the  curate  M.  Tetreau,  had  sent  a  dispatch 
to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop-coadjutor  of  Quebec,  informing  him 
that  the  young  man  whom  he  had  kept  in  his  house,  several 
years,  was  legally  proved  a  girl;  a  fact  which,  I  need  hardly 
state,  was  well  known  by  the  bishop  and  his  vicars!  They  im- 
mediately sent  a  trustworthy  man  with  X500,  to  induce  the  girl 
to  leave  the  country  without  delay,  lest  she  were  prosecuted  and 
sent  to  the  penitentiary.  She  accepted  the  offer,  and  crossed 
the  lines  to  the  United  States  with  her  $3,000,  where  she  was 
soon  married,  and  where  she  still  lives. 

I  wished  that  this  story  had  never  been  told  me,  or  at  least, 
that  I  might  be  allowed  to  doubt  some  of  its  circumstances ;  but 
there  was  no  help.  I  was  forced  to  acknowledge  that  in  my 
Church  of  Rome,  there  was  such  corruption  from  head  to  foot, 
which  could  scarcely  be  surpassed  in  Sodom.  I  remember  what 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Perras  had  told  me  of  the  tears  and  desolation  of 
Bishop  Plessis,  when  he  had  discovered  that  all  the  priests  of 
Canada,  with  the  exception  of  three,  were  atheists. 

I  would  not  be  honest,  did  I  not  confess  that  the  personal 
knowledge  of  that  fact,  which  I  learned  in  all  its  scandalous  de- 
tails from  the  very  lips  of  unimpeachable  witnesses,  saddened 
me,  and  for  a  time,  shook  my  faith  in  my  religion,  to  its  founda- 
tion. I  felt  secretlv  ashamed  to  belong  to  a  body  of  men  so 
completely  lost  to  every  sense  of  honesty,  as  the  priests  and 
bishops  of  Canada.  I  had  heard  of  many  scandals  before.  The 
infamies  of  the  grand  vicar  Manceau  and  Quiblier  of  Montreal, 
Cadieux    at   Three   Rivers,  and  Viau   at   Riviere   Quelle.      The 


THE    GIRL    IN-    THE    GARB    OF     A    MAN.  401 

public  acts  of  depravity  of  the  priests  Lelievre,  Tabeau,  Pouliot, 
Belisle,  Brunet,  Quevillon,  Huot,  Lajuste,  Rabby,  Crevier, 
Bellecourt,  Valle,  Mignault,  Noel,  Pinet,  Duguez,  Davely  and 
many  others,  were  known  to  me,  as  well  as  by  the  whole  clergy. 
But  the  abominations  of  which  Joseph  was  the  victim  seemed 
to  overstep  the  conceivable  limits  of  infamy.  For  the  first  time, 
I  sincerely  regretted  that  I  was  a  priest.  The  priesthood  of 
Rome  seemed  then,  to  me,  the  very  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy 
of  Revelation,  about  the  great  prostitute,  who  makes  the  nations 
drunk  with  the  wines  of  her  prostitutions. 

Auricular  confession,  which  I  knew  to  be  the  first,  if  not  the 
only  cause,  of  these  abominations,  appeared  to  me,  what  it  really 
is,  a  school  of  perdition  for  the  priest  and  his  female  penitents. 
The  priest's  oath  of  celibacy,  was  to  my  eyes,  in  those  hours  of 
distress,  but  a  shameful  mask  to  conceal  a  corruption  which  was 
unknown  in  the  most  depraved  days  of  old  paganism.  New  and 
bright  lights  came,  then,  before  my  mind  which,  had  I  followed 
them,  would  have  guided  me  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  But  I 
was  blind!  The  Good  Master  had  not  yet  touched  my  eyes 
with  his  divine  and  life-giving  hand.  I  had  no  idea  that 
there  could  be  any  other  church  than  the  Church  of  Rome, 
in  which  I  could  be  saved.  I  was,  however,  often  saying  to 
myself:  "How  can  I  hope  to  conquer  on  a  battlefield  where  so 
many,  as  strong  and  even  much  stronger  than  I  am,  have  per- 
ished?" 

I  felt  no  longer  at  peace.  My  soul  was  filled  with  trouble 
and  anxiety-  I  not  only  distrusted  myself,  but  I  lost  confidence 
in  the  rest  of  the  priests  and  bishops.  In  fact,  I  could  not  see 
any  one  in  whom  I  could  trust.  Though  my  beautiful  and  dear 
parish  of  Kamouraska  was,  more  than  ever,  overwhelming  me 
with  tokens  of  its  affection,  gratitude  and  respect,  it  had  lost  its 
attraction  for  me.  To  whatever  side  I  turned  my  eyes,  I  saw 
nothing  but  the  most  seducing  examples  of  perversion.  It  seemed 
AS  if  I  were  surrounded  bv  numberless  snares,  from  which  it  was 
impossible  to  escape.  I  wished  to  depart  from  this  deceitful  and 
lost  world. 

When  my  soul  was  as  drowned  under  the  waves  of   a  bitter 


^2  FIFTY    YBARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

sea,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Guignes,  Superior  of  the  Monastery  of  the 
Fathers  of  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate,  at  Longueuil,  near  Mon- 
treal, came  to  pass  a  few  days  with  me,  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health. 

I  spoke  to  him  of  that  shameful  scandal,  and  did  not  conceal 
from  him  that  my  courage  failed  me,  when  I  looked  at  the  tor- 
rent of  iniquity  which  was  sweeping  everything,  under  our  eyes, 
with  an  irresistible  force. 

"  We  are  here  alone,  in  the  presence  of  God,"  I  said  to  him. 
"  I  confess  that  I  feel  an  unspeakable  horror  at  the  moral  ruin 
which  I  see  everywhere  in  our  church.  My  priesthood,  of 
which  I  was  so  proud  till  lately,  seems  to  me,  to-day,  the  most 
ignominious  yoke,  when  I  see  it  dragged  in  the  mud  of  the  most 
infamous  vices,  not  only  by  the  immense  majority  of  the  priests, 
but  even  by  our  bishops.  How  can  I  hope  to  save  myself,  when 
I  see  so  many  stronger  than  I  am,  perishing  all  around  me?" 

The  Reverend  Superior,  with  the  kindness  of  a  father  and 
the  gravity  of  an  apostle,  answered  me: 

"I  understand  your  fears  perfectly.  They  are  legitimate 
and  too  well-founded.  Like  you,  I  am  a  priest;  and  like  you,  i/ 
not  more  than  you,  I  know  the  numberless  and  formidable  dan- 
gers which  surround  the  priest.  It  is  because  I  know  them  too 
well,  that  I  have  not  dared  to  be  a  secular  priest,  a  single  day.  I 
knew  the  humiliating  and  disgraceful  history  of  Joseph  and  the 
coadjutor  bishop  of  Quebec.  Nay!  I  know  many  things  still 
more  horrible  and  unspeakable  which  I  have  learned  when 
preaching  and  hearing  confessions  in  France  and  in  Canada.  My 
fear  is  that,  to-day,  there  are  not  many  more  undefiled  souls 
among  the  priests,  than  in  Sodom,  in  the  days  of  Lot.  The  fact 
is,  that  it  is  morally  impossible  for  a  secular  priest  to  keep  his 
vow^s  of  celibacy,  except  by  a  miracle  of  the  grace  of  God.  Our 
holy  church  would  be  a  modern  Sodom,  long  ago,  had  not  our 
merciful  God  granted  her  the  grace  that  many  of  our  priests  have 
always  enrolled  themselves  among  the  armies  of  the  regular 
priests,  in  the  different  religious  orders  which  are,  to  the  church, 
what  the  ark  was  to  Noah  and  his  children,  in  the  days  of  the 
deluge.     Only  the  priests  whom  God  calls,  in  His  mercy,  to  be- 


THE    GIRL    IN    THE    GARB    OF     A    MAN. 


403 


come  members  of  any  of  those  orders,  are  safe.  For  they  are 
under  the  paternal  care  and  surveillance  of  superiors  whose  zeal 
and  charity  are  like  a  shield  to  protect  them.  Their  holy  and 
strict  laws  are  like  strong  walls  and  high  towers  which  the  ene- 
my cannot  storm." 

He  then  spoke  to  me,  with  an  irresistible  eloquence,  of  the 
peace  of  soul  which  a  regular  priest  enjoys  within  the  walls  of 
his  monastery.  He  represented,  in  the  most  attractive  colors, 
the  spiritual  and  constant  joys  of  the  heart  which  one  feels  when 
living,  day  and  night,  under  the  eyes  of  a  superior  to  whom  he 
has  vowed  a  perfect  submission.  He  added:  "Your  providen- 
tial work  is  finished  in  the  diocese  of  Quebec.  The  temperance 
societies  are  established  almost  everywhere.  We  are  in  need  of 
your  long  experience  and  your  profound  studies  on  that  subject, 
in  the  diocese  of  Montreal.  It  is  true  that  the  good  Bishop  de 
Nancy  has  done  what  he  could  to  support  that  holy  cause,  but, 
though  he  is  working  with  the  utmost  zeal,  he  has  not  studied 
that  subject  enough  to  make  a  lasting  impression  on  the  people. 
Come  with  us.  We  are  more  than  thirty  priests,  oblates  of  Mary 
Immaculate,  who  will  be  too  happy  to  second  your  efforts  in  that 
noble  work,  which  is  too  much  for  one  man  alone.  Moreover, 
you  cannot  do  justice  to  your  great  parish  of  Kamouraska  and 
to  the  temperance  cause  together.  You  must  give  up  one,  to 
consecrate  yourself  to  the  other.  Take  courage,  my  young 
friend!  Offer  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  your  dear  Kamouraska,  as 
you  made  the  sacrifice  of  your  beautiful  Beauport,  some  years 
ago,  for  the  good  of  Canada  and  in  the  interest  of  the  Church, 
which  calls  you  to  its  help." 

It  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  oppose  no  reasonable  argument 
to  these  considerations.  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  made  the  sac- 
rifice of  my  beautiful  and  precious  Kamouraska.  The  last  Sab- 
bath of  September,  1846,  in  the  midst  of  tears  and  desolation 
which  no  words  can  depict,  I  gave  my  farewell  address  to  the  so 
dear  and  intelligent  people  of  Kamouraska,  to  go  to  Longueuil 
an''    -tcome  a  novice  of  the  Oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate. 


Chapter  XLI. 

PBBVSB8I0K  OF  DR.  NEWMAN  TO  THE  CHUBOH  OF  BOME  IN 
THK  lilQHT  OF  HIS  OWN  EXPLANATIONS,  COMMON  SENSE 
AND  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

THE  year  1843  will  be  long  remembered  in  the  Church  of 
Rome  for  the  submission  of  Dr.  Newman  to  her  authority. 
This  was  considered  by  many  Roman  Catholics  as  one  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  ever  gained  by  their  church  against  Protest- 
antism. But  some  of  us,  more  acquainted  with  the  daily  contra- 
dictions and  tergiversations  of  the  Oxford  divine,  could  not  as- 
sociate ourselves  in  the  public  rejoicings  of  our  church. 

From  almost  the  very  beginning  of  his  public  life,  Dr.  New- 
man, as  well  as  Dr.  Pusey,  appeared  to  many  of  us  as  cowards 
and  traitors  in  the  Protestant  camp,  whose  object  v^as  to  betray 
the  church  which  was  feeding  tliem,  and  which  they  were  sworn 
to  defend.  They  both  seemed  to  us  to  be  skillful  but  dishonest 
conspirators. 

Dr.  Newman,  caught  in  the  very  act  of  that  conspiracy,  has 
boldly  denied  it.  Brought  before  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion 
as  a  traitor  who,  though  enrolled  under  the  banners  of  the 
Church  of  England,  was  giving  help  and  comfort  to  its  foe,  the 
Church  of  Rome,  he  has  published  a  remarkable  book  under 
the  title  of  "  Apologia  pro  vita  sua,"  to  exculpate  himself.  I 
hold  in  my  hands  the  New  York  edition  of  1S65.  Few  men 
will  read  that  book  from  beginning  to  end ;  and  still  fewer  will 
understand  it  at  its  first  reading.  The  art  of  throwing  dust  in 
the  eyes  of  the  public  is  brought  to  perfection  in  that  work.  I 
have  read  many  books  in  my  long  life,  but  I  have  never  met 
with  anything  like  the  Jesuit  ability  shown  by  Dr.  Newman  in 
giving  a  color  of  truth  to  the  most  palpable  errors  and  false- 
hoods.   I  have  had  to  I'ead  it  at  least  four  times,  with  the  utmost 

404. 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.    XEW'MAN. 


405 


attention,  before  being  sure  of  having  unlocked  all  its  dark 
corners  and  sophistries. 

That  we  may  be  perfectly  fair  towards  Dr.  Newman,  let  us 
forget  what  his  adversaries  have  written  against  him,  and  let  us 
hear  only  what  he  says  in  his  own  defence.  Here  it  is.  I  dare 
say  that  his  most  bitter  enemies  could  never  have  been  able  to 
write  a  book  so  damaging  against  him  as  this  one  which  he  has 
given  us  for  his  apology. 

Let  me  tell  the  reader  at  once  that  I,  with  manv  other  priests 
of  Rome,  felt  at  first  an  unspeakable  joy  at  the  reading  of  many 
of  the  "  Tracts  for  the  Times."  It  is  true  that  we  keenly  felt 
the  blows  Dr.  Newman  was  giving  us  now  and  then;  but  we 
were  soon  consoled  by  the  more  deadly  blows  which  he  wa.s 
striking  at  his  own  Church — the  Church  of  England.  Besides 
that,  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  more  he  was  advancing  in 
his  controversial  work,  the  nearer  he  was  coming  to  us.  We 
were  not  long  without  saying  to  each  other:  "  Dr.  Newman  is 
evidently,  though  secretly,  for  us;  he  is  a  Roman  Catholic  at 
heart,  and  will  soon  join  us.  It  is  only  from  want  of  moral 
courage  and  honesty  that  he  remains  a  Protestant." 

But  from  the  very  beginning  there  was  a  cloud  in  my  mind, 
and  in  the  minds  of  many  other  of  my  co-priests,  about  him. 
His  contradictions  were  so  numerous,  his  sudden  transitions 
from  one  side  to  the  other  extreme,  when  speaking  of  Romanism 
and  Anglicanism;  his  eulogiums  of  our  Church  to-day,  and  his 
abuses  of  it  the  very  next  day ;  his  expressions  of  love  and  respect 
for  his  own  Church  in  one  tract,  so  suddenly  followed  by  the 
condemnation  of  her  dearest  doctrines  and  practices  in  the  next, 
caused  many  others  as  well  as  myself  to  suspect  that  he  had  no 
settled  principles,  or  faith  in  any  religion. 

What  was  my  surprise,  when  reading  this  strange  book,  I 
found  that  my  suspicions  were  too  well  founded;  that  Dr. 
Newman  was  nothing  else  than  one  of  those  free-thinkers  who 
had  no  real  faith  in  any  of  the  sacred  dogmas  he  was  preaching, 
and  on  which  he  was  writing  so  eloquently !  What  was  my 
•Btonishment  when,  in  1865,  I  read  in  his  own  book,  the  confes- 
sion made  bv  that  unfortunate  man  that  he  was  nothing  else  but 


4o6  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

a  g^nt  weathercock,  when  the  whole  people  of  England  were 
looking  upon  him  as  one  of  the  most  sincere  and  learned 
ministers  of  the  Gospel!  Here  is  his  own  confession,  pages  iii, 
112.  Speaking  of  the  years  he  had  spent  in  the  Episcopal 
Church  as  a  minister,  he  says:  "Alas!  It  was  my  portion,  for 
whole  years,  to  remain  without  any  satisfactory  basis  for  my 
religious  profession;  in  a  state  of  moral  sickness,  neither  able  to 
acquiesce  in  Anglicanism,  nor  able  to  go  to  Rome!"  This  is 
Cardinal  Newman,  painted  by  himself!  He  tells  us  how  miser- 
able he  was  when  an  Episcopalian  minister,  by  feeling  that  his 
religion  had  no  basis,  no  foundation! 

What  is  a  preacher  of  religion  who  feels  that  he  has  no 
baisis,  no  foundation,  no  reason  to  believe  in  that  religion?  Is 
he  not  that  blind  man  of  whom  Christ  speaks,  "  who  leads 
other  blind  men  into  the  ditch?  " 

Note  it  is  not  Rev.  Charles  Kingsley;  it  is  not  any  of  the 
able  Protestant  controversialists:  it  is  not  even  the  old  Chiniquy, 
who  says  that  Dr.  Newman  was  nothing  else  but  an  unbeliever, 
when  the  Protestant  people  were  looking  upon  him  as  one  of 
their  most  pious  and  sincere  Cnristian  theologians.  It  is  Dr. 
Newman  himself  who,  without  suspecting  it,  is  forced  by  the 
marvellous  Providence  of  God,  to  reveal  that  deplorable  fact  in 
his  "  Apologia  pro  vita  sua." 

Now  what  was  the  opinion  entertained  by  him  of  the  high 
and  low  sections  of  his  chui'ch?  Here  are  his  very  words, 
page  91:  "  As  to  the  High  Church  and  the  Low  Church,  I 
thought  that  the  one  had  not  much  more  of  a  logical  basis  than 
the  other;  while  I  had  a  thorough  contempt  for  the  Evangeli- 
cal !  "  But  please  observe  that  when  this  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England  had  found,  with  the  help  of  Dr.  Pusey,  that  this 
church  had  no  logical  basis,  and  that  he  had  a  "  thorough  con- 
tempt for  the  Evangelical,"  he  kept  a  firm  and  continuous  hold 
upon  the  living  which  he  was  enjoying  from  day  to  day.  Nay, 
it  is  when  paid  by  his  church  to  preach  her  doctrines  and  fight 
her  battles  that  he  set  at  work  to  raise  another  chnrch!  Of 
course  the  new  church  was  to  haver  a  firm  basis  on  logic,  history 
and  the  Gospel;   the    new    church   was    to    be  worthy  of  tlw 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.    NEWMAN. 


407 


British  people,  it  was  to  be  the  modern  ark  to  save  the  perishing 
w^orld ! 

The  reader  will  perhaps  think  I  am  joking,  and  that  I  am 
caricaturing  Dr.  Newman.  No!  the  hour  in  which  we  live  is 
too  solemn  to  be  spent  in  jokes — it  is  rather  with  tears  and  sobs 
that  we  must  approach  the  subject.  Here  are  the  very  words  of 
Dr.  Newman  about  the  new  church  he  wished  to  build  after  de- 
molishing the  Church  of  England  as  established  by  law.  He 
says  (page  116):  "I  have  said  enough  on  what  I  consider  to 
have  been  the  general  objects  of  the  various  works  which  I 
w^rote,  edited,  or  prompted  in  the  years  which  I  am  reviewing.  / 
■wanted  to  bring  out  in  a  substantive  form  a  living  Church  of 
England^  in  a  position  proper  to  herself^  and  founded  on  dis- 
tinct principles ;  as  far  as  paper  could  do  it^  and  as  earnestly 
preaching  it  and  influencing  others  toward  it,  could  tend  to  make 
it  in  fact; — a  living  church,  made  of  flesh  and  blood,  with  voice, 
complexion,  motion  and  action,  and  a  will  of  its  own."  (The 
italics  are  mine.)  If  I  had  not  said  that  these  words  were  written 
by  Dr.  Newman,  would  the  reader  have  suspected  it? 

What  is  to  be  the  name  of  the  new  church?  Dr.  Newman 
himself  has  called  it  "  Via  Media."  As  the  phrase  indicates, 
it  was  to  stand  between  the  rival  Churches  of  England  and 
Rome,  and  it  was  to  be  built  with  the  materials  taken,  as  much 
as  possible,  from  the  ruins  of  both. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done,  then,  was  to  demolish  that  huge, 
illogical,  unscriptural,  unchristian  church,  restored  by  the  Eng- 
lish reformers.  Dr.  Newman  bravely  set  to  work,  under  the  eye 
and  direction  of  Dr.  Pusey.  His  merciless  hammer  was  heard 
almost  day  and  night  from  1833  to  1834,  striking  alternately, 
with  hard  blows,  now  against  the  church  of  the  Pope,  whom  he 
tailed  Antichrist,  and  then  against  his  own  church,  which  he 
was,  very  soon,  to  find  still  more  corrupted  and  defiled  than  its 
anti-Christian  rival.  For,  as  he  was  proceeding  in  his  work  of 
demolition,  he  tells  us  that  he  found  more  clearly,  every  day, 
that  the  materials  and  the  foundations  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
were  exceedingly  better  than  those  of  his  own.  He  then  deter- 
mined to  give  a  coup  de  grace    to   the    Church    of    England, 


4o8  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

and  strike  such  a  blow  that  her  walls  would  be   forever  pulver- 
ized.    His  perfidious  tract  XC.  aims  at  this  object. 

Nothing  can  surpass  the  ability  and  the  pious  cunning  with 
which  Dr.  Newsman  tries  to  conceal  his  shameful  conspiracy  in. 
his  "  Apologia." 

Hear  the  un-British  and  unmanly  excuses  which  he  gives 
for  having  deceived  his  readers,  \vhen  he  was  looked  upon  as- 
the  most  reliable  theologian  of  the  day,  in  defence  of  the  doc- 
trince  of  the  Church  of  England.  In  pages  236—37  he  says: 
"  How  could  I  ever  hope  to  make  them  believe  in  a  secona 
theology,  when  I  had  cheated  them  in  the  first.''  With  what 
'ace  could  I  publish  a  new  edition  of  a  dogmatic  creed,  and  ask 
them  to  receive  it  as  gospel  ?  Would  it  not  be  plain  to  them 
that  no  certainty  was  to  be  found  anywhere?  Well,  in  my  de- 
fence, I  could  make  but  a  lame  apology ;  however,  it  was  the 
true  one — viz :  that  I  had  not  read  the  Fathers  critically  enough ; 
that  in  such  nice  points  as  those  which  determine  the  angle  of 
divergence  between  the  two  churches,  I  had  made  considerable 
miscalculations;  and  how  came  this  about.''  Why,  the  fact  was, 
unpleasant  as  it  was  to  avow,  that  I  had  leaned  too  much  upon 
the  assertions  of  Usher,  Jeremy  Taylor,  or  Barrow,  and  had 
been  deceived  by  them." 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  the  learning  and  honesty  of  the  great 
Oxford  divine  !  Dr.  Newman  confesses  that  when  he  was 
telling  his  people  "  St.  Augustine  says  this,  St.  Jerome  says 
that"— when  he  assured  them  that  St.  Gregory  supported  this 
doctrine,  and  Origen  that,  it  was  all  false.  Those  holy  fathers 
had  never  taught  such  doctrines.  It  was  Usher,  Taylor  and 
Barrow  who  were  citing  them,  and  they  had  deceived  him! 

Is  it  not  a  strange  thing  that  such  a  shrewd  man  as  Dr.  New- 
man should  have  so  completely  destroyed  his  own  good  name  in 
the  very  book  he  wrote,  with  so  much  care  and  ingenuity,  to  de- 
fend himself?  One  remains  confounded — he  can  hardly  believe 
bis  ovv^n  eyes  at  such  want  of  honesty  in  such  a  man.  It  is 
evident  that  his  mind  was  troubled  at  the  souvenir  of  such  a 
course  of  procedure.  But  he  wanted  to  excuse  himself  by  saying 
it  was  the  fault  of  Usher,  Taylor  and  Barrow! 


CARDINAL   KEWHAN. 


P-405 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.    XEWAN. 


409 


Are  we  not  forcibly  brought  to  the  solemn  and  terrible 
drama  in  the  Garden  of  Eden?  Adam  hoped  to  be  excused  bv 
saying,  "  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  o-ave 
me  the  fruit  of  the  tree,  and  I  did  eat."  The  woman  said, 
'<  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat."  But  what  was  the 
result  of  those  excuses  ?  We  read :  "  Therefore  the  Lord  God 
sent  him  forth  from  the  Garden  of  Eden."  Dr.  Newman  has 
lost  the  precious  inheritance  God  has  given  him.  He  has  lost 
the  lamp  he  had  received  to  guide  his  steps,  and  he  is  now  in  the 
dark  dungeon  of  Popery,  worshipping  as  a  poor  slave,  the  wafer 
god  of  Rome. 

But  what  has  become  of  that  new  church  or  religion,  the 
Via  j\/cd/a,  which  has  just  come  out  from  the  sickly  brain  of 
the  Oxford  professor?  Let  us  hear  its  sad  and  premature  end 
from  Dr.  Newman  himself.  Let  me,  however,  premise,  that 
when  Dr.  Newman  began  his  attacks  against  his  church,  he  at 
first  so  skillfully  mixed  the  most  eloquent  eulogiums  with  his 
criticisms,  that,  though  many  sincere  Christians  were  grieved, 
few  dared  to  complain.  The  names  of  Pusev  and  Newman  com- 
manded such  respect  that  few  raised  their  voices  against  the  con- 
spiracy. This  emboldened  them.  Month  after  month  they 
became  unguarded  in  their  denunciations  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  more  explicit  in  their  support  of  Romanism.  In  the 
meantime,  the  Church  of  Rome  was  reaping  a  rich  harvest  of 
perverts;  for  many  Protestants  were  unsettled  in  their  faith,  and 
were  going  the  whole  length  of  the  road  to  Rome,  so  cunningly 
indicated  by  the  conspirators.  At  last,  the  90th  tract  appeared  in 
1843.  It  fell  as  a  thunderbolt  on  the  church.  A  loud  cry  of 
indignation  was  raised  all  over  England  against  those  who  had 
so  mercilessly  struck  at  the  heart  of  that  church  which  they  had 
sworn  to  defend.  The  bishops  almost  unanimously  denounced 
Dr.  Newman  and  his  Romish  tendencies,  and  showed  the  absur- 
ity  of  his   Via  Media. 

Now,  let  us  hear  him  telling  himself  this  episode  of  his  life. 
For  I  want  to  be  perfectly  fair  to  Dr.  Newman.  It  is  only 
from  his  own  words  and  public  acts  that  I  want  the  reader  to 
judge  him. 


4IO  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Here  is  what  he  says  of  himself,  after  being  publicly  con- 
demed:  "  I  saw  indeed  clearly  that  my  place  in  the  movement 
was  lost.  Public  confidence  was  at  an  end.  My  occupation 
was  gone.  It  was  simply  an  impossibility  that  I  could  say 
anything  henceforth  to  good  effect,  when  I  had  been  posted  up 
by  the  Marshal  on  the  buttery  hatch  of  every  college  of  my 
University  after  the  manner  of  discommoned  pastry-cooks,  and 
when,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  and  every  class  of  society, 
through  every  organ  and  occasion  of  opinion,  in  newspapers,  in 
periodicals,  at  meetings,  in  pulpits,  at  dinner-tables  in  coffee- 
rooms,  in  railway  carriages,  I  was  denounced  as  a  traitor  who 
had  laid  his  train,  and  was  detected  in  the  very  act  of  firing  it 
against  the  time-honored  establishment." "  Con- 
fidence in  me  was  lost.  But  I  had  already  lost  full  confidence 
in  myself."   (p.  132.) 

Let  the  reader  hear  these  words  from  the  very  lips  of  Dr. 
Newman — '•  Conjidence  in  me  was  lost !  But  1  had  already 
lost  full  cottfidence  in  myself!''''  (p.  132.)  Are  these  words  the 
indications  of  a  brave,  innocent  man  ?  Or  are  they  not  the  cry 
of  despair  of  a  cowardly  and  guilty  conscience  ? 

Was  it  not  when  Wishart  heard  that  the  Pope  and  his  mil- 
lions of  slaves  had  condemned  him  to  death,  that  he  raised  his 
head  as  a  giant,  and  showed  that  he  was  more  above  his  accusers 
and  his  judges  than  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth?  Had  he 
lost  his  confidence  in  himself  and  in  his  God  when  he  said: 
"I  am  happy  to  suffer  and  die  in  the  cause  of  Truth.''"  Did 
Luther  lose  confidence  in  himself  and  in  his  God,  when  con- 
demned by  the  Pope  and  all  his  Bishops,  and  ordered  to  go 
before  the  Emperor  to  be  condemned  to  death,. if  he  would  not 
retract?  No!  It  is  in  those  hours  of  trial  that  he  made  the 
world  to  re-echo  the  sublime  words  of  David:  "  God  is  our 
refuge  and  our  strength,  a  present  help  in  trouble.  There- 
fore, we  will  not  fear,  though  the  earth  be  removed,  and 
though  the  inountains  be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea. 
Though  the  waters  thereof  roar  and  be  troubled,  though  the 
mountains  shake  with  the  swelling  thereof."  But  Luther  had  a 
;^^ood  cause.      He  knew,  he  felt,  that  the  God  of  Heaven  w^as  on 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.     NEWMAN.  4I  I 

his  side,  when  Dr.  Newman  knew  well  that  he  was  deceiving 
the  world,  after  having  deceived  himself.  Luther  was  strong 
and  fearless:  for  the  voice  of  Jesus  had  come  through  the  fifteen 
centuries  to  tell  him:  "Fear  not,  I  am  with  thee."  Dr.  New- 
man was  weak,  trembling  before  the  storm,  for  his  conscience 
was  reproaching  him  for  his  treachery  and  his  unbelief. 

Did  Latimer  falter  and  lose  his  confidence  in  himself  and  in 
his  God,  when  condemned  by  his  judges  and  tied  to  the  stake  to 
be  burnt?  No!  It  is  then  that  he  uttered  those  immortal  and 
sublime  words:  "  Master  Ridley:  Be  of  good  comfort  and  play 
the  man;  we  shall,  this  day,  light  a  candle,  by  God's  grace,  in 
England,  as  I  trust  shall  never  be  put  out!" 

This  is  the  language  of  men  who  are  fighting  for  Christ  and 
His  Gospel.  Dr.  Newman  could  not  use  such  noble  language 
when  he  was  betraying  Christ  and  His  Gospel. 

Now,  let  us  hear  from  himself  when,  after  having  lost  the 
confidence  of  his  Church  and  his  country,  and  having  also  lost  his 
confidence  in  himself,  he  saw  a  ghost,  and  found  that  the 
Chui'ch  of  Rome  was  right.  At  page  157,  he  says:  "My 
friend,  an  anxiously  religious  man,  pointed  out  the  palmary 
words  of  St.  Augustine  which  were  contained  in  one  of  the  ex- 
tracts made  in  the  (Dublin)  J^evie-w,  and  which  had  escaped  my 
observation,  'Securus  judicat  orbis  terrarum.'  He  repeated  these 
words  again  and  again;  and  when  he  was  gone,  they  kept  ring- 
ing in  my  ears.  .  .  .  The  words  of  St.  Augustine  struck  me 
with  such  a  power  which  I  never  had  felt  from  any  words  be- 
fore. To  take  a  familiar  instance,  they  were  like  the  '  Turn 
again,  Whittington,'  of  the  chime ;  or,  to  take  a  more  serious  one, 
they  are  like  the  '  tolle  lege '  of  the  child  which  converted  St. 
Augustine  himself.  '  Securus  judicat  orbis  terrarum! '  By  those 
great  words  of  the  ancient  father,  the  theory  of  the  Via  Media 
was  absolutely  pulverized.  I  became  excited  at  the  view  thus 
opened  upon  me.  ...  I  had  seen  the  shadow  of  a  hand 
upon  the  wall.  .  .  .  He  who  has  seen  a  ghost  cannot  be  as 
if  he  had  never  seen  it.  The  heaven  had  opened  and  closed 
again.  The  thought,  for  the  moment,  had  been:  'The  Church 
of  Rome  will  be  found  right,  after  all.'"  (158). 


^l:jt  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Tt  would  be  amusing,  indeed,  if  it  were  not  so  humiliating,  to 
see  the  naivete  with  which  Dr.  Newman  confesses  his  own  aber- 
ration, want  of  judgment  and  honesty  in  reference  to  the  pet 
scheme  of  his  w^hole  tlieological  existence  at  Oxford.  "  By 
these  words,"  he  says,  "the  Via  Media  was  absolutely  pulver- 
ized!" 

We  all  know  the  history  of  the  mountain  in  travail,  which 
gave  birth  to  a  mouse.  Dr.  Newman  tells  us  frankly  that,  after 
ten  years  of  hard  and  painful  travail,  he  produced  something  less 
than  a  mouse.  His  Via  Media  was  pulverized ;  it  turned  to  be 
only  a  handful  of  dust. 

Remember  the  high-sounding  of  his  trumpet  about  his  plan 
of  a  new  church,  that  New  Jerusalem  on  earth,  the  church  of 
the  future  which  was  to  take  the  place  of  his  rotten  Church  of 
England.  Let  me  repeat  to  you  his  very  words  about  that  new 
ark  of  salvation  with  which  the  professor  of  Oxford  was  to  save 
the  Avorld.  (Page  1 16):  "I  wanted  to  bring  out,  m  a  substant- 
ive form,  a  living  Church  of  England,  in  a  position  proper  to 
herself  and  founded  on  distinct  principles,  as  far  as  paper  could 
do  it,  and  as  earnestly  preaching  it  and  influencing  others  towards 
it  could  tend  to  make  it  a  fact:  a  living  church,  made  of  flesh 
and  blood,  w^ith  voice,  complexion,  and  motion,  and  action,  and  a 
will  of  its  own." 

Now,  what  was  the  end  of  that  masterpiece  of  theological 
architecture  of  Dr.  Newman?  Here  is  its  history,  given  by  the 
great  architect  himself:  "I  read  the  palmary  words  of  St.  Au- 
gustine, '  Securus  Judical  orbis  terrarum ! '  By  those  great 
words  of  the  ancient  father,  the  theory  of  the  Via  Media  was 
pulverized!  I  became  excited  at  the  view  thus  opened  before 
me.  I  had  seen  the  shadow  of  a  hand  on  the  wall.  He  who 
has  seen  a  ghost  can  never  be  as  if  he  had  not  seen  it;  the  heav- 
ens had  opened  and  closed  again.  The  thought,  for  a  moment, 
was  'The  Church  of  Rome  will  be  found  right,  after  all.'" 
(158).  Have  we  ever  seen  a  man  destoying  himself  more  com- 
pletely at  the  very  moment  that  he  tries  to  defend  himself.'' 
Here  he  does  ingeniously  confess  what  every  one  knew  before, 
that  his  whole  work,  for  the  last  ten  years,  was  not  only  a   self- 


PERVERSION     OF    DR.    NEWMAN. 


4^3 


deception,  but  a  supreme  effort  to  deceive  the  world — his  Via 
Media  was  a  perfect  string  of  infideHty,  sophism,  and  folly.  The 
»vhole  fabric  had  fallen  to  the  ground  at  the  sight  of  a  ghost! 
To  build  a  grand  structure,  in  the  place  of  his  Church  which  he 
wanted  to  demolish,  he  had  thought  it  was  sufficient  to  throw  a 
great  deal  of  glittering  sand,  with  some  blue,  white,  and  red  dust, 
in  the  air!  He  tells  us  that  one  sad  hour  came  when  he  heard 
five  Latin  words  from  St.  Augustine,  saw  a  ghost — and  his  great 
structure  fell  to  the  ground! ! 

What  does  this  all    mean?     It  simply  means  that  God  Al 
mighty  has  dealt  with  Dr.  Newman  as  He  did  with  the  impiou* 
Pharaoh  in  the  Red  Sea,  when  he  was  marching  at  the  head  of 
his  army  against  the  church  of  old,  his  chosen  people,  to  destroy 
them. 

Dr.  Newman  was  not  only  marching  with  Dr.  Pusey  at  the 
head  of  an  army  of  theologians  to  destroy  the  Church  of  God, 
but  he  was  employing  all  the  resources  of  his  intellect,  all  his 
false  and  delusive  science,  to  raise  an  idolatrous  church  in  its 
place;  and  when  Pharaoh  and  Dr.  Newman  thought  themselves 
sure  of  success,  the  God  of  Heaven  confounded  them  both.  The 
first  went  down  with  his  army  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  as  a 
piece  of  lead.  The  second  lost,  not  his  life,  but  something  in- 
finitely more  precious — he  lost  his  reputation  for  intelligence, 
science  and  integrity ;  he  lost  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  and  be- 
came pefectly  blind,  after  having  lost  his  place  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ! 

I  have  never  judged  a  man  by  the  hearsay  of  anyone,  and  I 
would  prefer  to  have  my  tongue  cut  out  than  to  repeat  a  word 
of  what  the  adversaries  of  Dr.  Newman  have  said  against  him. 
But  we  have  the  right,  and  I  think  it  is  our  duty,  to  hear  and 
consider  what  he  says  of  himself,  and  to  judge  him  on  his  own 
confession. 

At  page  174  we  read  these  words  from  his  own  pen  to  a 
friend :  "  I  cannot  disguise  from  myself  that  my  preaching  is 
not  calculated  to  defend  that  system  of  religion  which  has  been 
received  for  three  hundred  years,  and  of  which  the  Heads  of 
Houses  are  the  legitimate  maintainers  in   this   place 


414  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  fear  I  must  allow  that,  whether  I  will  or  no,  I  am  disposing 
them  (the  young  men)  towards  Rome."  Here  Dr.  Newman 
declares,  in  plain  English,  that  he  was  disposing  his  hearers  and 
students  at  Oxford  to  join  the  Church  of  Rome!  I  ask  it:  what 
can  we  think  of  a  man  who  is  paid  and  sworn  to  do  a  thing,  who 
not  only  does  it  not,  but  who  does  the  very  contrary?  Who 
would  hesitate  to  call  such  a  man  dishonest?  Who  would  hesi- 
tate to  say  that  such  a  one  has  no  respect  for  those  who  employ 
him,  and  no  respect  for  himself? 

Dr.  Newman  writes  this  \vhole  book  to  refute  the  public  ac- 
cusation that  he  was  a  traitor,  that  he  was  preparing  the 
people  to  leave  the  Church  of  England  and  to  submit  to  the 
Pope.  But,  strange  to  say,  it  is  in  that  very  book  we  find  the  ir- 
refutable proof  of  his  shameful  and  ignominious  treachery !  In 
a  letter  to  Dr.  Russell,  President  of  the  Roman  Catholic  College 
of  Maynooth,  he  wrote,  page  237:  "Roman  Catholics  will 
find  this  to  be  the  state  of  things  in  time  to  come,  whatever 
promise  they  may  fanc}'  there  is  of  a  large  secession  to  their 
church.  This  man  or  that  may  leave  us,  but  there  will  be  no 
general  movement.  There  is,  indeed,  an  incipient  movement  of 
our  church  towards  yours,  and  this  your  leading  men  are  doing 
all  they  can  to  frustrate  by  their  unwearied  efforts,  at  all  risks  to 
carry  off  individuals.  When  will  they  know  their  position,  and 
embrace  a  larger  and  wiser  policy  ?"  Is  it  not  evident  here  that 
God  was  blinding  Dr.  Newman,  and  that  He  was  making  him 
confess  his  treachery  in  the  very  moment  that  he  was  trying  to 
conceal  it?  Do  we  not  see  clearly  that  he  was  complaining  of 
the  unwise  policy  of  the  leaders  of  the  Church  of  Rome  w^ho 
were  retarding  that  incipient  fnovenient  of  his  church  towards 
Romanism,  for  which  he  was  working  day  and  night  with  Dr. 
Pusey  ? 

But  had  not  Dr.  Newman  confessed  his  own  treachery,  we 
have,  to-day,  its  undeniable  proof  in  the  letter  of  Dr.  Pusey  to 
the  English  Church  Union,  written  in  1S79.  Speaking  of  Dr. 
Newman  and  the  other  Tractarians,  he  says:  "  An  acute  man, 
Dr.  Hawkins,  Provost  of  Oriel,  said  of  the  'Tracts,'  on  their 
first  appearance,  'T   know  they  have  a  forced  circulation.'     We 


PERVERSION    OF     DR.    NEWMAN. 


4^5 


put  the  leaven  into  the  meal,  and  waited  to  see  what  would  come 
of  it.     Our  object  was  to  Catholicise  England." 

And  this  confession  of  Dr.  Pusey,  that  he  wanted  to  Catholic- 
ise England,  is  fully  confirmed  by  Dr.  Newman  (page  108,  109) 
where  he  says:  "  I  suspect  it  was  Dr.  Pusey's  influence  and  ex- 
ample which  set  me  and  made  me  set  others  on  the  larger  and 
more  careful  works  in  defense  of  the  principles  of  the  move- 
ment which  followed"  (towards  Rome)  "in  a  course  of  years." 

Nothing  is  more  curious  than  to  hear  from  Dr.  Newman 
himself  with  what  skill  he  was  trying  to  conceal  his  perfidious 
efforts  in  preparing  that  movement  towards  Rome.  He  says  on 
that  subject,  page  124:  "I  was  embarrassed  in  consequence  of 
my  wish  to  go  as  far  as  possible  in  interpreting  the  articles  in 
the  direction  of  Roman  dogma,  without  disclosing  what  I  was 
doing  to  the  parties  whose  doubts  I  was  meeting,  who  might  be, 
thereby,  encouraged  to  go  still  farther  than,  at  present,  they 
found  in  themselves  any  call  to  do." 

A  straw  fallen  on  the  water  indicates  the  way  the  tide  goes. 
Here  we  have  the  straw,  taken  by  Dr.  Newman  himself,  and 
thrown  by  him  on  the  water.  A  thousand  volumes  written  by  the 
ex-Professor  of  Oxford  to  deny  that  he  was  a  conspirator  at  work 
to  lead  his  people  to  Rome,  when  in  the  service  of  the  Church 
of  England,  could  not  destroy  the  evident  proof  of  his  guilt  given 
by  himself  in  this  strange  book. 

If  we  want  to  have  a  proof  of  the  supreme  contempt  Dr. 
Newman  had  for  his  readers,  and  his  daily  habit  of  deceiving 
them  by  sophistries  and  incorrect  assertions,  we  have  it  in  the 
remarkable  lines  which  I  find  at  page  123  of  his  Apologia. 
Speaking  of  his  "doctrinal  development,"  he  says:  "  I  wanted 
to  ascertain  what  was  the  limit  of  that  elasticity  in  the  direction 
of  Roman  dogma.  But,  next,  I  had  a  way  of  inquiry  of  my  own 
which  I  state  without  defending.  I  instanced  it  afterward  in  my 
essay  on  '  Doctrinal  Development.'  That  work,  I  believe,  I  have 
not  read  since  I  published  it,  and  I  doubt  not  at  all  that  I  have 
made  many  mistakes  in  it,  partly  from  my  ignorance  of  the  de- 
tails of  doctrine  as  the  Church  of  Rome  holds  them,  but  partly 
from  mv  impatience  to  clear  as  large  a  range  for  the  Principles 


416  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  doctrinal  development  (waiving  the  question  of  historical 
J^acf)  as  was  consistent  with  the  strict  apostolicity  and  identity  of 
the  Catholic  creed.  In  like  manner,  as  regards  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  my  method  of  inquiry  was  to  leap  '  in  tnedias  res ' " 
(  123-124). 

Dr.  Newman  is  the  author  of  two  new  systems  of  theology; 
and,  from  his  own  confession,  the  two  systems  are  a  compendium 
of  error,  absurdities,  and  folly.  His  Via  Afedia  wa.?,  "pulver- 
ized" by  the  vision  of  a  ghost,  when  he  heard  the  four  words 
of  St.  Augustine:  '■'■  Seciirus  judicat  orbis  terrarum.''''  The 
second,  known  under  the  name  of  "Doctrinal  Development,"  is, 
from  his  own  confession,  full  of  errors  on  account  of  his  ignor- 
ance of  the  subject  on  which  he  was  writing,  and  his  own  impa- 
tience to  support  his  sophisms. 

Dr.  Newman  is  really  unfortunate  in  his  paternity.  He  is  the 
father  of  two  children.  The  first-born  was  called  Via  Media. 
But  it  had  neither  head  nor  feet,  it  was  suffocated  on  the  day  of 
its  birth  by  a  "  ghost."  The  second,  called  "Doctrinal  Devel- 
opment," was  not  viable.  The  father  is  so  shocked  with  the 
sight  of  the  monster,  that  he  publicly  confessed  its  deformities 
and  cries  out,  "Mistake!  mistake!  mistake!"  (pages  123-124 
Apologia  -pro  vita  sua). 

The  troubled  conscience  of  Dr.  Newman  has  forced  him  to 
confess  (page  1 1 1 )  that  he  was  miserable,  from  his  want  of  faith, 
when  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England  and  a  Professor  of 
Theology  of  Oxford :  "  Alas !  it  was  my  portion  for  whole 
years  to  remain  without  any  satisfactory  basis  for  my  religious 
profession!"  At  page  174  and  175  he  tells  us  how  miserable 
and  anxious  he  was  when  the  voice  of  his  conscience  reproached 
him  in  the  position  he  held  in  the  Church  of  England,  while 
leading  her  people  to  Rome.  At  page  158  he  confesses  his  un- 
speakable confusion  when  he  saw  his  supreme  folly  in  building 
up  the  Via  Media^  and  heard  it  crash  at  the  appearance  of  a 
ghost.  At  page  123  he  acknowledges  how  he  deceived  his  read- 
ers, and  deceived  himself,  in  his  "  Doctrinal  Development."  At 
page  132  he  tells  us  how  he  had  not  only  completely  lost  the 
confidence  of  his  country,  but  lost  confidence  in  himself.     And 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.    NEWMAN.  ^V^J 

it  is  after  this  humiliating  and  shameful  course  of  life  that  he 
finds  out  "  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  right! " 

Must  we  not  thank  God  for  having  forced  Dr.  Newman  to 
tell  us  through  what  dark  and  tortuous  ways  a  Protestant,  a  dis- 
ciple of  the  Gospel,  a  minister  of  Christ,  a  Professor  of  Oxford, 
fell  into  that  sea  of  Sodom  called  Romanism  or  Papism !  A  great 
lesson  is  given  us  here.  We  see  the  fulfillment  of  Christ's  word 
about  those  who  have  received  great  talents  and  have  not  used 
them  for  the  "  Good  Master's  honor  and  glory." 

Dr.  Newman,  without  suspecting  it,  tells  us  that  it  was  his 
course  of  action  towards  that  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ  of 
which  he  was  a  minister,  that  caused  him  to  lose  the  confidence 
of  his  country,  and  troubled  him  so  much  that  it  caused  him  to 
lose  that  self-confidence  which  is  founded  on  our  faith  and  our 
union  with  Christ,  who  is  our  rock,  our  only  strength  in  the 
hour  of  trial.  Having  lost  her  sails,  her  anchor,  and  her  helm, 
the  poor  ship  was  evidentlv  doomed  to  become  a  wreck.  Noth- 
ing could  prevent  her  from  drifting  into  the  engulfing  abyss  of 
Popery. 

Dr.  Newman  confesses  that  it  is  only  when  his  guilty  con- 
science was  uniting  its  thundering  voice  with  that  of  his  whole 
country  to  condemn  him,  that  he  said,  "  After  all,  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  right! " 

These  are  the  arguments,  the  motives,  the  light  which  have 
led  Dr.  Newfnan  to  Rome!  And  it  is  from  himself  that  we 
have  it!  It  is  a  just,  and  avenging  God  who  forces  his  adversary 
to  glorify  Him  and  say  the  truth  in  spite  of  himself  in  this 
"  Apologia  pro  vita  sua.'''' 

No  one  can  read  that  book,  written  with  almost  a  superhu- 
man skill,  ability,  and  fineness,  without  a  feeling  of  unspeakable 
sadness  at  the  sight  of  such  bright  talents,  such  eloquence,  such 
extensive  studies,  employed  by  the  author  to  deceive  himself  and 
deceive  his  readers;  for  it  is  evident,  on  every  page,  that  Dr. 
Newman  has  deceived  himself  before  deceiving  his  readers.  But 
no  one  can  read  that  book  without  feeling  a  sense  of  terror  also. 
For  he  will  hear,  at  every  page,  the  thundering  voice  of  the 
God  of  the  Gospel,  "  Because  they  received  not  the  love  of   the 


4l8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Truth  that  they  might  be  saved,  God  shall  send  them  strong  de- 
lusions, that  they  should  believe  a  lie."      (2  Thess.  ii:    lo-ii). 

What,  at  first,  most  painfully  puzzles  the  mind  of  the  Chris- 
tian reader  of  this  book  is  the  horror  which  Dr.  Newman  has 
for  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  unfortunate  man  who  Is  perish- 
ing from  hydrophobia  does  not  keep  himself  more  at  a  distance 
from  water  than  he  does  from  the  word  of  God.  It  seems  in- 
credible, but  it  is  a  fact,  that  from  the  first  page  of  the  history  of 
his  "  Religious  Opinions  "  to  page  261,  where  he  joins  the  Church 
of  Rome,  we  have  not  a  single  line  to  tell  us  that  he  has  gone 
to  the  Word  of  God  for  light  and  comfort  in  his  search  after 
truth.  We  see  Dr.  Newman  at  the  feet  of  Daniel  Wilson,  Scott, 
Milner,  Whately,  Hawkins,  Blanco  White,  William  James,  But- 
ler, Keble,  Froude,  Pusey,  &c.,  asking  them  what  to  believe, 
what  to  do  to  be  saved :  but  you  do  not  see  him  a  single  minute, 
no!  not  a  single  minute,  at  the  feet  of  the  Saviour,  asking  him, 
"  Master,  what  must  I  do  to  have  '  Eternal  Life  ? ' "  The  sub- 
lime words  of  Peter  to  Christ,  which  are  filling  all  the  echoes  of 
heaven  and  earth,  these  eighteen  hundred  years,  "Lord!  To 
whom  shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life!  "  have 
never  reached  his  ears!  In  the  long  and  gloomy  hours,  when 
his  soul  was  chilled  and  trembling  in  the  dark  night  of  infidelity; 
when  his  uncertain  feet  were  tired  by  vainly  going  here  and 
there,  to  find  the  true  way,  he  has  never  heard  Christ  telling 
him:  "Come  unto  Me.  I  am  the  Way;  I  am  the  Door;  I  am 
the  Life ! "  In  those  terrible  hours  of  distress  of  which  he 
speaks  so  eloquently,  when  he  cries  (page  iii)  "Alas!  I  was 
without  any  basis  for  my  religious  profession,  in  a  state  of  moral 
sickness:  neither  able  to  acquiesce  in  Anglicanism,  nor  able  to  go 
to  Rome:"  when  his  lips  were  parched  with  thirst  after  truth, 
he  never,  no  never,  went  to  the  fountain  from  which  flow  the 
waters  of  eternal  life! 

One  day,  he  goes  to  the  Holy  Fathers.  But  what  will  he 
find  there?  Will  he  see  how  St.  Cyprien  sternly  rebuked  the 
impudence  of  Stephen,  Bishop  of  Rome,  who  pretended  to  have 
some  jurisdiction  over  the  See  of  Carthage?  Will  he  find  how 
Gregory  positively  says  that  the  Bishop  who  will  pretend   to  be 


PERVERSION    OF     DR.     NEWMAN. 


419 


the  "  Universal  Bishop"  is  the  forerunner  of  Anti-Christ?  Will 
he  hear  St.  Augustine  declaring  that  when  Christ  said  to  Peter, 
"Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church," 
He  was  speaking  of  Himself  as  the  rock  upon  which  the  Church 
would  stand?  No.  The  only  thing  which  Dr.  Newman  brings 
us  from  the  Holy  Fathers  is  so  ridiculous  and  so  unbecoming 
that  I  am  ashamed  to  have  to  repeat  it.  He  tells  us  (page  78), 
"I  have  an  idea.  The  mass  of  the  Fathers  (Justin,  Anthena- 
goras,  Irenaeus,  Clement,  Tertullian,  Origen,  Ambrose),  hold 
that,  though  Satan  fell  from  the  beginning,  the  angels  fell  before 
the  deluge,  falling  in  love  with  the  daughters  of  men.  This  has 
lately  come  across  me  as  a  remarkable  solution  of  a  notion  I 
cannot  help  holding." 

Allow  me  here  to  remind  the  reader  that,  though  the  Fathers 
have  written  many  beautiful  evangelical  pages,  some  of  them 
have  written  the  greatest  nonsense  and  the  most  absurd  things 
which  human  folly  can  imagine.  Many  of  them  were  born  and 
educated  as  pagans.  They  had  learned  and  believed  the  history 
and  immorality  of  their  demi-gods;  they  had  brought  those 
notions  with  them  into  the  Church;  and  they  had  attributed  to 
the  angels  of  God,  the  passions  and  love  for  women  which  was 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  characters  of  Jupiter,  Mars,  Cupid, 
Bacchus,  etc.  And  Dr.  Newman,  whose  want  of  accuracy  and 
judgment  is  so  often  revealed  and  confessed  by  him  in  this  book, 
has  not  been  able  to  see  that  those  sayings  of  the  Fathers  were 
nothing  but  human  aberrations.  He  has  accepted  that  as  Gospel 
truth,  and  he  has  been  silly  enough  to  boast  of  it. 

The  bees  go  to  the  flowers  to  make  their  precious  honey. 
They  wisely  choose  what  is  more  perfect,  pure  and  wholesome 
in  the  flowers  to  feed  themselves.  Dr.  Newman  does  the  very 
contrary:  he  goes  to  those  flowers  of  j^ast  ages,  the  Holy  Fathers, 
and  takes  from  them  what  is  impure  for  his  food.  After  this, 
is  it  a  wonder  that  he  has  so  easily  put  his  lips  to  the  cup  of  the 
great  enchantress  who  is  poisoning  the  world  with  the  wine  of 
her  prostitution? 

When  the  reader  has  followed  with  attention  the  history  of 
the  religious  opinions   of  Dr.  Newman  in   his  "  Apologia  fro 


420  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

vita  sua^''  and  he  sees  him  approaching,  day  after  day,  the  bot- 
tomless abyss  of  folly,  corruption,  slavery  and  idolatry  of  Rome, 
into  which  he  suddenly  falls  (page  261),  he  is  forcibly  reminded 
of  the  strange  spectacle  recorded  in  the  eloquent  pages  of  Cha- 
teaubriand, about  the  Niagara  Falls. 

More  than  once,  travelers  standing  at  the  foot  of  that  marvel 
of  the  marvels  of  the  works  of  God,  looking  up  toward  heaven, 
have  been  struck  by  the  sight  of  a  small,  dark  spot,  moving  in 
large  circles,  at  a  great  distance  above  the  fall.  Gazing  at  that 
strange  object,  they  soon  remarked  that  in  its  circular  march  in 
the  sky,  the  small,  dark  spot  was  rapidly  growing  larger,  as  it 
was  coming  down  towards  the  thundering  fall.  They  soon 
discovered  the  majestic  form  of  one  of  the  giant  eagles  of 
America!  And  the  eagle,  balancing  himself  in  the  air,  seemed 
to  look  down  on  the  marvellous  fall,  as  if  absolutely  taken  with 
admiration  at  its  grandeur  and  magnificence!  For  some  time, 
the  giant  of  the  air  remained  above  the  majestic  cataract,  des- 
cribing his  large  circles.  But  when  coming  down  nearer  and 
nearer  the  terrific  abyss,  he  was  suddenly  dragged  by  an  irrerist- 
ible  power  into  the  bottomless  abyss,  to  disappear.  Some  time 
later  the  body,  bruised  and  lifeless,  is  seen  floating  on  the  rapid 
and  dark  waters,  to  be  forever  lost  in  the  bitter  waters  of  the 
sea,  a  long  distance  below. 

Rome  is  a  fall.  It  is  the  name  which  God  himself  has  given 
her:  "There  come  a  falling  away"  (2  Thess.  ii.,  3).  As  the 
giant  eagle  of  America,  when  imprudently  coming  too  near  the 
mighty  Fall  of  Niagara,  is  often  caught  in  the  irresistible  vortex 
which  attracts  it  from  a  long  distance,  so  that  eagle  of  Oxford, 
Dr.  Newman,  whom  God  had  created  for  better  things,  has 
imprudently  come  too  near  the  terrific  papal  fall.  He  has  been 
enchanted  by  its  beauty,  its  thousand  bright  rainbows ;  he  has 
taken  for  real  suns  the  fantastic  jets  of  light  w^hich  encircles  its 
misty  head,  and  conceals  its  dark  and  bottomless  abyss.  Bewil- 
dered by  the  bewitching  voice  of  the  enchantress,  he  has  been 
unable  to  save  himself  from  her  perfidious  and  almost  irresistible 
attractions.  The  eagle  of  Oxford  has  been  caught  in  the  whirl- 
pool of  the  engulphing  powers    of    Rome,  and    you    see  him 


PERVERSION    OK    DR.    XEWMAX. 


421 


to-day,  bruised,  lifeless,  dragged  on  the  dark  waters  of  Popery 
towards  the  shore  of  a  still  darker  eternity. 

Dr.  Newman  could  not  make  his  submission  to  Rome  without 
perjuring  himself.  He  swore  that  he  would  never  interpret  the 
Holy  Scriptures  except  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of 
the  Holy  Fathers.  Well,  I  challenge  him  here,  to  meet  me  and 
show  me  that  the  Holy  Fathers  are  unanimous  on  the  supremacy 
of  the  power  of  the  Pope  over  the  other  Bishops;  that  he  is 
infallible;  that  the  Priest  has  the  power  to  make  his  God  with  a 
wafer;  that  the  Virgin  Mary  is  the  only  hope  for  sinners.  I 
challenge  him  to  show  us  that  auricular  confession  is  an  ordi- 
nance of  Christ.  Dr.  Newman  knows  well  that  those  things 
are  impostures.  He  has  never  believed,  he  never  will  believe 
them. 

The  fact  is  that  Dr.  Newman  confesses  that  he  never  had 
any  faith  when  he  was  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England; 
and  it  is  clear  that  he  is  the  same  since  he  became  a  Roman 
Catholic.  In  page  282  we  read  this  strange  exposition  of  his 
faith:  "  We  are  called  upon  not  to  profess  anything,  but  to  sub- 
mit and  be  silent,"  which  is  just  the  faith  of  the  mute  animal 
which  obeys  the  motion  of  the  bridle,  without  any  resistance  or 
thought  of  its  own.  This  is — I  cannot  denv  it — the  true,  the  only 
faith  in  the  Church  of  Rome;  it  is  the  faith  which  leads  directly 
to  Atheism  or  idiotism.  But  Christ  gave  us  a  very  different 
idea  of  the  faith  he  asks  from  his  disciples  when  he  said:  "  The 
time  has  come  when  the  \vorshippers  shall  worship  the  Father 
in  spirit  and  in  truth."     (John  vi.,  23.) 

That  degraded  and  brutal  religion  of  Dr.  Newman,  surely 
was  not  the  religion  of  Paul,  when  he  wrote,  "  I  speak  as  to  wise 
men;  judge  ye  what  I  say."  (  i  Cor.  x.,  15.)  Dr.  Newman  hon- 
estly tells  us  (page  228,)  when  speaking  of  the  worship  of  the 
Virgin  Mary:  "  Such  devotional  manifestations  in  honor  of 
our  Lady  had  been  my  great  Crux  as  regards  Catholicism.  I 
say,  frankly  that  I  do  not  fully  enter  into  them  now  •  •  .  they 
are  suitable  for  Italy,  but  are  not  suitable  for  England."  He 
has  only  changed  his  appearance — his  heart  is  what  it  was 
formerly,    when   a   minister  of  the    Church  of  England.        He 


422  FIFTY    YEARS    IN     THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

wanted  then  another  creed,  another  Church  for  England.  So 
now,  he  finds  that  this  and  that  practice  of  Rome  may  do  for  the 
Italians,  but  not  for  the  English  people! 

Was  he  pleased  with  the  promulgation  of  Papal  infallibility? 
No.  It  is  a  public  fact  that  one  of  his  most  solemn  actions,  a 
few  years  since  his  connection  w^ith  the  Church  of  Rome,  w^as 
to  protest  against  the  promulgation  of  that  dogma.  More  than 
that,  he  expressed  his  doubts  about  the  wisdom  and  the  right  of 
the  Council  to  proclaim  it. 

Let  us  read  his  interesting  letter  to  Bishop  UUathorne — 
*' Rome  ought  to  be  a  name  to  lighten  the  heart  at  all  times; 
and  a  council's  proper  ofiice  is,  when  some  great  heresy  or  other 
evil  impends,  to  inspire  hope  and  confidence  in  the  faithful. 
But  now  we  have  the  greatest  meeting  which  ever  has  been, 
and  that  at  Rome,  infusing  into  us  by  the  accredited  organs  of 
Rome  and  of  its  partisans  (such  as  the  Civilta,  the  Armonia^ 
the  Univers  and  the  Tablet^  little  else  than  fear  and  dismay! 
When  we  are  all  at  rest  and  have  no  doubts,  and — at  least  prac- 
tically, not  to  say  doctrinally — hold  the  Holy  Father  to  be  infal- 
lible, suddenly  there  is  thunder  in  the  clear  sky,  and  we  are  told 
to  prepare  for  something,  we  know  not  what,  to  try  our  faith, 
we  know  not  how — no  impending  danger  is  to  be  averted,  but 
a  great  difficulty  is  to  be  created.  Is  this  the  proper  work  of  an 
CEcumenical  Council?  As  to  myself,  personally,  please  God,  I 
do  not  expect  any  trial  at  all ;  but  I  cannot  help  suffering  with 
the  many  souls  who  are  suffering,  and  I  look  with  anxiety  at  the 
prospect  of  having  to  defend  decisions  which  may  not  be  difficult 
to  my  own  private  judgment,  but  may  be  most  difficult  to  main- 
tain logically  in  the  face  of  historical  fa6ts. 

"  What  have  we  done  to  be  treated  as  the  faithful  never  were 
treated  before  ?  When  has  a  definition  de  jide  been  a  luxury  of 
devotion,  and  not  a  stern,  painful  necessity?  Why  should  an 
aggressive,  insolent  faction  be  allowed  to  '  make  the  heart  of  the 
just  sad,  whom  the  Lord  hath  not  made  sorrowful  ? '  Why  can- 
not we  be  let  alone,  when  we  have  pursued  peace,  and  thought 
no  evil! 

"  I  assure  you,  my  Lord,  some  of  the  truest  minds  are  driven 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.    NEWMAN. 


423 


ooc  way  and  another,  and  do  not  know  where  to  rest  their  feet 
— one  day  determining  '  to  give  up  all  theology  as  a  bad  job,' 
and  recklessly  to  believe  henceforth  almost  that  the  Pope  is  im- 
peccable; at  another,  tempted  to  'believe  all  the  worst  that  a 
book  like  yanus  says ;'  others  doubting  about  '  the  capacity 
pKDSsessed  by  Bishops  drawn  from  corners  of  the  earth,  to  judge 
what  is  fitting  for  European  society;'  and  then,  again,  angry 
with  the  Holy  See  for  listening  to  '  the  flattery  of  a  clique  of 
Jesuits,  redemptorists,  and  converts.' 

"Then,  again,  think  of  the  store  of  Pontifical  scandals  in  the 
history  of  eighteen  centuries,  which  have  partly  been  poured 
forth,  and  partly  are  still  to  come.  What  Murphy  inflicted  upon 
us  in  one  way,  M.  Veuillotis  indirectly  bringing  on  us  in  another. 
And  then,  again,  the  blight  which  is  falling  upon  the  multitude 
of  Anglican  Ritualists,  etc.,  who,  themselves,  perhaps — at  least 
their  leaders — may  never  become  Catholics,  but  who  are  leaven- 
ing the  various  English  denominations  and  parties  (far  beyond 
their  own  range),  with  principles  and  sentiments  towards  their 
ultimate  absorption  into  the  Catholic  Church. 

"  With  these  thoughts  ever  before  me,  I  am  continually 
asking  myself  whether  I  ought  not  to  make  my  feelings  public? 
But  all  I  do  is  to  pray  those  early  doctors  of  the  Church,  whose 
intercession  would  decide  the  matter  (Augustine,  Ambrose  and 
Jerome,  Athanasius,  Chrysostom  and  Basil),  to  avert  this  great 
calamity. 

"  If  it  is  God's  will  that  the  Pope's  infallibility  be  defined, 
then  it  is  God's  will  to  throw  back  '  the  times  and  movements ' 
of  that  triumph  which  He  has  destined  for  His  kingdom,  and  I 
shall  feel  I  have  but  to  bow  my  head  to  His  adorable,  inscrutable 
providence. 

"  You  have  not  touched  upon  the  subject  yourself,  but  I  think 
you  will  allow  me  to  express  to  you  feeling  which,  for  the  most 
part,  I  keep  to  myself."* 

These  eloquent  complaints  of  the  new  convert  exceedingly 
irritated  Pius  IX.  and  the  Jesuits  at  Rome;  they   entirely   des- 

*  "  The  Pope,  the  Kings,  and  the  People"  (Mullan  &  Son,  Paternoster 
Square,  pp.  269-70.)     Also  see  (London)  Standard,  7th  April,  1870. 


424 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


troyed  their  confidence  in  him.  They  were  too  shrewd  to  ignore 
that  he  had  never  been  anything  else  but  a  kind  of  free-thinker, 
whose  Christian  faith  was  without  any  basis,  as  lie  himself 
confessed.  They  had  received  him,  of  course,  with  pleasure,  for 
he  was  the  very  best  man  in  England  to  unsettle  the  minds  of 
the  young  ministers  of  the  Church,  but  they  had  left  him  alone 
in  his  oratory  of  Birmingham,  where  they  seemed  to  ignore 
him. 

However,  when  the  protest  of  the  new  so-called  convert 
showed  that  his  submission  was  but  a  sham,  and  that  he  was 
more  Protestant  than  ever,  they  lashed  him  without  mercy. 
But  before  we  hear  the  stern  answers  of  the  Roman  Catholics 
to  their  new  recruit,  let  us  remember  the  fact  that  when  that 
letter  appeared,  Dr.  Newman  had  lost  the  memory  of  it;  he 
boldly  denied  its  paternity  at  first;  it  was  only  when  the  proofs 
were  publicly  given  that  he  had  written  it,  that  he  acknowledged 
it,  saying  for  his  excuse  that  he  had  forgotten  his  writing  it! ! 

Now  let  us  hear  the  answer  of  the  Civilta^  the  organ  of  the 
Pope,  to  Dr.  Newman.  "  Do  you  not  see  that  it  is  only  tempta- 
tion that  makes  you  see  everything  black?  If  the  Holy  Doctors 
whom  you  invoke,  Ambrose,  Jerome,  etc.,  do  not  decide  the  con- 
troversy in  your  way,  it  is  not  as  the  Protestant  Pall  Mall 
Gazette  fancies,  because  they  will  not  or  cannot  interpose,  but 
because  they  agree  with  St.  Peter,  and  with  the  petition  of  the 
majority.  Would  you  have  us  make  a  procession  in  sackcloth 
and  ashes  to  avert  this  scourge  of  the  definition  of  a  verity?" 
Ibid^  p.  28  [. 

The  clergy  of  France,  through  their  organ,  X' t^w/z'eri'  (Vol. 
1 1,  p.  31-34),  was  still  more  severe  and  sarcastic.  They  had 
just  collected  jC4,ooo  to  help  Dr.  Newman  to  pay  the  emomnous 
expenses  of  the  suit  for  his  slanders  against  Father  Achille, 
which  he  had  lost. 

Dr.  Newman,  as  it  appears  by  the  article  from  the  pen  of  the 
celebrated  editor  of  the  Univers^  had  not  even  had  the  courtesy 
to  acknowledge  the  gift,  nor  the  exertions  of  those  who  had 
collected  that  large  sum  of  money.  Now  let  us  see  what  they 
thousfht  and  said  in  France   about  the  ex-Professor   of  Oxford 


PERVERSION    OF    DR.    NEWMAN.  425 

whom  they  called  the  "  Respectable  Convict."  Speaking  of  the 
jC4,ooo  sent  from  France,  Veuillot  says:  "  The  respectable  con- 
vict received  it,  and  was  pleased;  but  he  gave  no  thanks  and 
showed  no  mercy.  Father  Newman  ought  to  be  more  careful 
in  what  he  says;  everything  that  is  comely  demands  it  of  him. 
But,  at  any  rate,  if  his  Liberal  passion  carries  him  away,  till  he 
forgets  what  he  owes  to  us  and  to  himself,  what  answer  must  one 
give  him,  but  that  he  had  better  go  on  as  he  set  out,  silently  un- 
grateful? " — L?  Univers^  Vol.  11.  p.  32-34.     Ibid^  p.  272. 

These  public  rebukes,  addressed  from  Paris  and  Rome  by 
the  two  most  popular  organs  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  tell  us 
the  old  story ;  the  services  of  traitors  may  be  accepted,  but  they 
are  never  trusted.  Father  Newman  had  not  the  confidence  of 
the  Roman  Catholics. 

But  some  one  will  say:  Has  not  the  dignity  of  Cardinal,  to 
which  he  has  lately  been  raised,  proved  that  the  present  Pope 
has  the  greatest  confidence  in  Dr.  Newman? 

Had  I  not  been  25  years  a  priest  of  Rome,  I  would  say 
"Yes!"  But  I  know  too  much  of  their  tactics  for  that.  The 
dignity  of  Cardinal  has  been  given  to  Drs.  Manning  and  New- 
man as  the  baits  which  the  fisherman  of  Prince  Edward  Island 
throw  into  the  sea  to  attract  the  mackerels.  The  Pope,  with 
those  long  scarlet  robes  thrown  over  the  shoulders  of  the  two 
renegades  from  the  Church  of  England,  hopes  to  catch  more 
English  mackerels. 

Besides  that,  we  all  know  the  remarkable  words  of  St.  Paul: 
"  And  those  members  of  the  body  which  we  think  to  be  less 
honourable,  upon  them  we  bestow  more  abundant  honours,  and 
our  uncomely  parts  have  more  abundant  comeliness."  ( i  Cor, 
xii.,  23.) 

It  is  on  that  principle  that  the  Pope  has  acted.  He  knew  well 
that  Dr.  Newman  had  played  the  act  of  a  traitor  at  Oxford;  that 
he  had  been  caught  in  the  very  act  of  conspiracy  by  his  Bishops; 
that  he  had  entirely  lost  the  confidence  of  the  English  people. 
These  iDublic  facts  paralyzed  the  usefulness  of  the  new  convert. 
He  was  really  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  but  he  was 
one  of  the  most  uncomely  ones;  so  much  so,  that  the  last  Pope. 


436  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Pius  IX.,  had  left  him  alone,  in  a  dark  corner,  for  nearly  eighteen 
years.  Leo  XIII.  was  more  shrewd.  He  felt  that  Newman 
might  become  one  of  the  most  powerful  agents  of  Romanism  in 
England,  if  he  were  only  covering  his  uncomeliness  with  the 
rich  red  Cardinal  robe. 

But  will  the  scarlet  colors  which  now  clothe  Dr.  Newman 
make  us  forget  that,  to-day,  he  belongs  to  the  most  absurd,  im- 
moral, abject  and  degrading  form  of  idolatry,  the  world  has  ever 
seen  ?  Will  we  forget  that  Romanism,  these  last  six  centmies, 
is  nothing  else  than  old  paganism  in  its  most  degrading  forms, 
coming  back  under  a  Christian  name?  What  is  the  divinty 
which  is  adored  in  those  splendid  temples  of  modern  Rome?  Is 
it  anything  else  but  the  old  Jupiter  Tonans?  Yes,  the  Pope  has 
stolen  the  old  gods  of  paganism,  and  he  has  sacrilegiously 
written  the  adorable  name  of  Jesus  in  their  faces,  that  the  more 
deluded  ni'xiern  nations  may  have  less  objection  to  accept  the 
worship  of  their  pagan  ancestors.  They  adore  a  Christ  in  the 
Church  of  Rome;  they  sing  beautiful  hymns  to  His  honor;  they 
build  him  magnificent  temples;  they  are  exceedingly  devoted  to 
Him — they  make  daily  enormous  sacrifices  to  extend  His  power 
and  glorv  all  over  the  world.  But  what  is  that  Christ?  It  is 
simply  an  idol  of  bread,  baked  every  day  by  the  servant  girl  of 
the  priest,  or  the  neighboring  nuns. 

I  have  been  25  years  one  of  the  most  sincere  and  zealous 
priests  of  that  Christ.  I  have  made  Him  with  mine  own  hands, 
and  the  help  of  my  servants  for  a  quarter  of  a  century ;  I  have  a 
right  to  say  that  I  know  Him  perfectly  well.  It  is  that  I  may 
tell  what  I  know  of  that  Christ  that  the  God  of  the  Gospel  has 
taken  me  by  the  hand,  and  granted  me  to  give  my  testimony 
before  the  world.  Hundreds  of  times,  I  have  said  to  my  servant 
girl  what  Dr.  Newman  and  all  the  priests  of  Rome  say, 
every  day,  to  their  own  servants  or  their  nuns:  "Please  make 
me  some  wafers,  that  I  may  say  mass,  and  gi\e  the  communion 
to  those  who  want  to  leceive  it."  And  the  dutiful  girl  took 
some  wheat  flour,  mixed  it  with  water,  and  put  the  dough 
between  these  two  well-polished  and  engraven  irons,  which  she 
had   well   heated   before.      In    less    time  than   I   can  write  it,  the 


PERVERSION     OF    DR.    NEWMAN. 


427 


dough  was  baked  into  wafers.  Handing  them  to  me,  I  brought 
them  to  the  altar,  and  performed  a  ceremony  which  is  called 
"  the  mass."  In  the  very  midst  of  that  mass,  I  pronounced  on  the 
wafer  five  magic  words,  '■'•  Hoc  est  enim  corpus  meum^''  and  had 
to  believe,  what  Dr.  Newman  and  all  the  priests  of  Rome  pro- 
fess to  believe,  that  there  were  no  more  wafers,  no  more  bread 
before  me,  but  that  what  were  w^afers,  had  been  turned  into  the 
great  Eternal  God  who  had  created  the  world.  I  had  to  pros- 
trate myself,  and  ask  my  people  to  prostrate  themselves  before 
the  God  I  had  just  made  with  five  words  from  my  lips ;  and  the 
people,  on  their  knees,  bowing  their  heads,  and  bringing  their 
faces  to  the  dust,  adored  God  whom  I  had  just  made,  with  the 
help  of  these  heated  irons  and  my  servant  girl. 

Now,  is  this  not  a  form  of  idolatry  more  degrading,  more  in- 
sulting to  the  infinite  Majesty  of  God  than  the  worship  of  the 
golden  calf?  Where  is  the  difference  between  the  idolatry  of 
Aaron  and  the  Israelites  adoring  the  golden  calf  in  the  wilderness 
and  the  idolatry  of  Dr.  Newman  adoring  the  wafer  in  his  temple.? 
The  only  difference  is,  that  Aaron  worshipped  a  god  infinitely 
more  respectable  and  powerful,  in  melted  gold,  than  Dr.  New- 
man worshipping  his  baked  dough. 

The  idolatry  of  Dr.  Newman  is  more  degrading  than  the 
idolatry  of  the  worshippers  of  the  sun. 

When  the  Persians  adore  the  sun,  they  give  their  homage  to 
the  greatest,  the  most  glorious  being  which  is  before  us.  That 
magnificent  fiery  orb,  millions  of  miles  in  circumference,  which 
rises  as  a  giant,  every  morning,  from  behind  the  horizon,  to 
march  over  the  world  and  pour  everywhere  its  floods  of  heat, 
fight  and  life,  cannot  be  contemplated  without  feelings  of  respect, 
admiration  and  awe.  Man  must  raise  his  eyes  up  to  see  that 
glorious  sun — he  must  take  the  eagle's  wings  to  follow  his  giant 
strides  throughout  the  myriads  of  worlds  which  are  there,  to 
speak  to  us  of  the  wisdom,  the  power,  and  love  of  our  God.  It 
is  easy  to  understand  that  poor,  fallen,  blind  men  may  take  that 
great  being  for  their  god.  Would  not  every  one  perish  and  die, 
if  the  sun  would  forget  to  come  every  day,  that  we  may  bathe 
and  swim  in  his  ocean  of  light  and  life? 


428  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Then,  when  I  see  the  Persian  priests  of  the  sun,  in  their  mag- 
nificent temple,  with  censers  in  their  hands,  waiting  for  the  ap- 
pearance of  its  first  rays,  to  intone  their  melodious  hymns  arkd 
sing  their  sublime  canticles,  I  know  their  error  and  I  understand 
it;  I  w^as  about  to  say,  I  almost  excuse  it.  I  feel  an  immense 
compassion  for  these  deluded  idolaters.  However,  I  feel  they 
are  raised  above  the  dust  of  the  earth:  their  intelligence,  their 
souls  cannot  but  receive  some  sparks  of  light  and  life  from  the 
contemplation  of  that  inexhaustible  focus  of  light  and  life.  But 
is  not  Dr.  Newman  with  his  Roman  Catholic  people  a  thousand 
times  more  worthy  of  our  compassion  and  our  tears,  when  they 
are  abjectly  prostrated  before  this  ignoble  wafer — to  adore  it  as 
their  Saviour,  their  Creator,  their  God?  Is  it  possible  to  imagine 
a  spectacle  more  humiliating,  blasphemous  and  sacrilegious,  than 
a  multitude  of  men  and  women  prostrating  their  faces  to  the 
dust  to  adore  a  god  whom  the  rats  and  mice  have,  thousands  of 
times,  dragged  and  eaten  in  their  dark  holes?  Where  are  the 
rays  of  light  and  life  coming  from  that  wafer?  Instead  of  being 
;nlarged  and  elevated  at  the  approach  of  this  ridiculous  modern 
divinity,  is  not  the  human  inteligence  contracted,  diminished 
paralyzed,  chilled  and  struck  with  idiocy  and  death  at  its  feet? 

Can  we  be  surprised  that  the  Roman  Catholic  nations  are  so 
fast  falling  into  the  abyss  of  infidelity  and  atheism,  when  they 
hear  their  priests  telling  them  that  more  than  200,000  times, 
every  day,  this  contemptible  wafer  is  changed  by  them  into  the 
great  God  who  has  created  heaven  and  earth  at  the  beginning, 
and  who  has  saved  this  perishing  world  by  sacrificing  the  body 
and  the  blood  which  He  has  taken  as  His  tabernacle  to  show  us 
His  eternal  love! 

Come  with  me  and  see  those  multitudes  of  people  with  their 
faces  prostrated  in  the  dust,  adoring  their  w^hite  elephant  of 
Siam. 

Oh!  what  ignorance  and  superstition  I  what  blindness  and 
folly!  you  will  exclaim.      To  adore  a  white  elephant  as  God! 

But  there  is  a  spectacle  more  humiliating  and  more  deplora- 
ble: There  is  a  superstition,  an  idolatry  below  that  of  the  Sia- 
mese.    It  is  the  idolrtry  practiced  by  Dr.  Newman  and  his  mil- 


PERVERSION    OF    DR,    NEWMAN. 


4*9 


lions  of  co-religionists  to-day.  Yes!  The  elephant-god  of  the 
Asiatic  people,  is  infinitely  more  respectable  than  the  wafer-god 
of  Dr.  Newman.  That  elephant  may  be  taken  as  the  symbol  of 
strength,  magnanimity,  patience,  etc.  There  is  life,  motion  in 
that  noble  animal — he  sees  with  his  eyes,  he  walks  with  his  feet. 
Let  some  one  attack  him,  he  will  protect  himself — ^with  his 
mighty  trunk  he  will  throw  his  enemy  high  in  the  air — ^he  will 
crush  him  under  his  feet. 

But  look  at  this  modern  divinity  of  Rome.  It  has  eyes,  but 
does  not  see;  feet,  but  does  not  move;  a  mouth,  but  does  not 
speak.  There  is  neither  life  nor  strength  in  the  wafer  god  of 
Rome. 

But  if  the  fall  of  Dr.  Newman  into  the  bottomless  abyss  of 
the  idolatry  of  Rome  is  a  deplorable  fact,  there  is  another  fact 
still  more  deplorable. 

How  many  fervent  Christians,  how  many  venerable  ministers 
of  Christ  everywhere,  are,  just  now,  prostrated  at  the  dear  Sa- 
viour's feet,  telling  Him  with  tears:  "Didst  thou  not  sow  the 
good  Gospel  seed  all  over  our  dear  country,  through  the  hands 
of  our  heroic  and  martyred  fathers?  From  whence,  then,  hath  it 
these  Popish  and  idolatrous  tares.'*"  And  the  "  Good  Master'* 
answers,  to-day,  what  he  answered  eighteen  hundred  years  ago: 
"  While  men  slept,  the  enemy  came  during  the  night;  he  has 
sowed  those  tares  among  the  wheat,  and  he  went  away." — (Mat- 
thew xiii:   25.) 

And  if  you  want  to  know  the  name  of  the  enemy  who  has 
sowed  tares,  in  the  night,  amongst  the  wheat,  and  went  away, 
you  have  only  to  read  this  "  Apologia  pro  vita  sua."''*  You  will 
find  this  confession  of  Dr.  Newman  at  page  174: — 

"  I  cannot  disguise  from  myself  that  my  preaching  is  not  cal- 
culated to  defend  that  system  of  religion  which  has  been  received 
for  three  hundred  years,  and  of  which  the  Heads  of  Houses 
are  the  legitimate  maintainers  in  this  place  ...  I  must 
allow  that  I  was  disposing  the  minds  of  young  men  towards 
Rome!" 

Now,  having  obtained  from  the  very  enemy's  lips  how  he  has 
sowed  tares  during  the  night  (secretly),  read  page  262,  and  you 


430 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 


will  see  how  he  went  away  and  prostrated  himself  at  the  feet  of 
the  most  implacable  enemy  of  all  the  rights  and  liberties  of  men, 
to  call  him  "  Most  Holy  Father."  Read  how  he  fell  at  the  knees 
of  the  very  power  which  prepared  and  blessed  the  Armada  des- 
tined to  cover  his  native  land,  England,  w^ith  desolation,  ruins, 
tears  and  blood,  and  enchain  those  of  her  people  who  would  not 
have  been  slaughtered  on  the  battle-field!  See  how  the  enemy, 
after  having  sown  the  tares,  went  away  to  the  feet  of  a  Sergius 
III.,  the  public  lover  of  Maroria — and  to  the  feet  of  his  bastard, 
John  XI.,  who  was  still  more  debauched  than  his  father— and  to 
the  feet  of  Leo  VI.,  killed  by  an  outraged  citizen  of  Rome,  in 
the  act  of  such  an  infamous  crime  that  I  cannot  name  it  here — 
to  the  feet  of  an  Alexander,  who  seduced  his  own  daughter,  and 
surpassed  in  cruelty  and  debauchery  Nero  and  Caligula.  Let  us 
see  Dr.  Newman  falling  at  the  feet  of  all  those  monsters  of  de- 
pravity, to  call  them,  "  Most  Holy  Fathers,"  "  Most  Holy  Heads 
of  the  Church."  "Most  Holy  and  Infallible  Vicars  of  Jesus 
Christ!" 

At  the  sight  of   such    a   fall,  what  can  we   do,  but   say  with 
Isaiah : 

"The  Lord  has  broken  the  staff  of  the  wicked,  and  the  scep- 
ter of  the  ruler  .  .  .  How  art  thou  fallen,  O  Lucifer,  Soa 
of  the  morning!  how  art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground?"    Is.  xiv. 


Chapter  XLII. 

NOVICIATE  IN  THE  MONASTERY  OF  THE  OBLATES  OP  TWA-R-y  IM- 
MACULATE OF  LONGUEUIL— SOME  OF  THE  THOUSAND  ACTS 
OF  FOIaliY  AND  ID0LATRY"W:HICH  FORM  THE  LIFE  OF  AMONK 
—THE  DEPLORABLE  FALL  OF  ONE  OF  THE  FATHERS— FALL  OF 
THE  GRAND  VICAR  Q,UIBLIERr-SICK  IN  THE  HOTEL  DIEU  OF 
MONTREAIr-SISTER  URTUBISE,  WHAT  SHE  SAYS  OF  MARIA 
MONK-THE  TWO  MISSIONARIES  TO  THE  LUMBER  MEN-FALL 
AND  PUNISHMENT  OF  A  FATHER  OBLATE-WHAT  ONE  OP 
THE  BEST  FATHER  OBLATES  THINKS  OF  THE  MONKS  AND 
THE  MONASTERY. 

ON  the  first  Sabbath  of  November,  1846,  after  a  retreat  of 
eight  days,  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  asked  as  a  favor,  to  be 
received  as  a  novice  of  the  religious  order  of  the  Oblates  of 
Mary  Immaculate  of  Longueuil,  \vhose  object  is  to  preach  re- 
treats (revivals)  among  the  people.  No  child  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  ever  enrolled  himself  with  more  earnestness  and  sin- 
cerity under  the  mvsterious  banners  of  her  monastic  armies,  than 
I  did,  that  day.  It  is  impossible  to  entertain  more  exalted  views 
of  the  beauty  and  holiness  of  the  monastic  life,  than  I  had.  To 
live  among  the  holy  men  who  had  made  the  solemn  vows  of 
|X)verty,  obedience  and  charity,  seemed  to  me  the  greatest  and 
the  most  blessed  privilege  ^vhich  my  God  could  grant  on 
earth. 

Within  the  walls  of  the  peaceful  monastery  of  Longueuil, 
among  those  holy  men  who  had,  long  since,  put  an  impassable 
barrier  between  themselves  and  that  corrupted  world,  from  the 
snares  of  which  I  was  just  escaping,  my  conviction  was  that  I 
should  see  nothing  but  actions  of  the  most  exalted  piety;  and 
that  the  deadly  weapons  of  the  enemy  could  not  pierce  those 
walls  protected  by  the  Immaculate  Mother  of  God! 

The  frightful   storms   which   had   covered  with  wrecks  the 


432  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OP    ROME. 

roaring  sea,  where  I  had  so  often  nearly  perished,  could  not 
trouble  the  calm  waters  of  the  port  where  my  bark  had  just 
entered.  Every  one  of  the  members  of  the  cominunity  was  to 
be  like  an  angel  of  charity,  humility,  modesty,  whose  example 
was  to  guide  my  steps  in  the  ways  of  God.  My  superior  ap- 
peared to  be  less  a  superior  than  a  father,  whose  protecting  care, 
by  day  and  night,  would  be  a  shield  over  me.  Noah,  in  the  ark, 
safe  from  the  raging  waves  which  were  destroying  the  world, 
did  not  feel  more  grateful  to  God,  than  I  was,  when  once  in  this 
holy  solitude.  The  vow  of  perfect  poverty  was  to  save  me,  for 
ever,  from  the  cares  of  the  world.  Having,  hereafter,  no  right 
to  possess  a  cent,  the  world  would  become  to  me  a  paradise, 
where  food,  clothing,  and  lodging  would  come  without  anxiety 
or  care.  My  father  superior  would  supply  all  these  things, 
without  any  other  condition  on  my  part,  than  to  love,  and  obey 
a  man  of  God  whose  whole  life  was  to  be  spent  in  guiding  my 
steps  in  the  ways  of  the  most  exalted  evangelical  virtues.  Had 
not  that  father  himself  made  a  solemn  vow  to  renounce  not  only 
all  the  honors  and  dignities  of  the  church,  that  his  whole  mind 
and  heart  might  be  devoted  to  my  holiness  on  earth,  and  my  sal- 
vation in  Heaven? 

How  easy  to  secure  that  salvation  now !  I  had  only  to  look 
to  that  father  on  earth,  and  obey  him  as  my  Father  in  Heaven. 
Yes!  The  will  of  that  father,  was  to  be,  for  me,  the  will  of  my 
God.  Though  I  might  err  in  obeying  him,  my  errors  would 
not  be  laid  to  my  charge.  To  save  my  soul,  I  should  have  only 
to  be  like  a  corpse,  or  a  stick  in  the  hands  of  my  father  superior. 
Without  any  anxiety  or  any  responsibility  whatever  of  my  own, 
I  was  to  be  led  to  heaven  as  a  new-born  child  in  the  arms  of 
his  loving  mother  without  any  fear,  thoughts  or  anxiety  of  his 
own. 

With  the  Christian  poet  I  could  have  sung: 

"  Rocks  and  storms  I'll  fear  no  more, 
When  on  that  eternal  shore, 
Drop  the  anchor!     Furl  the  sail! 
I  am  safe  within  the  vail." 

But  how  short  were  to  be  these  fine  dreams  of  my  poor  de- 
luded mind!     When   on   my  knees,  father  Guigues   handed  me, 


NOVICIATE    IN    THE    MONASTERY. 


433 


with  great  solemnity,  the  Latin  books  of  the  rules  of  that  monas- 
tic order,  which  is  their  real  gospel,  warning  me  that  it  was  a 
secret  book^  that  there  were  things  in  it  that  I  ought  not  to  reveal 
to  any  one ;  and  he  made  me  solemly  promise  that  I  would  never 
show  it  to  any  one  outside  of  the  order. 

When  alone,  the  next  morning,  in  my  cell,  I  thanked  God 
and  the  Virgin  Mary  for  the  favors  of  the  last  day,  and  the 
thought  came  involuntarily  to  my  mind: 

"  Have  you  not,  a  thousand  times,  heard  and  said  that  the 
Holy  Church  of  Rome  absolutely  condemns  and  anathematizes 
secret  societies.  And,  do  you  not,  to-day,  belong  to  a  secret 
society?  How  can  you  reconcile  the  solemn  pi'omise  of  secrecy 
you  made  last  night,  with  the  anathemas  hurled  by  all  your 
popes  against  secret  societies?"  After  having,  in  vain,  tried,  in 
my  mind,  to  reconcile  those  two  things,  I  happily  remembered 
that  I  was  a  corpse,  that  I  had  forever  given  up  my  private 
judgment — that  my  only  business,  now,  was  to  obey.  "  Does  a 
corpse  argue  against  those  who  turn  it  from  side  to  side?  Is  it 
not  in  perfect  peace,  whatever  may  be  the  usage  to  which  it  is 
exposed,  or  to  whatever  place  it  is  dragged?  Shall  I  lose  the 
rich  crown  which  is  before  me,  at  my  first  step  in  the  way  of 
perfection  ?  " 

I  bade  my  rebellious  intelligence  to  be  still,  my  private  judg- 
ment to  be  mute,  and,  to  distract  my  mind  from  this  first  tempta- 
tion, I  read  that  book  of  rules  with  the  utmost  attention.  I  had 
not  gone  through  it  all,  before  I  understood  why  it  was  kept 
from  the  eyes  of  the  curates  and  other  secular  priests.  To  my 
unspeakable  amazement,  I  found  that,  from  the  beginning  to  the 
end,  it  speaks  with  the  most  profound  contempt  for  them  all.  I 
said  to  myself:  "  What  would  be  the  indignation  of  the  curates, 
if  they  should  suspect  that  these  strangers  from  France  have 
such  a  bad  opinion  of  them  all!  Would  the  good  Canadian 
curates  receive  them  as  angels  from  heaven,  and  raise  them  so 
high  in  the  esteem  of  the  people,  if  they  knew  that  the  first 
thing  an  oblate  has  to  learn,  is  that  the  secular  priest  is,  to-day, 
steeped  in  immorality,  ignorance,  worldliness,  laziness,  gluttony, 
etc. ;  that  he  is  the  disgrace  of  the  church,  which  would  speedily 


434  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

be  destroyed,  was  she  not  providentially  sustained,  and  kept  in 
the  ways  of  God,  by  the  holy  monastic  men  whom  she  nurses  as 
her  only  hope?  Clear  as  the  light  of  the  sun  on  a  bright  day, 
the  whole  fabric  of  the  order  of  the  oblates  presented  itself  to 
my  mind,  as  the  most  perfect  system  of  Pharisaism  the  world 
had  ever  seen. 

The  oblate  who  studies  his  book  of  rules,  his  only  gospel, 
must  have  his  mind  filled  with  the  idea  of  his  superior  holiness, 
not  only  over  the  poor  sinful,  secular  pi^iest,  but  over  everyone 
else.  The  oblate  alone  is  Christian,  holy  and  saved;  the  Test  of 
the  world  is  lost!  The  oblate  alone  is  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the 
light  of  the  world! 

I  said  to  myself:  "  Is  it  to  attain  this  pharisaical  perfection, 
that  I  have  left  my  beautiful  and  dear  parish  of  Kamouraska, 
and  given  up  the  honorable  position  which  my  God  had  given  me 
im  my  country !  " 

However,  after  some  time  spent  in  these  sad  and  despondent 
reflections,  I  again  felt  angry  with  myself;  I  quickly  directed 
my  mind  to  the  frightful,  unsuspected  and  numberless  scandals 
I  had  known  in  almost  every  parish  I  had  visited,  I  remem- 
bered the  drunkenness  of  that  curate,  the  impurities  of  this,  the 
ignorance  of  another,  the  worldliness  and  absolute  want  of  faith 
of  others,  and  concluded  that,  after  all,  the  oblates  were  not  far 
from  the  truth  in  their  bad  opinions  of  the  secular  clergy.  I 
ended  my  sad  reflections  by  saying  to  myself:  "  After  all,  if  the 
oblates  live  a  life  of  holiness,  as  I  expect  to  find  here,  is  it  a  crime 
that  they  should  see,  feel  and  express  among  themselves,  the 
difference  which  exists  between  a  regular  and  a  secular  clergy.? 
Am  I  come  here  to  judge  and  condemn  these  holy  men?  Not 
I  came  here  to  save  myself  by  the  practice  of  the  most  heroic 
Christian  virtues,  the  first  of  which,  is  that  I  should  absolutely 
and  forever  give  up  my  private  judgment — consider  myself  as  a 
corpse  in  the  hand  of  my  superior." 

With  all  the  fervor  of  my  soul,  I  prayed  to  God  and  to  the 
Virgin  Mary,  day  and  night,  that  week,  that  I  inight  attain  that 
supreme  state  of  perfection,  when  I  w^ould  have  no  will,  no 
judgment  of  my  own.     The  days  of  that  first  week  passed  very 


NOVICIATE    IN    THE    MONASTERY.  43c 

quickly,  spent  in  prayer,  reading  and  meditation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, studies  of  ecclesiastical  history  and  ascetical  books,  from 
half-past  five  in  the  morning  till  half-past  nine  at  night.  The 
meals  were  taken  at  the  regular  hours  of  seven,  tw^elve  and  six 
o'clock,  during  which,  with  rare  exceptions,  silence  was  kept,  and 
pious  books  were  read.  The  quality  of  the  food  was  good ;  but, 
at  first,  before  they  got  a  female  cook  to  preside  over  the  kitchen, 
everything  was  so  unclean,  that  I  had  to  shut  my  eyes  at  meals, 
not  to  see  what  I  was  eating.  I  should  have  complained,  had 
not  my  lips  been  sealed  by  that  strange  monastic  vow  of  perfec- 
tion that  every  religious  man  is  a  corpse!  What  does  a  corpse 
care  about  the  cleanliness  or  uncleanliness  of  what  is  put  into  its 
mouth?  The  third  day,  having  di-ank  at  breakfast  a  glass  of 
milk  which  was  literally  mixed  with  the  dung  of  the  cow,  my 
stomach  rebelled;  a  circumstance  which  I  regretted  exceedingly, 
attributing  it  to  my  want  of  monastic  perfection.  I  envied  the 
high  state  of  holiness  of  the  other  fathers,  who  had  so  perfectly 
attained  to  the  sublime  perfection  of  submission  that  they  could 
drink  that  impure  milk,  just  as  if  it  had  been  clean. 

Everything  went  on  well  the  first  week,  with  the  exception 
of  a  dreadful  scare  I  had,  at  the  dinner  of  the  first  Friday.  Just 
after  eating  soup,  when  listening  with  the  greatest  attention  to 
the  reading  of  the  life  of  a  saint,  I  suddenly  felt  as  if  the  devil 
had  taken  hold  of  my  feet;  I  threw  down  my  knife  and  fork, 
and  I  cried,  at  the  top  of  my  voice,  "  My  God !  My  God !  what 
is  there.'"'  and  as  quick  as  lightning,  I  jumped  on  my  chair  to 
save  myself  from  Satan's  grasp.  My  cries  were  soon  followed 
by  an  inexpressible  burst  of  convulsive  laughter  from  everyone. 

"  But  what  does  that  mean?  Who  has  taken  hold  of  my 
feet?"  I  asked. 

Father  Guigues  tried  to  explain  the  matter  to  me,  but  it  took 
him  a  considerable  time.  When  he  began  to  speak,  an  irrepres- 
sible burst  of  laughter  prevented  his  saying  a  word.  The  fits 
of  laughter  became  still  more  uncontrollable,  on  account  of  the 
seriousness  with  w^hich  I  vsras  repeatedly  asking  them  who  could 
have  taken  hold  of  my  feet!  At  last,  some  one  said,  "  It  is  Father 
Lagier  who   wanted  to   kiss   your  feet ! "     At  the  same  time, 


43^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

Father  Lagier,  walking  on  his  hands  and  knees,  his  face  covered 
with  sweat,  dust  and  dirt,  was  crawling  out  from  under  the  table, 
literally  rolling  on  the  floor,  in  such  an  uncontrollable  fit  of 
laughter,  that  he  was  unable  to  stand  on  his  feet. 

Of  course,  when  I  understood  that  no  devil  had  tried  to  drag 
me  by  the  feet,  but  that  it  was  simply  one  of  the  father  oblates, 
who,  to  go  through  one  of  the  common  practices  of  humility  in 
tfiat  monastery,  had  crawled  under  the  table,  to  take  hold  of  the 
feet  of  everyone  and  kiss  them,  I  joined  with  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity, and  laughed  to  my  heart's  content. 

Not  many  days  after  this,  we  were  going,  after  tea,  from  the 
dining-room  to  the  chapel,  to  pass  five  or  ten  minutes  in  adora- 
tion of  the  wafer-god ;  we  had  two  doors  to  cross,  and  it  was 
pretty  dark.  Being  the  last  who  had  entered  the  monastery,  I 
had  to  walk  first,  the  other  monks  following  me;  we  were  re- 
citing, with  a  loud  voice,  the  Latin  Psalm:  '•'•  Misere  mihi 
Deusy  We  were  all  marching  pretty  fast,  when,  suddenly,  my 
feet  met  a  large,  though  unseen  object,  and  down  I  fell,  and 
rolled  on  the  floor;  my  next  companion  did  the  same,  and  rolled 
•over  me,  and  so  did  five  or  six  others,  who,  in  the  dark  had  also 
struck  their  feet  on  that  object.  In  a  moment,  we  were  five  or 
six  "  Holy  Fathers"  rolling  on  each  other  on  the  floor,  unable  to 
rise  up,  splitting  our  sides  with  convulsive  laughter.  Father 
Brunette,  in  one  of  his  fits  of  humility,  had  left  the  table  a  little 
before  the  rest,  with  the  permission  of  the  Superior,  to  lay  him- 
self flat  on  the  floor,  across  the  door.  Not  suspecting  it,  and 
unable  to  see  anything,  from  the  want  of  sufficient  light,  I  had 
entangled  my  feet  on  that  living  corpse,  as  also  the  rest  of  those 
who  were  walking  too  close  behind  me  to  stop,  before  tumbling 
over  one  another. 

No  words  can  describe  my  feelings  of  shame  when  I  saw, 
almost  every  day,  some  performance  of  this  kind  going  on,  under 
the  name  of  Christian  humility.  In  vain,  I  ti'ied  to  silence  the 
voice  of  my  intelligence,  which  was  crying  to  me,  day  and  night, 
that  this  was  a  mere  diabolical  caricature  of  the  humility  of 
Christ.  Striving  to  silence  my  untamed  reason  by  telling  it 
that  it  had  no  right  to  speak  and  argue  and  criticise,  within  the 


NOVICIATE    IN    THE    MONASTERY. 


437 


holy  walls  of  the  monastery.  It,  nevertheless,  spoke  louder,  day 
after  day,  telling  me  that  such  acts  of  humility  were  a  mockery. 
In  vain,  I  said  to  myself,  "  Chiniquy,  thou  art  not  come  here  to 
philosophize  on  this  and  that,  but  to  sanctify  thyself  by  becoming 
like  a  corpse,  which  has  no  preconceived  ideas,  no  acquired  store 
of  knowledge,  no  rule  of  common  sense  to  guide  vou!  Poor, 
wretched,  sinful  Chiniquy,  thou  art  here  to  save  thyself  by  ad- 
miring every  idea  of  the  holy  rules  of  your  superiors,  and  to 
obey  every  word  of  their  lips ! " 

I  felt  angry  against  myself,  and  unspeakably  sad,  when,  after 
whole  weeks  and  months  of  efforts,  not  only  to  silence  the  voice 
of  mv  reason,  but  to  kill  it,  it  had  more  life  than  ever,  and  was 
more  and  more  loudly  protesting  against  the  unmanlv,  unchristian 
and  ridiculous  daily  usages  and  rules  of  the  monastery.  I 
envied  the  humble  piety  of  the  other  good  Fathers,  who  vv^ere 
apparently  so  happy,  having  conquered  themselves  so  completely 
as  to  destroy  that  haughty  reason  which  was  constantly  rebelling 
in  me. 

Tw^ice,  everv  week,  I  went  to  reveal  to  my  guide  and  con- 
fessor. Father  Allard,  the  master  of  novices,  my  interior  strug- 
gles; my  constant,  though  vain  efforts  to  subdue  my  rebellious 
reason.  He  always  gladdened  me  with  the  promise  that,  sooner 
or  later,  I  should  have  that  interior  perfect  peace  which  is  prom- 
ised to  the  humble  monk,  when  he  has  attained  the  supreme 
monastic  perfection  of  considering  himself  as  a  corpse,  as  regards 
the  rules  and  will  of  his  superiors.  My  sincere  and  constant 
efforts  to  reconcile  mvself  to  the  rules  of  the  monastery  were,  how- 
ever, soon  to  receive  a  new  and  rude  check.  I  had  read  in  the 
book  of  rules,  that  a  true  monk  must  closely  watch  those  who 
live  with  him,  and  secretly  report  to  his  superior  the  defects  and 
>ins  which  he  detects  in  them.  The  first  time  I  read  that  strange 
rule,  my  mind  was  so  taken  up  by  other  things,  that  I  did  not  pay 
much  attention  to  it.  But  the  second  time,  I  studied  that  clause, 
the  blush  came  to  my  face,  and  in  spite  of  myself,  I  said :  "  Is 
it  possible  that  we  are  a  band  of  spies?  "  I  was  not  long  in  seeing 
the  disastrous  effects  of  this  most  degrading  and  immoral  rule. 
One  of  the  fathers,  for  whom  I  had  a  particular  affection,  for  his 


43^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

many  good  qualities,  and  who  had,  many  times,  given  me  the 
sincere  proof  of  his  friendship,  said  to  me  one  day:  "For  God's 
sake,  my  dear  Father  Chiniquy,  tell  me  if  it  is  you  who  de- 
nounced me  to  the  Superior,  for  having  said  that  the  conduct  of 
Father  Guigues  toward  me  was  uncharitable?  "  "  No!  my  dear 
friend,"  I  answered,  "  I  never  said  such  a  thing  against  you,  for 
two  reasons:  The  first  is,  that  you  have  never  said  a  word  in  my 
presence  w^hich  could  give  me  the  idea  that  you  had  such  an 
opinion  of  our  good  Father  Superior;  the  second  reason  is,  that, 
though  you  might  have  told  me  anything  of  that  kind,  I  would 
prefer  to  have  my  tongue  cut  and  eaten  by  dogs,  than  to  be  a 
spy,  and  denounce  you !  " 

"  I  am  glad  to  know  that,"  he  rejoined,  "  for  I  was  told  by 
some  of  the  fathers  that  you  were  the  one  who  had  reported  me 
to  the  superior  as  guilty,  though  I  am  innocent  of  that  offense, 
but  I  could  not  believe  it."  He  added,  with  tears:  "  I  regret 
having  left  my  parish  to  be  an  oblate,  on  account  of  that  abom- 
inable law  vv^hich  we  are  sworn  to  fulfill.  That  law  makes  a  real 
hell  of  this  monastery,  and,  I  suppose,  of  all  the  monastic  orders, 
for  I  think  it  is  a  general  law  with  all  the  religious  houses. 
When  you  have  passed  more  time  here,  you  will  see  that  the  law 
of  detection  puts  an  insurmountable  ^vall  between  us  all ;  it  de- 
stroys every  spring  of  Christian  and  social  happiness." 

"  I  understand  perfectly  well  what  you  say,"  I  answered 
him;  "  the  last  time  I  was  alone  with  father  superior,  he  asked 
me  why  I  had  said  that  the  present  Pope  was  an  old  fool ;  he 
persisted  in  telling  me  that  I  must  have  said  it,  '  for,'  he  added, 
*one  of  our  most  reliable  fathers  has  assured  me  you  said  it.' 
'  Well,  my  dear  father  superior,'  I  answered  him,  '  that  reliable 
father  has  told  you  a  big  lie;  I  never  said  such  a  thing,  for  the 
good  reason  that  I  sincerely  think  that  our  present  Pope  is  one 
of  the  wisest  that  ever  ruled  the  church.'  "  I  added :  "  Now  I 
understand  why  there  is  somuch  unpleasantness  in  our  mutual  in- 
tercourse, during  the  hours  we  are  allowed  to  talk.  I  see  that 
nobody  dares  to  speak  his  mind  on  any  grave  subject.  The  con- 
versations are  colorless  and  without  life." 

"  That  is  just  the  reason,"  answered  my  friend.     "  When  some 


NOVICIATE    IX    THE    MONASTERY.  439 

of  the  fathers,  like  you  and  me,  would  prefer  to  be  hung  rather 
than  become  spies,  the  great  majority  of  them,  particularly 
among  the  French  priests  recently  imported  from  France,  will 
not  hear  ten  words  from  your  lips  on  any  subject,  without  find- 
ing an  opp>ortunity  of  reporting  eight  of  them  as  unbecoming 
and  unchristian,  to  the  superiors.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  always 
through  malice  that  they  give  such  false  reports:  it  is  more 
through  want  of  judgment.  They  are  very  narrow-minded; 
they  do  not  understand  the  half  of  what  they  hear  in  its  true 
sense:  and  they  give  their  false  impressions  to  the  superiors,  who, 
unfortunately,  encourage  that  system  of  spying,  as  the  best  way 
of  transforming  every  one  of  us  into  corpses.  As  we  are  never 
confronted  with  our  false  accusers,  we  can  never  know  them, 
and  we  lose  confidence  in  each  other;  thus  it  is  that  the  sweetest 
and  holiest  springs  of  true  Christian  love  are  forever  dried  up. 
It  is  on  this  spying  system,  which  is  the  curse  and  the  hell  of  our 
monastic  houses,  that  a  celebrated  French  wtiter,  who  had  been 
a  monk  himself,  wrote  of  all  the  monks: 

"  lis  rentrent  dans  leurs  monasteres  sans  se  connaitre;  ils  y 
vivent  sains  s'aimer  et  ils  se  separent  sans  se  regretter  "  (monks 
enter  the  monastery  without  knowing  each  other.  They  live 
there,  without  loving  each  other,  and  they  depart  from  each 
other  without  any  regret). 

However,  though  I  sincerely  deplored  that  there  was  such  a 
law  of  espoinage  among  us,  I  tried  to  persuade  myself  that  it 
was  like  the  dark  spots  of  the  sun  which  do  not  diminish  its 
beauty,  its  grandeur  and  its  innumerable  blessings.  The  society 
of  the  oblates  was  still  to  me  the  blessed  ark  where  I  should  find 
a  sure  shelter  against  the  storms  which  were  desolating  the  rest 
of  the  world. 

Not  long  after  my  reception  as  a  novice,  the  providence  of 
God  put  before  my  eyes  one  of  those  terrible  wrecks  which 
would  make  the  strongest  of  us  tremble.  Suddenly,  at  the  hour 
of  breakfast,  the  superior  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  and 
grand  vicar  of  the  Diocese  of  Montreal,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Quibiler, 
knocked  at  our  door,  to  rest  an  hour  and  breakfast  with  us,  when 
on  his  wav  to  France. 


44°  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

This  unfortunate  priest,  who  was  among  the  best  orators  and 
the  best  looking  men,  Montreal  had  ever  seen,  had  lived  such  a 
profligate  life  with  his  penitent  nuns  and  ladies  of  Montreal,  that 
a  cry  of  indignation  from  the  whole  people  had  forced  Bishop 
Bourget  to  send  him  back  to  France.  Our  father  superior  took 
the  opportunity  of  the  fall  of  that  talented  priest,  to  make  us 
bless  God  for  having  gathered  us  behind  the  walls  of  our  monas- 
tery, where  the  efforts  of  the  enemy  were  powerless.  But  alas! 
v^e  were  soon  to  know,  at  our  own  expense,  that  the  heart  of 
man  is  weak  and  deceitful  everywhere. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  public  fall  of  the  grand  vicar  of 
Montreal,  when  a  fine-looking  widow  was  engaged  to  preside 
over  our  kitchen.  She  was  more  than  forty  years  old,  and  had 
very  good  manners.  Unfortunately,  she  had  not  been  four 
months  in  the  monastery,  when  she  fell  in  love  with  her  father 
confessor,  one  of  the  most  pious  of  the  French  father  oblates. 
The  modern  Adam  was  not  stronger  than  the  old  one  against 
the  charms  of  the  new  Eve.  Both  were  found,  in  an  evil  hour, 
forgetting  one  of  the  holy  laws  of  God.  The  guilty  priest  was 
punished  and  the  weak  woman  dismissed.  But  an  unspeakable 
shame  remained  upon  us  all!  I  would  have  preferred  to  have 
my  sentence  of  death,  than  the  news  of  such  a  fall  inside  the 
walls  of  that  house  where  I  had  so  foolishly  believed  that  Satan 
could  not  lay  his  snares.  From  that  day,  it  was  the  will  of  God 
that  the  strange  and  beautiful  illusions  which  had  brought  me 
to  that  monastery,  should  fade  away  one  after  the  other,  like  the 
white  mist  which  conceals  the  bright  rays  of  the  morning  sun. 
The  oblates  began  to  appear  to  me  pretty  much  like  other  men. 
Till  then,  I  had  looked  at  them  with  my  eyes  shut,  and  I  had 
seen  nothing  but  the  glittering  colors  with  which  my  imagina- 
tion was  painting  them.  From  that  day,  I  studied  them  with  my 
eves  opened,  and  I  saw  them  just  as  they  wei"e. 

In  the  spring  of  1S47,  having  a  severe  indisposition,  the  doc- 
tor ordered  me  to  go  to  the  Hotel  Dieu  of  Montreal,  which  was, 
then,  near  the  splendid  St.  Mary's  Church.  I  made  there,  for 
the  first  time,  the  acquaintance  of  a  venerable  old  nun,  who  was 
very  talkative.      She  was  one  of  the  superiors  of  the  house;  her 


FALL    OF   THE    "HOLY    FATHERS." 


P-  436 


NOVICIATE    IN    THE     MONASTERY 


441 


family  name  was  Urtubise.  Her  mind  was  still  full  of  indigna- 
tion at  the  bad  conduct  of  two  father  oblates,  who,  under  the 
pretext  of  sickness,  had  lately  come  to  her  monastery  to  seduce 
the  young  nuns  who  were  serving  them.  She  told  me  how  she 
had  turned  them  out  ignominously,  forbidding  them  ever  to 
come  again,  under  any  pretext,  into  the  hospital.  She  was  young, 
when  Bishop  Lartigue,  being  driven  away  from  the  Sulpician 
Seminary  of  Montreal,  in  1S24,  had  taken  refuge,  with  his 
secretary,  the  Rev.  Ignace  Bourget,  into  the  modest  walls  of 
that  nunnery.  She  told  me  how  the  nuns  had  soon  to  repent 
having  received  that  bishop  with  his  secretary  and  other 
priests. 

"It  was  nearly  the  ruin  of  our  community.  The  inter- 
course of  the  priests  with  a  certain  number  of  the  nuns,"  she  said: 
"  was  the  cause  of  so  much  disorder  and  scandal,  that  I  was  de- 
puted with  some  other  nuns,  to  the  bishop  to  respectfully  request 
him  not  to  prolong  his  stay  in  our  nunnery.  I  told  him,  in  my 
name,  and  in  the  name  of  many  others,  that  if  he  would  not  com- 
ply with  our  legitimate  request,  we  should  instantly  leave  the 
house,  go  back  to  our  families  and  get  married,  that  it  w^as  better 
to  be  honestly  married  than  to  continue  to  live  as  the  priests, 
even  our  father  confessors,  wanted  us  to  do." 

After  she  had  given  me  several  other  spicy  stories  of  those 
interesting  distant  days,  I  asked  her  if  she  had  known  Maria 
Monk,  when  she  was  in  their  house,  and  what  she  thought  of 
her  book  "Awful  Disclosures?"  "I  have  known  her  well," 
she  said.  "  She  spent  six  months  with  us.  I  have  read  her 
book,  which  was  given  me,  that  I  might  refute  it.  But  after 
reading  it,  I  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  that  deplorable 
exposure.  There  are  surely  some  inventions  and  suppositions  in 
that  book.  But  there  is  a  sufficient  amount  of  truth  to  cause  all 
our  nunneries  to  be  pulled  down  by  the  people,  if  only  the  half 
of  them  were  known  to  the  public?" 

She  then  said  to  me:  "  For  God's  sake,  do  not  reveal  these 
things  to  the  world,  till  the  last  one  of  us  is  dead,  if  God  spares 
you."  She  then  covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  burst  into 
tears,  and  left  the  room. 


442  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  remained  horrified.  Her  words  fell  upon  me  as  a  thunder- 
bolt. I  regretted  having  heard  them,  though  I  was  determined 
to  respect  her  request  not  to  reveal  the  terrible  secret  she  had 
entrusted  to  me.  ISIy  God  knows  that  I  never  repeated  a  word 
of  it  till  now.  But  I  think  it  is  my  duty  to  reveal  to  my  country 
and  the  whole  world  the  truth,  on  that  grave  subject,  as  it  was 
given  me  by  a  most  respectable  and  unimpeachable  eye- 
witness. 

The  terrible  secrets  which  sister  Urtubise  had  revealed  to  me 
rendered  my  stay  in  the  Hotel  Dieu  as  unpleasant  as  it  had  been 
agreeable  at  first.  Though  not  quite  recovered,  I  left,  the  same 
day,  for  Longueuil,  where  I  entered  the  monastery  with  a  heavy 
heart.  The  day  before,  two  of  the  fathers  had  come  back  from 
a  two  or  three  months'  evangelical  excursion  among  the  lumber 
men,  who  were  cutting  wood  in  the  forests,  along  the  Ottawa 
River  and  its  tributaries,  from  one  to  three  hundred  miles  north- 
west of  ^lontreal.  I  was  glad  to  hear  of  their  arrival.  I  hoped 
that  the  interesting  history  of  their  evangelical  excursions,  narrow 
escapes  from  the  bears  and  the  wolves  of  the  forests;  their  hearty 
receptions  by  the  honest  and  sturdy  lumber  men,  which  the  su- 
perior had  requested  me,  some  weeks  before,  to  write,  would 
cause  a  happy  diversion  from  the  deplorable  things  I  had  recent- 
ly learned.  But  only  one  of  those  fathers  could  be  seen,  and 
his  conversation  was  anything  but  interesting  and  pleasant. 
There  was  evidently  a  dark  cloud  around  him.  And  the  other 
oblate,  his  companion,  where  was  he?  The  very  day  of  his  ar- 
rival, he  had  been  ordered  to  keep  his  room,  and  make  a  retreat 
of  ten  days,  during  which  time  he  was  forbidden  to  speak  to  any 
one. 

I  inquired  from  a  devoted  friend  among  the  old  oblates  the 
reason  of  such  a  strange  thing.  After  promising  never  to  re- 
veal to  the  superiors  the  sad  secret  he   trusted  me  with,  he  said: 

"Poor  father  D has   seduced   one   of  his   fair  penitents,  on 

the  way.  She  was  a  married  woman,  the  lady  of  the  house 
where  our  missionaries  used  to  receive  the  most  cordial  hospital- 
ity. The  husband  having  discovered  the  infidelity  of  his  wife, 
came  very  near  killing  her;  he  ignominously  turned  out  the  two 


NOV'ICIATE    IX    THE    MONASTERY.  443 

fathers,  and  wrote  a  terrible  letter  to  the  superior.  The  com- 
panion of  the  guilty  father,  denounced  him  and  confessed  every- 
thing to  the  superior,  who  has  seen  that  the  letter  of  the  enraged 
husband  was  only  giving  too  true  and  correct  version  of  the 
whole  unfortimate  and  shameful  occurrence.  Now,  the  poor 
weak  father,  for  his  penance,  is  condemned  to  ten  days  of  seclu- 
sion from  the  rest  of  the  community.  He  must  pass  that  whole 
time  in  prayer,  fasting,  and  acts  of  humiliation,  dictated  by  the 
superior." 

"  Do  these  deplorable  facts  occur  very  often  among  the  father 
oblates?"  I  asked. 

My  friend  raised  his  eyes,  filled  with  tears,  to  Heaven,  and 
with  a  deep  sigh,  he  answered :  "  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  would 
to  God  that  I  might  be  able  to  tell  you  that  it  is  the  first  crime 
of  that  nature  committed  by  an  oblate.  But  alas!  you  know,  by 
what  has  occurred  with  our  female  cook,  not  long  ago,  that  it  is 
not  the  first  time  that  some  of  our  fathers  have  brought  disgrace 
upon  us  all.  And  vou  know  also  the  abominable  life  of  Father 
Telmont  with  the  two  nuns  at  Ottawa!" 

"  If  it  be  so,"  I  replied,  "  where  is  the  spiritual  advantage  of 
the  regular  clergy  over  the  secular?" 

"The  onlv  advantage  I  see,"  answered  my  friend,  "  is  that 
the  regular  clergy  gives  himself  with  more  impunity  to  every 
kind  of  debauch  and  licentiousness  than  the  secular.  The  monks 
being  concealed  from  the  eyes  of  the  public,  inside  the  walls  of 
their  monastery,  where  nobody,  or  at  least  very  few  people  have 
any  access,  are  more  easily  conquered  by  the  devil,  and  more 
firmly  kept  in  his  chains,  than  the  secular  priests.  The  sharp 
eyes  of  the  public,  and  the  daily  intercourse  the  secular  priests 
have  with  their  relations  and  parishioners,  form  a  powerful  and 
salutarv  restraint  upon  the  bad  inclinations  of  our  depraved  na- 
ture. In  the  monastery,  there  is  no  restraint  except  the  childish 
and  ridiculous  punishment  of  retreats,  kissing  of  the  floor,  or  of 
the  feet,  the  prostration  of  the  ground  as  father  Brunet  did,  a 
few  days  after  your  coming  among  us. 

"There  is  surely  more  hypocrisy  and  selfishness  among  the 
Tegular  than  the  secular  clergy.     That  great  social  organization 


444  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 

which  forms  the  human  family,  is  a  divine  work.  Yes!  those 
great  social  organizations  which  are  called  the  city,  the  tow^n- 
ship,  the  country,  the  parish,  and  the  household,  where  every 
one  is  called  to  work  in  the  light  of  day,  is  a  divine  organization, 
and  makes  society  as  strong,  pure  and  holy  as  it  can  be. 

"  I  confess  that  there  are  also  terrible  temptations,  and  deplor- 
able falls  there,  but  the  temptations  are  not  so  unconquerable,  and 
the  falls  not  so  irreparable,  as  in  these  dark  recesses  and  un- 
healthy prisons  raised  by  Satan  only  for  the  birds  of  night 
called  monasteries  or  nunneries. 

"The  priest  and  the  woman  who  fall  in  the  midst  of  a  well- 
organized  Christian  society,  break  the  hearts  of  the  beloved 
mother,  cover  with  shame  a  venerable  father,  cause  the  tears  of 
cherished  sisters  and  brothers  to  flow,  pierce,  with  a  barbed  ar- 
row the  hearts  of  thousands  of  friends;  they  forever  lose  their 
honor  and  good  name.  These  considerations  are  so  many  prov- 
idential, I  dare  say  divine  shields,  to  protect  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  Eve  against  their  own  frailty.  The  secular  priest  and  the 
woman  shrink  before  throwing  themselves  into  such  a  bottom- 
less abyss  of  shame,  misery  and  regret.  But  behind  the  thick 
and  dark  walls  of  the  monastery,  or  the  nunnery,  what  has  the 
fallen  monk  or  nun  to  fear?  Nobody  will  hear  of  it,  no  bad 
consequences  worth  mentioning  will  follow,  except  a  few  days 
of  retreat,  some  insignificant,  childish,  ridiculous  penances,  which 
the  most  devoted  in  the  monastery  are  practicing  almost  every 
day. 

"  As  you  ask  me,  in  earnest,  what  are  the  advantages  of  a 
monastic  life  over  a  secular,  in  a  moral  and  social  point  of  view, 
I  will  answer  you:  In  the  monastery,  man  as  the  image  of  God 
forgets  his  divine  origin,  loses  his  dignity;  and  as  a  Christian,  he 
loses  the  most  holy  weapons  Christ  has  given  to  his  disciples  to 
fight  the  battle  of  life.  He,  at  once  and  forever,  loses  that  law 
«of  self-respect,  and  respect  for  others,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  and  legitimate  barriers  against  vice.  Yes!  That  great 
and  divine  law  of  self-respect,  which  God  himself  has  implanted 
in  the  heart  of  every  man  and  woman  who  live  in  a  Christian 
society,  is  completely  destroyed  in  the   monastery  and   nunnery. 


NOVICIATE    IN    THE    MONASTERY. 


445 


The  foundation  of  perfection  in  the  monk  and  the  nun  is  that  they 
must  consider  themselves  as  corpses.  Do  you  not  see  that  this 
principle  strikes  at  the  root  of  all  that  God  has  made  good,  o-rand 
and  holy  in  man  ?  Does  it  not  sweep  away  every  idea  of  holiness, 
purity,  greatness!  every  principle  of  life  which  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  had  for  its  mission  to  reveal  to  the  fallen  children  of  Adam? 

"  What  self-respect  can  we  expect  from  a  corpse?  and  what 
respect  can  a  corpse  feel  for  the  other  corpses  which  surround 
it?  Thus  it  is  that  the  very  idea  of  monastic  perfection  carries 
with  it  the  destruction  of  all  that  is  good,  pure,  holy  and  spiritual 
in  the  religion  of  the  gospel.  It  destroys  the  very  idea  of  life, 
to  put  death  into  its  place. 

"  It  is  for  that  reason  that  if  you  study  the  true  history,  not 
the  lying  history^  of  monachism,  you  will  find  the  details  of  a 
corruption  impossible,  anywhere  else,  not  even  among  the  lowest 
houses  of  prostitution.  Read  the  Memoirs  of  Scipio  de  Ricci, 
one  of  the  most  pious  and  intelligent  bishops  our  Church  has 
ever  had,  and  you  will  see  that  the  monks  and  the  nuns  of  Italy 
lead  the  very  life  of  the  brutes  in  the  fields.  Yes!  read  the  ter- 
rible revelations  of  what  is  going  on  among  those  unfortunate 
men  and  women,  whom  the  iron  hand  of  monachism  keeps  tied 
in  their  dark  dungeons,  you  will  hear  from  the  very  lips  of  the 
nuns  that  the  monks  are  more  free  with  them  than  the  husbands 
are  with  their  legitimate  wives;  you  will  see  that  every  one  of 
those  monastic  institutions  is  a  new  Sodom  ? 

"  The  monastic  axiom,  that  the  highest  point  of  perfection  is 
attained  only  when  you  consider  yourself  a  corpse  in  the  hand 
of  your  superior,  is  anti-social  and  anti-Christian;  it  is  simply 
diabolical.  It  transforms  into  a  vile  machine  that  man  whom 
God  had  created  in  his  likeness,  and  made  forever  free.  It  de- 
grades below  the  brute  that  man  whom  Chiust,  by  his  death, 
has  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  child  of  God,  and  inheritor  of  an 
eternal  kingdom  in  Heaven.  Everything  is  mechanical,  material, 
false,  in  the  life  of  a  monk  and  a  nun.  Even  the  best  virtues  are 
deceptions  and  lies.  The  monks  and  the  nuns  being  perfect 
only  when  they  have  renounced  their  own  free  will  and  intelli- 
gence,  to  become  corpses,  can   have   neither  virtues   nor   vices. 


446  FIFTY     YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Their  best  actions  are  mechanical.  Their  acts  of  humility 
are  to  crawl  under  the  table  and  kiss  the  ''feet  of  each  other,  or 
to  make  a  cross  on  a  dirty  floor  with  the  tongue,  or  lie  down  in 
the  dust  to  let  the  rest  of  the  monks  or  the  nuns  pass  over  them. 
Have  you  not  remarked  how  these  so-called  monks  speak  with 
the  utmost  contempt  of  the  rest  of  the  world?  One  must  have 
opportunities  as  I  have  had  of  seeing  the  profound  hatred  which 
exists  among  all  monastic  orders  against  each  other.  How  the 
Dominicans  have  alwavs  hated  the  Franciscans,  and  how  they 
both  hate  the  Jesuits,  who  pay  them  back  in  the  same  coin. 
What  a  strong  and  merciless  hatred  divides  the  oblates,  to  whom 
we  belong,  from  the  Jesuits!  The  Jesuits  never  lose  an  opj>or- 
tunity  of  showing  us  their  supreme  contempt!  You  are  aware 
that,  on  account  of  those  bad  feelings,  it  is  absolutely  forbidden 
to  an  oblate  to  confess  to  a  Jesuit,  as  we  know  it  is  forbidden  to 
the  Jesuits  to  confess  to  an  oblate,  or  to  any  other  priest. 

"  I  need  not  tell  you,  for  you  know  that  their  vow  of  poverty 
is  a  mask  to  help  them  to  become  rich  with  more  rapidity  than 
the  rest  of  the  world.  Is  it  not  imder  the  mask  of  that  vow  that 
the  inonks  of  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Italy  became  the 
masters  of  the  richest  lands  of  those  countries,  which  the  nations 
were  forced,  bv  bloody  revolutions,  to  wrench  from  their  grasp? 

"  I  have  seen  much  more  of  the  world  than  you.  When  a 
young  priest,  I  was  the  chaplain,  confessor  and  intimate  friend  of 
the  Duchesse  De  Berry,  the  mother  of  Henry  V.,  now  the  only 
legitimate  King  of  France.  When,  in  the  midst  of  those  great 
and  rich  princes  and  nobles  of  France,  I  never  saw  such  a  love 
of  money,  of  honor,  of  vain  glory,  as  I  have  seen  among  the 
monks  since  I  have  become  one  of  them.  When  the  Duchess 
De  Berry  finished  her  providential  work  in  France,  after  making 
the  false  step  which  ruined  her,  I  threw  myself  into  the  religious 
order  of  the  Chartreux.  I  have  lived  several  years  in  their 
palatial  monastery  of  Rome;  have  cultivated  and  enjoyed  their 
sweet  fruits  in  their  magnificent  gardens;  but  I  was  not  there 
long,  without  seeing  the  fatal  error  I  had  committed  in  becoming 
a  monk.  During  the  many  years  I  resided  in  that  spledid  man- 
sion, where   laziness,  stupidity,   filthiness,   gluttony,  superstition. 


NOVICIATE    IN    THE    MONASTERY. 


447 


tediousness,  ignorance,  pride  and  unmentionable  immoralities, 
with  very  few  exceptional  cases,  reigned  supreme.  I  had  every 
opportunity  to  know  what  was  going  on  in  their  midst.  Life 
soon  became  an  unbearable  burden,  but  for  the  hope  I  had  of 
breaking  my  fetters.  At  last  I  found  out  that  the  best,  if  not  the 
only  way  of  doing  this,  was  to  declare  to  the  Pope  that  I  wanted 
to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  savages  of  America,  which 
was  and  is  still  true. 

"  I  made  my  declaration,  and  by  the  Pope's  permission,  the 
doors  of  my  gaol  were  opened,  with  the  condition  that  I  should 
join  the  order  of  the  Oblates  Immaculate,  in  connection  with 
which  I  should  evangelize  the  savages  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

"  I  have  found  among  the  monks  of  Canada,  the  very  same 
things  I  have  seen  among  those  of  France  and  Italy.  With  very 
few  exceptions,  they  are  all  corpses,  absolutely  dead  to  every 
sentiment  of  true  honesty  and  real  Christianity;  they  are  putrid 
carcasses,  which  have  lost  the  dignity  of  manhood. 

"  My  dear  Father  Chiniquy,"  he  added,  "  I  trust  you  as  I 
trust  myself,  when  I  tell  you  for  your  own  good,  a  secret  which 
is  known  to  God  alone.  When  I  am  on  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
I  will  raise  myself  up,  as  the  eagles  of  those  vast  countries,  and 
I  shall  go  up  to  the  regions  of  liberty,  light  and  life;  I  will  cease 
being  a  corpse,  to  become  what  my  God  has  made  me — a  free 
and  intelligent  man.  I  will  cease  to  be  a  corpse,  in  order  to  be- 
come one  of  the  redeemed  of  Christ,  who  serve  God  in  spirit 
and  in  truth. 

"Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world;  monachism  is  its  night! 
Christ  is  the  strength,  the  glory,  the  life  of  man;  monachism  is 
its  decay,  shame  and  death!  Christ  died  to  make  us  free;  the 
monastery  is  built  up  to  make  slaves  of  us!  Christ  died  that  we 
might  be  raised  to  the  dignity  of  children  of  God ;  monachism  is 
established  to  bring  us  down  much  below  the  living  brutes,  for 
It  transforms  us  into  corpses!  Christ  is  the  highest  conception 
of  humanity ;  monachism  is  its  lowest. 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  hope  my  God  will  soon  give  me  the  favor  I  have 
asked  so  long.  When  I  shall  be  on  the  top  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  I  will,  forever,  break  my  fetters.      I   will  rise   from 


448  FIFTY    YEARS    IIT    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

my  tomb.,  I  will  come  out  from  among  the  dead,  to  sit  at  the 
table  of  the  redeemed,  and  eat  the  bread  of  the  living  children 
of  God." 

I  do  regret  that  the  remarkable  monk,  whose  abridged  views 
on  monachism  I  have  here  given,  should  have  requested  me 
never  to  give  his  name,  when  he  allows  me  to  tell  some  of  his 
adventures,  which  will  make  a  most  interestimg  romance.  Faith- 
ful to  his  promise,  he  went,  as  an  oblate,  to  preach  to  the  savages 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  there,  without  noise,  he  slipped 
out  of  their  hands;  broke  his  chains,  to  live  the  life  of  a  f reed- 
man  of  Christ,  in  the  holy  bonds  of  a  Christian  marriage  with  a 
respectable  American  lady. 

Weak  and  timid  soldier  that  I  was  once;  frightened  by  the 
ruins  spread  everywhere  on  the  battle-field,  I  looked  around  to 
find  a  shelter  against  the  impending  danger;  I  thought  that  the 
monastery  of  the  oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate  was  one  of  those 
strong  towers,  built  by  my  God,  where  the  arrows  of  the  enemy 
could  not  reach  me,  and  I  threw  myself  into  it. 

But,  hardly  beginning  to  hope  that  I  was  out  of  danger,  be- 
hind those  dark  and  high  walls,  when  I  saw  them  shaking  like 
a  drunken  man;  and  the  voice  of  God  passed  like  a  hurricane 
over  me. 

Suddenly,  the  high  towers  and  walls  around  me  fell  to  the 
ground,  and  were  turned  into  dust.  Not  one  stone  remained  on 
another. 

And  I  heard  a  voice  saying  to  me:  "  Soldier!  come  out  and 
get  in  the  light  of  the  sun ;  trust  no  more  in  the  walls  built  by 
the  hand  of  man;  they  are  nothing  but  dust.  Come  and  fight 
in  the  open  day,  under  the  eyes  of  God,  protected  only  by  the 
gospel  banners  of  Christ!  Come  out  from  behind  those  walls, 
they  are  a  diabolical  doception,  a  snare,  a  fraud!" 

I  listened  to  the  voice,  and  I  bade  adieu  to  tlup  inmates  of  the 
monastery  of  the  oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate. 

When,  on  the  first  of  October,  1S47,  I  pressed  tl.em  ovk 
my  heart  for  the  last  time,  I  felt  the  burning  tears  of  many  of 
them  falling  on  my  cheeks,  and  my  teai's  moistened  their  t\ces: 
for  they  loved  me,  and  I  loved  them.     I  had   met  there  several 


NOVICIATE    IN    TKE    MONASTERY.  449 

noble  hearts  and  precious  souls,  worthy  of  a  better  fate.  Oh!  if 
I  could  have,  at  the  price  of  my  life,  given  them  the  light  and 
liberty  which  my  merciful  God  had  given  me!  But  they  were 
in  the  dark;  and  there  was  no  {>ower  in  me  to  change  their 
darkness  into  light. 

The  hand  of  God  brought  me  back  to  my  dear  Canada,  that 
I  might  again  offer  it  the  sweat  and  labors,  the  love  and  life  of 
the  least  of  its  sons. 


Chaper    XLIII. 

I  ACCEPT  THE  HOSPITAXiITY  OF  THE  REV.  MB.  BKASSASS,  OF 
LONGUEUIL— I  GIVE  MY  REASONS  FOR  LEAVING  THE  OB- 
LATE8  TO  BISHOP  BOURGET— HE  PRESENTS  ME  WITH  A 
MEDALLION,  PORTRAIT  OF  THE  POPE  AND  A  SPLENDID 
CRUCIFIX  BLESSED  BY  HIS  HOLINESS  FOR  ME,  AND  AC- 
CEPTS MY  SERVICES  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  TEMPERANCE  IN 
THE  DIOCESE  OF  MONTREAL. 

THE  eleven  months  spent  in  the  monastery  of  the  oblates  of 
Mary  Immaculate,  were  among  the  greatest  favors  God 
has  granted  me.  What  I  had  read  of  the  monastic  orders,  and 
what  my  honest,  though  deluded  imagination  had  painted  of  the 
holiness,  purity  and  happiness  of  the  monastic  life,  could  not  be 
blotted  out  of  my  mind,  except  by  a  kind  of  miraculous  interp>o- 
srition.  No  testimony  whatever  could  have  convinced  me  that 
the  monastic  institutions  Avere  not  one  of  the  most  blessed  of  the 
gospel.  Their  existence,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
was,  for  me,  an  infallible  token  of  her  divine  institution,  and  one 
of  the  strongest  proofs  that  those  heretics  were  entirely  separ- 
ated from  Christ.  Without  religious  orders,  the  Protestant  de- 
nominations were  to  me,  as  dead  and  decayed  branches  cut  from 
the  true  vine,  which  are  doomed  to  pei'ish. 

But,  just  as  the  eyes  of  Thomas  were  opened,  and  his  intel- 
ligence was  convinced  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  only  after  he 
had  seen  the  wounds  in  his  hands  and  side,  so  I  could  never 
have  believed  that  the  monastic  institutions  were  of  heathen  and 
diabolical  origin,  if  my  God  had  not  forced  me  to  see  with  my 
own  eyes,  and  to  touch  with  my  fingers,  their  unspeakable  cor- 
ruptions. 

Though  I  remained  for  some  time  longer,  a  sincere  Cathohe 
priest,  I  dare  say  that  God  himself  had  just  broken  the  strongest 
tie  of  my  affections  and  respect  for  that  church. 

45° 


MY    REASONS    FOR    LEAVING    THE    OBLATES.  451 

It  is  true  that  severel  pillars  remained,  on  which  my  robust 
faith  in  the  holiness  and  apostolicity  of  the  church  rested  for  a 
few  years  longer,  hut  I  must  here  confess,  to  the  glory  of  God, 
that  the  most  solid  of  those  pillars  had  forever  crumbled  to  pieces^ 
when  in  the  monastery  of  Longucuil, 

Long  before  my  leaving  the  oblates,  many  influential  priests 
of  the  district  of  Montreal,  had  told  me  that  my  only  chance  of 
success,  if  I  wanted  to  continue  my  crusade  against  the  demon  of 
drunkenness,  was  to  work  alone. 

"Those  monks  are  pretty  good  speakers  on  temperance," 
they  unanimously  said,  "  but  they  are  nothing  else  than  a  band 
of  comedians.  After  delivering  their  eloquent  tirades  against 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  to  the  people,  the  first  thing  they 
do  is  to  ask  for  a  bottle  of  wine,  which  soon  disappears!  What 
fruit  can  we  expect  from  the  preaching  of  men  who  do  not  be- 
lieve a  word  of  what  they  say,  and  w^ho  are  the  first,  among 
themselves,  to  tinn  their  own  arguments  into  ridicule?  It  is 
very  different  with  you;  you  believe  what  you  say;  you  are  con- 
sistent with  yourself;  your  hearers  feel  it;  your  profound,  scien- 
tific and  Christian  conviction  pass  into  them  with  an  irresistible 
power 

"God  visibly  blesses  your  work  with  a  marvellous  successi 
Come  to  us,"  said  the  curates,  "not  as  sent  by  the  superior  of  the 
oblates,  but  as  sent  by  God  himself,  to  regenerate  Canada.  Pre- 
sent yourself  as  a  French  Canadian  priest;  a  child  of  the  people. 
That  people  will  hear  you  with  more  pleasure,  and  follow  your 
advice  with  more  perseverance. 

Let  them  know  and  feel  that  Canadian  blood  runs  in  your 
veins;  that  a  Canadian  heartbeats  in  your  breast;  continue  to  be 
in  the  future,  what  you  have  been  in  the  past.  Let  the  sentiments 
of  the  true  patriot  be  united  with  those  of  a  Catholic  priest ;  and 
when  you  address  the  people  of  Canada,  the  citadels  of  Satan 
will  crumble  everywhere  before  you  in  the  district  of  Montreal, 
as  they  have  done  in  that  of  Quebec. 

At  the  head  of  the  French  Canadian  curates,  who  thus  spoke, 
was  my  venerable  personal  friend  and  benefactor,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brassard,  curate   of  Longueuil.     He   had   not   only  been  one  of 


452  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

my  most  devoted  friends  and  teachers,  w^hen  I  was  studying  in 
the  college  of  Nicolet,  but  had  helped  me,  with  his  own  money, 
to  go  through  the  last  four  years  of  my  studies,  when  I  was  too 
poor  to  meet  my  collegiate  expenses.  No  one  had  thought  more 
highly  than  he  of  the  oblates  of  Mary  Immaculate,  when  they 
first  settled  in  Canada.  But  their  monastery  was  too  near  the 
parsonage  for  their  own  benefit.  His  sharp  eyes,  high  intelli- 
gence and  integrity  of  character,  soon  detected  that  there  was 
more  false  varnish  than  pure  gold,  on  their  glittering  escutcheon. 
Several  love  scrapes  between  some  of  the  oblates  and  the  pretty 
young  ladies  of  his  parish,  and  the  long  hours  of  night  spent  by 
Father  AUard  with  the  nuns,  established  in  his  village,  under 
the  pretext  of  teaching  them  grammar  and  arithmetic,  had  filled 
him  with  disgust.  But  what  had  absolutely  destroyed  his  con- 
fidence, was  the  discovery  of  a  long  suspected  iniquity,  which  at 
first  seemed  incredible  to  him.  Father  Guigues,  the  superior, 
after  his  nomination,  but  before  his  installation  to  the  Bishopric 
of  Ottawa,  had  been  closely  watched,  and  at  last  discovered 
opening  the  letters  of  Mr.  Brassard,  which,  many  times,  had 
passed  from  the  post  office  through  his  hands.  That  criminal 
action  came  very  near  being  brought  before  the  legal  courts  by 
Mr.  Brassard;  this  was  avoided  only  by  Father  Guigues  ac- 
knowledging his  guilt,  asking  pardon  in  the  most  humiliating 
way,  before  me  and  several  other  witnesses. 

Long  before  I  left  the  oblates,  Mr.  Brassard  had  said  to  me: 
*'  The  oblates  are  not  the  men  you  think  them  to  be.  I  have 
been  sorely  disappointed  in  them,  and  your  disappointment  will 
be  no  less  than  mine,  when  your  eyes  are  opened.  I  know  that 
you  will  not  remain  long  in  their  midst.  I  offer  you,  in  advance, 
the  hospitality  of  my  parsonage,  when  your  conscience  calls  you 
out  of  their  monastery !  " 

I  availed  myself  of  this  kind  invitation  on  the  evening  of  the 
1st  of  November,  1847. 

The  next  week  was  spent  in  preparing  the  memoir  which  I 
intended  to  present  to  my  Lord  Bourget,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  as 
an  explanation  of  my  leaving  the  oblates.  I  knew  that  he  was 
disappointed  and  displeased  with  the  step  I  had  taken. 


MY     REASONS    FOR    LEAVING    THE    OBLATES.  453 

The  curate  of  Chambly,  Rev.  Mr.  Mignault,  having  gone 
to  the  bishop,  to  express  his  joy  that  I  had  left  the  monks,  in 
order  to  serve  again  the  church,  in  the  ranks  of  secular  clergy,* 
had  been  very  badly  received.  The  bishop  had  answ^ered  him : 
"  Mr.  Chiniquy  may  leave  the  oblates  if  he  likes;  but  he  will  be 
disappointed  if  he  expects  to  work  in  my  diocese.  I  do  not  want 
his  services." 

This  did  not  surprise  me.  I  knew  that  those  monks  had 
been  imported  by  him  from  France,  and  that  they  were  pets  of 
his. 

When  I  entered  their  monastery,  just  eleven  months  before, 
he  was  just  starting  for  Rome,  and  expressed  to  me  the  pleasure 
he  felt  that  I  was  to  join  them. 

My  reasons,  however,  were  so  good,  and  the  memoir  I  was 
preparing  was  so  full  of  undoubted  facts  and  unanswerable  ar- 
guments, that  I  was  pretty  sure,  not  only  to  appease  the  wrath 
of  my  bishop,  but  to  gain  his  esteem  more  firmly  than  before. 
I  was  not  disappointed  in  my  expectation. 

A  few  days  later,  I  called  upon  his  lordship,  and  was  received 
very  coldly.  He  said :  "  I  cannot  conceal  from  you  my  surprise 
and  pain,  at  the  rash  step  you  have  just  taken.  What  a  shame, 
for  all  your  friends  to  see  your  want  of  consistency  and  perse- 
verance! Had  you  remained  among  those  good  monks,  your 
moral  strength  could  have  been  increased  more  than  ten-fold. 
But  you  have  stultified  yourself  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  as  well 
as  in  mine;  you  have  lost  the  confidence  of  your  best  friends,, 
by  leaving,  without  good  reasons,  the  company  of  such  holy 
men.  Some  bad  rumors  are  already  afloat  against  you,  which 
give  us  to  understand  that  you  are  an  unmanageable  man,  a  selfish 
priest,  whom  the  superiors  have  been  forced  to  turn  out  as  a  black 
sheep,  whose  presence  could  not  be  any  longer  tolerated  inside- 
the  peaceful  walls  of  that  holy  monaster3\" 

Those  words  were  uttered  with  an  expression  of  bad  feeling 
which  told  me  that  I  had  not  heard  the  tenth  part  of  what  he 
had  in  his  heart.  However,  as  I  came  into  his  presence,  pre- 
pared to  hear  all  kinds  of  bad  reports,  angry  reproaches,  and 
humiliating  insinuations,   I  remained  perfectly  calm.     I  had,  io' 


454  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

in  advance,  resolved  to  hear  all  his  unfriendly,  insulting  remarks, 
just  as  if  they  were  addressed  to  another  person,  a  perfect 
stranger  to  me.  The  last  three  days  had  been  spent  in  prayers 
to  obtain  that  favor.  My  God  had  evidently  heard  me ;  for  the 
storm  passed  over  me,  without  exciting  the  least  unpleasant 
feelings  in  my  soul. 

I  answered:  "My  lord:  Allow  me  to  tell  you  that,  in  taking 
the  solemn  step  of  leaving  the  monastery  of  Longueuil,  I  was 
not  afraid  of  what  the  world  would  say  or  think  of  me.  My 
only  desire  is  to  save  my  soul,  and  give  the  rest  of  my  life  to  my 
•country  and  my  God,  in  a  more  efficacious  way  than  I  have  yet 
done.  The  rumors  which  seem  to  trouble  your  lordship  about 
my  supposed  expulsion  from  the  oblates,  do  not  affect  me  in  the 
least,  for  they  are  without  the  least  foundation.  From  the  first 
to  the  last  day  of  my  stay  in  that  monastery,  all  the  inmates, 
from  the  superior,  to  the  last  one,  have  overwhelmed  me  with 
the  most  sincere  marks  of  kindness,  and  even  of  respect.  If 
you  had  seen  the  tears  which  were  shed  by  the  brothers,  when  I 
bade  them  adieu,  you  would  have  understood  that  I  never  had 
more  devoted  and  sincere  friends  than  the  members  of  that  reli- 
gious community.  Please  read  this  important  document,  and 
you  will  see  that  I  have  kept  my  good  name  during  my  stay  in 
that  monastery."  I  handed  him  the  following  testimonial  letter 
w^hich  the  superior  had  given  me  when  I  left: 

"  I,  the  undersigned,  superior  of  the  noviciate  of  the  oblates  of  Marj 
Immaculate,  at  Longueuil,  do  certify  that  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Chiniquy, 
when  in  our  monastery,  has  been  worthy  of  the  sacred  character  which  he 
possesses,  and  after  this  year  of  solitude,  he  does  not  less  deserve  the  confi- 
dence of  his  brethren  in  the  holy  ministry  than  before.  We  wish,  more- 
over, to  give  our  testimony  of  his  persevering  zeal  in  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance. We  think  that  nothing  was  more  of  a  nature  to  give  a  character  at 
stability  to  that  admirable  reform,  and  to  secure  its  perfect  success,  than  the 
profound  reflections  and  studies  of  Mr.  Chiniquy,  when  in  the  solitude  ot 
Longueuil,  on  the  importance  of  that  work. 

T.  F.  Allard, 
Superior  of  the  Noviciate  O.  M.  I." 

It  was  really  most  pleasant  for  me  to  see  that  every  line  of 
that  document,  read  by  the  bishop,  was  blotting  out  some  of  th« 
stem  and  unfriendly  lines  which  were  on  his  face,  when  speak- 


k 


MY     REASONS    FOR     LEAVING    THE    OBLATES.  455 

ing  to  me.  Nothing  was  more  amiable  than  his  manners,  when  he 
handed  it  back  to  me,  saying :  "  I  thank  God  to  see  that  you  are 
still  as  worthy  of  my  esteem  and  confidence  as  when  you  entered 
that  monastery.  But  would  you  be  kind  enough  to  give  me  the 
real  reasons  why  you  have  so  abruptly  separated  from  the  oblates  ?" 

"Yes,  my  lord,  I  will  give  them  to  you:  but  your  lordship 
knows  that  there  are  things  of  such  a  delicate  nature,  that  the  lips 
of  man  shiver  and  rebel  when  required  to  utter  them.  Such  are 
some  of  the  deplorable  things  which  I  have  to  mention  to  your 
lordship.  I  have  put  those  reasons  in  these  pages,  which  I  re- 
spectfully request  your  lordship  to  read,"  and  I  handed  him  the 
Memoir^  about  thirty  pages  long,  which  I  had  prepared. 

The  bishop  read,  very  carefully,  five  or  six  pages,  and  said: 
"  Are  you  positive  as  to  the  exactness  of  what  you  write  here."*" 

"  Yes,  my  lord !  They  are  as  true  and  real  as  I  am  here." 

The  bishop  turned  pale,  and  remained  a  fe.w  minutes  silent, 
biting  his  lips,  and  after  a  deep  sigh,  said :  "  Is  it  your  intention 
to  reveal  those  sad  mysteries  to  the  world,  or  can  we  hope  that 
you  will  keep  that  secret?" 

"  My  lord,"  I  answered,  "  if  your  lordship  and  the  oblates 
deal  with  me,  as  I  hope  they  will  do,  as  with  an  honorable 
Catholic  priest;  if  I  am  kept  in  the  position  which  an  honest 
priest  has  a  right  to  fill  in  the  Church,  I  consider  myself  bound, 
in  conscience  and  honor,  to  keep  those  things  secret.  But,  if 
from  any  abuse,  persecutions  emanating  from  the  oblates,  or  any 
other  party,  I  am  obliged  to  give  to  the  world  the  true  reasons 
of  my  leaving  that  monastic  order,  your  lordship  understands 
that,  in  self-defence,  I  will  be  forced  to  make  these  revelations!** 

"  But  the  oblates  cannot  say  a  word,  or  do  anything  wrong 
against  you,"  promptly  answered  the  bishop,  "  after  the  honor- 
able testimony  they  have  given  you." 

"  It  is  true,  my  lord,  that  I  have  no  reason  to  fear  anything 
from  the  oblates!  "  I  answered;  "but  those  religious  men  are 
not  the  only  ones  who  might  force  me  to  defend  myself.  You 
know  another  who  has  my  future  destinies  in  his  hands.  You 
know  that  my  future  course  will  be  shaped  on  his  own  toward  me." 

With  amiable  smile,  the  bishop  answered: 


456  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  I  understand  you.  But  I  pledge  myself  that  you  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  that  quarter.  Though  I  frankly  tell  you 
that  I  would  have  preferred  seeing  you  work  as  a  member  of 
that  monastic  institution,  it  ma}'^  be  that  it  is  more  according  to 
the  will  of  God,  that  you  should  go  among  the  people,  as  sent 
by  God,  rather  than  by  a  superior,  who  might  be  your  inferior 
in  the  eyes  of  many,  in  that  glorious  temperance  of  which  you 
are  evidently  the  blessed  apostle  in  Canada.  I  am  glad  to  tell 
you  that  I  have  spoken  of  you  to  his  holiness,  and  he  requested 
me  to  give  you  a  precious  medal,  which  bears  his  most  perfect 
features,  with  a  splendid  crucifix.  His  holiness  has  graciously 
attached  300  days  indulgences  for  every  one  who  will  take  the 
pledge  of  temperance  in  kissing  the  feet  of  that  crucifix.  Wait 
a  moment,"  added  the  bishop,  "  I  will  go  and  get  them  and 
present  them  to  you." 

When  the  bishop  returned,  holding  in  his  hands  those  two 
infallible  tokens  of  the  kind  sentiments  of  the  Pope  towards  me, 
I  fell  on  my  knees  to  receive  them  and  press  them  both  to  my 
lips  with  the  utmost  respect.  My  feelings  of  joy  and  gratitude, 
in  that  happy  hour,  cannot  be  expressed.  I  remained  mute,  for 
some  time  with  surprise  and  admiration,  when  holding  those 
precious  things  which  were  coming  to  me,  as  I  then  sincerely 
believed,  from  the  very  successor  of  Peter,  and  the  true  Vicar  of 
Christ  himself.  When  handing  me  those  sacred  gifts,  the 
bishop  addressed  me  the  kindest  words  which  a  bishop  can  utter 
to  his  priest,  or  a  father  to  his  beloved  son.  He  granted  me  the 
jxjwer  to  preach  and  hear  confessions  all  over  his  diocese,  and 
he  dismissed  me  only  after  having  put  his  hand  on  my  head  and 
asked  God  to  pour  upon  me  His  most  abundant  benedictions 
every w^here  I  should  go  to  work  in  the  holy  cause  of  temper- 
ance in  Canada. 


Chapter  XLIV. 

PBBPARATIONS  FOR  THE  LAST  CONFLICT -WISE  COUNSEL, 
TEARS  AND  DISTRESS  OF  FATHER  MATHEW-LONGUEUIL 
THE  FIRST  TO  ACCEPT  THE  GRFAT  REFORM  OF  TEMPER- 
ANCE-THE  WHOLE  DISTRICT  OF  MONTREAL,  ST.HYACINTHE 
AND  THREE  RIVERS  CONGIUERED-TWO  HUNDRED  THOUS- 
AND TEETOTALERS  THE  CITY  OF  MONTREAL  WITH  THE 
SUPLICIANS  TAKE  THE  PLEDGE-GOLD  MEDAL-OFFICIALLY 
NAMED  APOSTLE  OF  TEMPERANCE  OF  CANADA-GIFT  OF 
£500  FROM  PARLIAMENT. 

OUR  adorable  Saviour  said:  "  What  king,  going  to  make  war 
against  another  king  sitteth  not  down  first,  and  consulteth 
whether  he  be  able,  with  ten  thousand,  to  meet  him  that  cometh 
against  him  with  twenty  thousand?"  (Luke  14:  31.)  To  follow 
that  advice,  how  often  had  I  fallen  on  my  knees  before  my  God, 
to  implore  the  necessary  strength  and  wisdom  to  meet  that  terri- 
ble enemy  which  was  marching  against  me  and  my  brethren! 
Many  times  I  was  so  discouraged  by  the  sense  of  personal  inca- 
pacitv,  that  I  came  near  fainting  and  flying  away  at  the  sight  of 
the  power  and  resources  of  the  foe !  But  the  dear  Saviour's  voice 
has  as  many  times  strengthened  me,  saying :  "  Fear  not,  I  am 
with  thee!"  He  seemed,  at  every  hour,  to  whisper  in  my  ears: 
"  Cheer  up,  I  have  overcome  the  world !  "  Trusting,  then,  in  my 
God,  alone,  for  victory,  I  nevertheless  understood  that  my  duty 
was  to  arm  myself  with  the  weapons  which  the  learned  and  the 
wise  men  of  the  past  ages  had  prepared.  I  ag..in  studied  the 
best  works  written  on  the  subject  of  wine,  from  the  learned  nat- 
uralist, Pleny,  to  the  celebrated  Sir  Astley  Cooper.  I  not  only 
compiled  a  multitude  of  scientific  notes,  arguments  and  facts  from 
these  books,  but  prepared  a  "Manual  of  Temperance,"  which  ob- 
tained so  great  a  success  for  such  a  small  country  as  Canada,  that 

4S7 


458  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

it  went  through  four  editions  of  twenty-five  thousand  copies  in  less 
than  four  years.  But  my  best  source  of  information  and  wisdom 
was  from  letters  received  from  Father  Mathew,  and  my  per- 
sonal interviews  with  him,  when  he  visited  the  United  States. 

The  first  time  I  met  him,  in  Boston,  he  told  me  how  he 
regretted  his  having,  at  first,  too  much  relied  on  the  excitement 
and  enthusiasm  of  the  multitudes.  "  Those  fits,"  he  said,  "  pass 
away  as  quickly  as  the  clouds  of  the  storm;  and  they,  too  often, 
leave  no  more  traces  of  their  passage.  Persevere  in  the  resolu- 
tion you  have  taken  in  the  beginning,  never  to  give  the  pledge, 
except  when  you  give  a  complete  course  of  lectures  on  the  damn- 
ing effects  of  intoxicating  drinks.  How  can  we  expect  that  the 
people  will  forever  give  up  beverages  which  they  honestly, 
though  ignorantly,  believe  to  be  beneficial  and  necessary  to  their 
body?  The  first  thing  we  do  we  must  demonstrate  to  them  that 
these  alcoholic  drinks  are  absolutely  destructive  of  their  temporal 
as  well  as  of  their  eternal  life.  So  long  as  the  priest  and  the 
people  believe,  as  they  do  to-day,  that  rum,  brandy,  wine,  beer 
and  cider  give  strength  to  help  man  to  keep  up  his  health  in  the 
midst  of  his  hard  labors ;  that  they  warm  his  blood  in  winter  and 
cool  it  in  the  summer;  all  our  efforts,  and  even  our  successes,  will 
be  like  the  burning  bundle  of  straw,  which  makes  a  bright  light, 
attracts  the  attention  for  a  moment,  and  leaves  nothing  but  smoke 
and  cinders. 

"Hundreds  of  times,  I  have  seen  my  Irish  countrymen  hon- 
estly taking  the  pledge  for  life ;  but  before  a  week  had  elapsed, 
they  had  obtained  a  release  from  their  priest,  under  the  impres- 
sion that  they  were  unable  to  earn  their  own  living  and  support 
their  families,  without  drinking  those  detestable  drugs.  Very 
few  priests  in  Ireland  have  taken  the  pledge,  and  still  fewer 
have  kept  it.  In  New  York,  only  two  Irish  priests  have  given 
up  their  intoxicating  glass,  and  the  very  next  week  I  met  both 
of  them  drunk!  Archbishop  Hughes  turned  my  humble  ef- 
forts into  ridicule,  before  his  priests,  in  my  own  presence,  and 
drank  a  glass  of  brandy  to  my  health  with  them  at  his  own 
table,  to  mock  me.  And  here  in  Boston  the  drinking  habits  of 
the   Bishop   and   his   priest  are   such,  that   I   have  been  forced, 


TWO  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  TEETOTALERS.       ACq 

through  self-respect,  to  quietly  withdraw  from  his  palace  aad 
come  to  this  hotel.     This  bad  conduct  paralyzes  and  kills   me." 

In  saying  these  last  words,  that  good  and  noble  man  burst 
into  a  fit  of  convulsive  sobs  and  tears;  his  breast  was  heavino-  un- 
der his  vain  efforts  to  suppress  his  sighs.  He  concealed  his  face  in 
his  hands,  and  for  nearly  ten  minutes  he  could  not  utter  a  word. 

The  spectacle  of  the  desolation  of  a  man  whom  God  had 
raised  so  high,  and  so  much  blessed,  and  the  tears  of  one  who 
had  himself  dried  up  so  many  tears,  and  brought  so  much  joy, 
peace  and  comfort,  to  so  many  desolate  homes,  has  been  one  of 
the  most  solemn  lessons  my  God  ever  gave  me.  1  then  learned 
more  clearly  than  ever,  that  all  the  glory  of  the  world  is  Vanity^ 
and  that  one  of  the  greatest  acts  of  folly  is  to  rely,  for  happi- 
ness, on  the  j^raises  of  men,  and  the  success  of  our  own  labors. 
For  who  had  received  more  merited  praises,  and  who  had  seen 
his  own  labors  more  blessed  by  God  and  man,  than  Father  Ma- 
thew,  whom  all  ages  will  call  "The  Apostle  of  Temperance  of 
Ireland?" 

My  gratitude  to  Mr.  Brassard  caused  me  to  to  choose  his  par- 
ish, near  Montreal,  for  the  first  grand  battle-field  of  the  impend- 
ing struggle  against  the  enemy  of  my  God  and  my  country;  and 
the  first  week  of  Advent  determined  upon  for  the  opening  of  the 
campaign.  But  the  nearer  the  day  chosen  to  draw  the  sword 
against  the  modern  Goliah,  the  more  I  felt  the  solemnity  of  my 
position,  and  the  more  I  needed  the  help  of  Him  on  whom  alone 
we  can  trust  for  light  and  strength. 

I  had  determined  never  to  lecture  on  temperance  in  any  place, 
without  having  previously  inquired,  from  the  most  reliable 
sources,  about: 

1st.  The  number  of  deaths  and  accidents  caused  by  drunken- 
ness the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years. 

2d.  The  number  of  orphans  and  widow^s  made  by  drunken- 
ness. 

3d.  The  number  of  rich  families  ruined,  and  the  number  of 
poor  families  made  poorer  by  the  same  cause. 

4th,  The  approximate  sura  of  money  expended  by  the  peo- 
ple during  the  last  twenty  years. 


460  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

As  the  result  of  my  inquiries,  I  learned  that  during  that  short 
period,  that  32  men  had  lost  their  lives  when  drunk ;  and  through 
their  drunkenness  25  widows  and  37  orphans  had  been  left  in  the 
lowest  degree  of  poverty;  72  rich  families  had  been  entirely 
ruined  and  turned  out  of  their  once  happy  homes  by  the  demon 
of  intemperance,  and  90  kept  poor.  More  than  three  hundred 
thousand  dollars  ($300,000)  had  been  paid  in  cash,  without 
counting  the  loss  of  time,  for  the  intoxicating  beverages  drank 
by  the  people  of  Longueuil  during  the  last  twenty  years. 

For  three  days,  I  spoke  twice  a  day  to  crowded  houses.  My 
first  text  was:  "Look  not  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red,  when  it 
giveth  its  color  in  the  cup:  when  it  moveth  itself  aright.  At 
last,  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like  an  adder  (Prov.  33: 

31-32)- 

The  first  day  I  showed  how  alcoholic  beverages  were  biting 
iiKe  a  serpent  and  stinging  like  an  adder,  by  destroying  the  lungs, 
the  brains,  and  the  liver;  the  nerves  and  the  muscles;  the  blood 
and  the  very  life  of  man. 

The  second  day  I  proved  that  intoxicating  drinks  were  the 
most  implacable  and  cruel  enemies  of  the  fathers,  the  mothers, 
the  children ;  of  the  young  and  the  old ;  of  the  rich  and  the  poor ; 
of  the  farmers,  the  merchants  and  the  mechanics ;  the  parish  and 
the  country. 

The  third  day  I  proved,  clearly,  that  those  intoxicating  liquors 
were  the  enemy  of  intelligence,  and  the  soul  of  man;  the  gospel 
of  Christ  and  of  His  holy  church;  the  enemy  of  all  the  rights  of 
man  and  the  laws  of  God. 

My  conclusion  was,  that  we  were  all  bound  to  raise  our  hand* 
against  that  gigantic  and  implacable  foe,  whose  arm  was  raised 
against  every  one  of  us.  I  presented  the  thrilling  tableau  of  our 
friends,  near  and  dear  relations,  and  neighbors,  fallen  and  destroyed 
around  us;  the  thousands  of  orphans  and  widows,  whose  fathers 
and  husbands  had  been  slaughtered  by  strong  drink.  I  brought 
before  their  minds  the  true  picture  of  the  starving  children,  the 
destitute  widows  and  mothers,  whose  life  had  to  be  spent  in  tears, 
ignominy,  desolation  and  unspeakable  miseries,  from  the  daily 
use  of  strong  drink.      I  was  not  half  through   my  address  when 


TWO    HUNDRED    THOUSAND    TEETOTELARS.  461 

tears  flowed  from  every  eye.  The  cries  and  sobs  so  much 
drowned  my  voice,  that  I  had  several  times  to  stop  speaking  for 
a  few  minutes. 

Then  holding  the  crucifix,  blessed  and  given  to  me  by  the 
Pope,  I  showed  what  Christ  had  suffered  on  the  cross  for  sins 
engendered  by  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks.  And  I  requested 
them  to  listen  to  the  voices  of  the  thousands  of  desolate  orphans, 
widows,  wives,  and  mothers,  coming  from  every  corner  of  the 
land;  the  voices  of  their  priests  and  their  church;  the  voices  of 
the  angels,  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  saints  in  heaven;  the  voice 
of  Jesus  Christ  their  Saviour,  calling  them  to  put  an  end  to  the 
deluge  of  evils  and  unspeakable  iniquities  caused  by  the  use  of 
those  cursed  drinks;  "for,"  said  I,  "those  liquors  are  cursed  by 
millions  of  mothers  and  children,  widows  and  orphans,  who  owe 
to  them  a  life  of  shame,  teai^,  and  untold  desolation.  They  are 
cursed  by  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  angels  who  are  the  daily 
witnesses  of  the  iniquities  with  which  they  deluge  the  world. 

"  They  are  cursed  by  the  millions  of  souls  which  they  have 
plunged  into  eternal  misery. 

"  They  are  cursed  by  Jesus  Christ,  from  whose  hands  they 
have  wrenched  untold  millions  of  souls,  for  whom  he  died  on 
Calvary." 

Every  one  of  those  truths,  incontrovertible  for  Roman  Cath- 
olics, were  falling  with  irresistible  power  on  that  multitude  of 
people.  The  distress  and  consternation  were  so  profound  and 
universal,  that  they  reacted,  at  last,  on  the  poor  speaker,  who 
several  times  could  not  express  what  he  himself  felt  except  with 
his  tears  and  his  sobs. 

When  I  hoped  that,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  all  resistances 
were  subdued,  the  obstacles  removed,  the  intelligences  enlight- 
ened, the  wills  conquered,  I  closed  the  address,  which  had  lasted 
more  than  two  hours,  by  an  ardent  prayer  to  God,  to  grant  us 
the  grace  to  give  up  forever  the  use  of  those  cursed  poisons,  and 
I  requested  every  one  to  repeat  with  me,  in  their  hearts,  the  sol- 
emn pledge  of  temperance  in  the  following  words: 

"Adorable  and  dear  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  who  died  on  the 
cross  to  take  away  my  sins  and  save  my  guilty  soul,  for  thy  glory, 


462  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  good  of  my  brethren  and  of  my  country,  as  well  as  for  my 
own  good,  I  promise,  with  thy  help,  never  to  drink,  nor  to  give 
to  anybody  any  intoxicating  beverages;  except  when  ordered  by 
an  honest  physician." 

Our  merciful  God  had  visibly  blessed  the  w^ork  and  his  un- 
profitable servant.  The  success  was  above  our  sanguine  ex{>ec- 
tations.  Two  thousand  three  hundred  citizens  of  Longueuil  en- 
rolled under  the  banners  of  temperance.  Instead  of  inviting  them  to 
sign  any  written  pledge,  I  asked  thein  to  come  to  the  foot  of  the 
altar  and  kiss  the  crucifix  I  was  holding,  as  the  public  and  solemn 
pledge  of  their  engagement. 

The  first  thing  done  by  the  majority  of  the  intelligent  farm- 
ers of  Longueuil,  on  the  return  from  the  church,  was  to  break 
their  decanters  and  their  barrels,  and  spill  the  last  drop  of  the 
accursed  drink  on  the  ground. 

Seven  days  later,  there  were  eighty  requests  in  my  hands  to 
go  and  show  the  ravages  of  alcoholic  liquors  to  many  other  par- 
ishes. 

Boucherville,  Chambly,  Varennes,  St.  Hyacinthe,  etc..  Three 
Rivers,  the  great  city  of  Montreal,  with  all  the  priests  of  St. 
Sulpice,  the  parishes  along  the  Chambly  river,  Laprairie,  La- 
chine.  In  a  word,  the  vast  diocese  of  Montreal,  Three  Rivers 
and  St.  Hyacinthe,  one  after  the  other,  raised  the  war  cry  against 
the  usages  of  intoxicating  drinks,  with  a  unanimity  and  de- 
termination which  seemed  to  be  more  miraculous  than  na- 
tural. 

During  the  four  years,  I  gave  1,800  public  addresses,  in  200 
parishes,  with  the  same  fruits,  and  enrolled  more  than  200,000 
people  under  the  banners  of  temperance.  Everywhere,  the  tav- 
erns, the  distilleries  and  breweries  were  shut,  and  their  owners 
forced  to  take  other  trades  to  make  a  living;  not  on  account  of 
any  stringent  law,  but  by  the  simple  fact  that  the  whole  people 
had  ceased  drinking  their  beverages,  after  having  been  fully  per- 
suaded that  they  were  injurious  to  their  bodies,  opposed  to  their 
happiness,  and  ruinous  to  their  souls. 

The  convictions  were  so  unanimous  and  strong  on  that  sub- 
ject, that,  in  many  places,  the  last  evening  I  spent  in  their  midst. 


TWO  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  TEETOTALERS.       463 

the  merchants  used  to  take  all  their  barrels  of  rum,  beer,  wine 
and  brandy  to  to  the  public  squares,  make  a  pyramid  of  them,  to 
which  I  was  invited  to  set  fire.  The  whole  population,  attracted 
by  the  novelty  and  sublimity  of  that  spectacle,  would  then  fill 
the  air  with  their  cries  and  shouts  of  joy.  When  the  husbands 
and  wives,  the  parents  and  children  of  the  redeemed  drunkards 
rent  the  air  with  their  cries  of  joy  at  the  destruction  of  their  en- 
emy, and  the  fire  was  in  full  blaze,  one  of  the  merchants  would 
give  me  an  ax  to  stave  in  the  last  barrel  of  rum.  After  the  last 
drop  was  emptied,  I  usually  stood  on  it  to  address  some  parting 
words  to  the  people. 

Such  a  spectacle  baffles  any  description.  The  brilliant  lights 
of  the  pine  and  cedar  trees,  mixed  with  all  kinds  of  inflammable 
materials  which  every  one  had  been  invited  to  bring,  changed 
the  darkest  hour  of  that  time  into  the  brightest  of  days.  The 
flames,  fed  by  the  fiery  liquids,  shot  forth  their  tongues  of  fire 
towards  Heaven,  as  if  to  praise  their  great  God,  whose  merciful 
hand  had  brought  the  marvellous  reformation  we  were  celebrat- 
ing. The  thousand  faces,  illuminated  by  the  blaze,  beamed 
with  joy.  The  noise  of  the  cracking  barrels,  mixed  with  that  of 
a  raging  fire;  the  cries  and  shouts  of  that  multitude,  with  the 
singing  of  the  Te  Deum,  formed  a  harmony  which  filled  every 
soul  with  sentiments  of  unspeakable  happiness.  But  where  shall 
I  find  words  to  express  my  feelings,  when  I  had  finished  speak- 
ing! The  mothers  and  wives  to  whom  our  blessed  temperance 
had  given  back  a  loving  husband  and  some  dear  children,  were 
crowding  around  me  with  their  families  and  redeemed  ones,  to 
thank  me,  press  my  hands  to  their  lips,  and  water  them  with 
their  grateful  tears. 

The  only  thing  which  marred  that  joy  were  the  exaggerated 
honors  and  unmerited  praises  with  which  I  was  really  over- 
w^helmed. 

I  was,  at  first,  forced  to  receive  an  ovation  from  the  curates 
and  people  of  Longueuil,  and  the  surrounding  parishes,  when 
they  presented  to  me  my  portrait,  painted  by  the  artist  Hamel, 
which  filled  me  with  confusion,  for  I  felt  so  keenly  that  I  did 
not  deserve  such  honors!     But  it  was  still  v^orse  at  the  end  of 


464  FIFTY    YEARS    Ii\    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

May,  1849.  J"d&^  Mondelet  was  deputed  by  the  bishop  and 
the  priests  and  the  city  of  Montreal,  accompanied  by  15,000  peo- 
ple, to  present  me  with  a  gold  medal,  and  a  gift  of  $400. 

But  the  greatest  surprise  my  God  had  in  store  for  me,  was 
kept  for  the  end  of  June,  1850.  At  that  time,  I  was  deputed  by 
40,000  teetotalers,  to  present  a  petition  to  the  Parliament  of  Tor- 
onto, in  order  to  make  the  rumsellers  responsible  for  the  ravages 
caused  to  the  families  of  the  poor  drunkards  to  whom  they  had 
sold  their  poisonous  drugs.  The  House  of  Commons  having 
kindly  appointed  a  committee  of  ten  members  to  help  me  to 
frame  that  bill,  it  ^vas  an  easy  matter  to  have  it  pass  through  the 
three  branches.  I  was  present  when  they  discussed  and  accepted 
that  bill.  Napoleon  was  not  more  happy  when  he  won  the  bat- 
tle of  Austerlitz,  than  I  was  when  I  heard  that  my  pet  bill  had 
become  a  law,  and  that  hereafter,  the  innocent  victims  of  the 
drunken  father  or  husband  would  receive  an  indemnity  from  the 
landsharks  who  were  fattening  on  their  poverty  and  unspeakable 
miseries. 

But  what  was  my  surprise  and  consternation,  when,  immedi- 
ately after  the  passing  of  that  bill,  the  Hon.  Dewitt  rose  and 
proposed  that  a  public  expression  of  gratitude  should  be  given 
me  by  Parliament,  under  the  form  of  a  large  pecuniary  gift! 

His  speech  seemed  to  me  filled  with  such  exaggerated  eulog- 
iums,  that  I  would  have  been  tempted  to  think  it  was  mockery, 
had  I  not  known  that  the  Protestant  gentleman  was  one  of  my 
most  sincere  friends.  He  was  followed  by  the  Honorables  Bald- 
win and  Lafontaine,  Prime  Minister  at  the  time,  and  half  a  dozen 
other  members,  who  went  still  further  into  what  I  so  justly  con- 
sider the  regions  of  exaggeration. 

It  seemed  to  me  bordering  op  blasphemy  to  attribute  to  Chin- 
iquy,  a  reformation  which  was  so  clearly  the  "work  of  my  merci- 
ful God. 

The  speeches  on  that  subject  lasted  two  hours,  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  a  unanimous  vote  to  present  me  with  £500,  as  a  pub- 
lic testimony  of  the  gratitude  of  the  people  for  my  labors  in  the 
temperance  reform  of  Canada.  Previous  to  that,  the  bishops 
of   Quebec  and  Montreal  had  given    me   tokens   of   their  esteem 


TWO  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  TEETOTALERS.       465 

which,    though    unmerited,    had    been    better     appreciated    by 
me. 

When  in  May,  1S50,  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  my  Lord 
Turgeon,  sent  the  Rev.  Charles  Bailhirgeon,  curate  of  Quebec, 
to  Rome,  to  become  his  successor,  he  advised  him  to  come  to 
Longueuil  and  get  a  letter  from  me,  which  he  might  present  to 
the  Pope,  with  a  volume  of  my  "  Temperance  Manual."  I  com- 
plied with  his  request,  and  wrote  to  the  Pope.  Some  months 
later,  I  received  the  following  lines: 

Rome,  Aug.  idh,  1850. 
Rev.  Mr.  Chiniqlv: 

Sir  and  Dear  FRiicxui^Monday  the  12th,  was  the  first  opportunity 
given  me  to  have  a  private  audience  with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  I  presented 
him  your  book,  with  your  letter,  which  he  received,  I  will  not  say  with  that 
goodness  which  is  so  eminently  characteristic  of  him,  but  with  all  special 
marks  of  satisfaction  and  approbation,  while  charging  me  to  state  to  you 
tJiat  he  accords  his  apostolic  benediction  to  you  and  to  the  holy  work  of  tem- 
perance you  preach.  I  consider  myself  happy  to  have  had  to  offer  on  your 
behalf,  to  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  book  which,  after  it  had  done  so  much 
good  to  my  countrymen,  had  been  able  to  draw  from  his  venerable  lips,  such 
solemn  words  of  approbation  of  the  temperance  society  and  of  blessings  on 
those  who  are  its  apostles ;  and  it  is  also,  from  my  heart,  a  very  sweet  pleas- 
ure to  transmit  them  to  you. 

Your  Friend, 

Charles  Baillargeom, 

PHesi. 

A  short  time  before  I  received  that  letter  from  Rome,  my 
Lord  Bourget,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  had  officially  given  me  the 
title  of  "  Apostle  of  Temperance ;"  in  the  following  documents, 
which,  on  account  of  their  importance,  the  readers  will  probably 
like  to  have  its  original  Latin: 
"IGNATIUS  BOURGET,  Miseratione  Divina  et  St^.  Sedis  Apos- 

ToncE    Gratia,    Episcopus   Marianopolitanensis,  etc.,  etc., 

etc" 
"  Universis  praesentes  litteras  inspecturis,  notum  facimus  et  attestamur 
Venerabilem  Carolum  Chiniquy,  Temperantise  Apostolum,  Nostrae  Dio- 
ccecis  Sacerdotem,  Nobis  optime  notum  esse,  exploratumque  habere  ilium 
ritam  laudabilem  et  professione  Ecclesiastica  consonam  agere,  nullisque  ec- 
clesiasticis  censuris,  saltem  quae  ad  nostram  devenerunt  Notitiam  innodia- 
tum:  qua  propter,  per  viscera  Misericordi^  Dei   Nostri,  obsecramus  omnes 


^66  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

et  Singulos  Archiepiscopos,  Episcopos,  coeteras  que  Ecclesiae  dignitates  ad 
quos  ipsum  declinare  contingent,  ut  eum,  pro  Christi  Amore,  benigne  trac- 
tare  dignentur,  et  quando  cumque  ab  eo  fuerint  requisiti,  Sacrum  Missae 
Sacrificium  ipsi  celebrare,  nee  non  alia  munia  Ecclesiastica,  et  pietatis  opera 
exercere  permittant,  paratos  nos  ad  similia  et  majora  exhibentes :  In  quorum 
fidem,  praesentes  litteras  signo  sigilloque  nostris,  ac  Secretarii  Episopatus 
nostri  subscriptione  communitas  expediri  mandavimus  Marianopoli,  in 
CEkiibus  Nostris  Beati  Jacobi,  anno  millesimo  quinquagesimo.  Die  vero 
mensis  Junii  Sexta." 

"^IG.  Epus.   Marianopohtanensis." 
"J.  O.  PARE,  Can.  Skcrius." 

Translation. 
IGNATIUS  BOURGET,  by  the  Divine  Mercy  and  Grace  of  the 
Holy  Apostolic  See,  Bishop  of  Montreal. 
To  all  who  would  inspect  the  present  letters,  we  make  known  and  cer- 
tif  J  that  the  venerable  Charles  Chiniquy,  "  Apostle  of  Temperance,"  Priest 
of  our  Diocese,  is  very  well  known  to  us,  and  we  regard  him  as  proved,  to 
lead  a  praiseworthy  life,  and  agreeable  to  his  ecclesiastical  profession. 
Through  the  tender  mercies  of  our  God,  he  is  under  no  ecclesiastical  cen- 
sures, at  least,  which  have  come  to  our  knowledge. 

We  entreat  each  and  all.  Archbishop,  Bishop  and  other  dignitaries  of 
the  church,  to  whom  it  may  happen  that  he  may  go,  that  they,  for  the  love 
of  Christ,  entertain  him  kindly  and  courteously,  and  as  often  as  they  may  be 
asked  by  him,  permit  him  to  celebrate  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  and  ex- 
ercise other  ecclesiastical  privileges  of  piety.  Being  ourselves  ready  to  grant 
him  these  and  other  greater  privileges.  In  proof  of  this  we  have  ordered  the 
present  letters  to  be  prepared  under  our  sign  and  seal,  and  wdth  subscription 
of  our  secretary,  in  our  palace  of  the  blessed  James,  in  the  year  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  fifty,  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  month  of 
June. 

4<IGNATIUS.     Bishop  of  Marianopolis. 
By  order  of  the  most  illustrious  and  most  Reverend  Bishops  of  Mar- 
ianopolis, D.  D. 

J.  O.  Pare,  Canon, 

Secretary. 

No  words  from  my  pen  can  give  an  idea  of  the  distress  and 
shame  I  felt  when  these  unmerited  praises  and  public  honors  be- 
gan to  flow  upon  me.  For,  when  the  siren  voice  of  my  natural 
pride  was  near  to  deceive  me,  there  was  the  noise  of  a  sudden 
storm  in  my  conscience,  crying  with  a  louder  voice:  "Chiniquy, 
thou  art  a  sinner,  unworthy  of  such  honors." 

This  conflict  made  me  very  miserable.    I  said  to  myself,  "  Are 


TWO  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  TEETOTALERS.       467 

those  great  successes  due  to  my  merits,  my  virtues  and  my  elo- 
quence? No!  Surely  No!  They  are  due  to  the  great  mercy 
of  God  for  my  dear  country.  Will  I  not  forever  be  put  to 
shame  if  I  consent  to  these  flattering  voices  vv^hlch  come  to  me 
from  morning  till  night,  to  make  me  forget  that  to  my  God 
alone,  and  not  to  me,  must  be  given  the  praise  and  glory  of  that 
marvellous  reform?" 

These  praises  were  coming  every  day,  thicker  and  thicker, 
through  the  thousand  trumpets  of  the  press,  as  well  as  through 
the  addresses  daily  presented  to  me  from  the  places  which  had 
been  so  thorougly  reformed. 

Those  unmerited  honors  were  bestowed  on  me  by  multitudes 
who  came  in  carriages  and  on  horseback,  bearing  flags,  with 
bands  of  music,  to  receive  me  on  the  borders  of  their  parishes, 
where  the  last  parishes  had  just  brought  me  with  the  same  kind 
of  ovations. 

Sometimes,  the  roads  were  lined  on  both  sides,  by  thousands 
and  thousands  of  maple,  pine  or  spruce  trees,  which  they  had 
carried  from  distant  forests,  in  spite  of  all  my  protests. 

How  many  times  the  curates,  who  were  sitting  by  me  in  the 
best  carriages,  drawn  by  the  most  splendid  horses,  asked  me: 
"  Why  do  you  look  so  sad,  when  you  see  all  these  faces  beaming 
with  joy  ?  "  I  answered,  "  I  am  sad,  because  these  unmerited 
honors  these  good  people  do  me,  seems  to  be  the  shortest  way 
the  Devil  has  found  to  destroy  me." 

"  But  the  reform  you  have  brought  about  is  so  admirable  and 
so  complete— the  gomd  which  is  done  to  the  individuals,  as  well 
as  to  the  whole  country,  is  so  great  and  universal,  that  the  people 
want  to  show  you  their  gratitude." 

"  Do  you  know,  my  dear  friends,"  I  answered,  "  that  that 
marvellous  change  is  too  great  to  be  the  work  of  man?  Is  it  not 
evidently  the  work  of  God?  To  Him,  and  Him  alone,  then  we 
ought  to  give  the  praise  and  the  glory." 

My  constant  habit,  after  these  days  of  ovation,  was  to  pass  a 
part  of  the  night  in  prayer  to  God,  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  to 
all  the  saints  in  heaven,  to  prevent  me  from  being  hurt  by  these 
worldly  honors.     It  was  my  custom  then   to  read  the  passion  of 


468  FIFTY    YEARS    I.V    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Jesus  Christ,  from  his  triumphant  entry  into  Jerusalem  to  his 
death  on  the  cross,  in  order  to  prevent  this  shining  dust  from  ad- 
hering to  my  soul.  There  was  a  verse  of  the  gospel,  vv^hich  I 
used  to  repeat  very  often  in  the  midst  of  those  exihibitions  of  the 
vanities  of  this  world:  "  What  is  a  man  profited  if  he  should 
gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?"     (Matt.  16:  26). 

Another  source  of  serious  anxiety  for  me,  was  then  coming 
from  the  large  sums  of  money  constantly  flowing  from  the  hands 
of  my  too  kind  and  grateful  reformed  countrymen  into  mine. 

It  was  very  seldom  that  the  public  expression  of  gratitude 
presented  me  in  their  rhetorical  addresses  were  not  accompanied 
by  a  gift  of  from  $50  to  $500,  according  to  the  means  and  im- 
portance of  the  place.  Those  sums  multiplied  by  the  365  days 
of  the  year  would  have  soon  made  of  me  one  of  the  richest  men 
of   Canda. 

Had  I  been  able  to  trust  to  my  own  strength  against  the 
hungers  of  riches,  I  should  have  been  able,  easily,  to  accumulate 
a  sum  of  at  least  $7o,o<X).  with  which  I  might  have  done  a  great 
amount  of  good. 

But  I  confess,  that  when  in  the  presence  of  God,  I  went  to 
the  bottom  of  my  heart,  to  see  if  it  were  strong  enough  to  carry 
such  a  glittering  weight,  I  found  it,  by  far,  too  weak.  I  knew 
so  many  who,  though  evidently  stronger  than  I  was,  had  fallen 
on  the  way  and  perished  under  too  heavy  burden  of  their  treas- 
ures, that  I  feared  for  myself  at  the  sight  of  such  unexpected 
and  immense  fortune.  Besides,  when  only  18  years  old,  my  ven- 
erable and  dear  benefactor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  ^leprohon,  director  of 
the  College  of  Nicolet,  had  told  me  a  thing  I  never  had  forgot- 
ten: "  Chiniquy,"  he  said,  "  I  am  sure  you  will  be  what  we  call 
a  successful  man  in  the  world.  You  will  easily  make  your  way 
among  your  contemporaries;  and,  consequently,  it  is  probable 
that  you  will  have  inanj'  opportunities  of  becoming  rich.  But 
vyrhen  the  silver  and  gold  flow  into  your  hands,  do  not  pile  and 
keep  it.  For,  if  you  set  your  affections  on  it,  you  will  be  miser- 
able in  this  world  and  damned  in  the  next.  You  must  not  do 
like  the  fattened  hogs,  which  give  their  grease  only  after  their 
death.     Give  it  while  you   are   living.      Then  you    will    not   be 


TWO  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  TEETOTALERS.        460 

blessed  only  by  God  and  man,  but  you   will   be  blessed  by  your 
own  consience.     You  will  live  in  peace  and  die  in  joy," 

These  solemn  warnings  from  one  of  the  wisest  and  best 
friends  God  had  ever  given  me  when  young,  has  never  gone  out 
of  my  mind.  I  found  them  corroborated  in  every  page  of  that 
Bible  which  I  loved  so  much  and  studied  every  day.  I  found 
them  also  written,  by  God,  on  my  heart.  I  then,  on  my  knees, 
took  the  resolution,  without  making  an  absolute  vow  of  it,  to 
keep  only  what  I  wanted  for  my  daily  support  and  give  the  rest 
to  the  poor,  or  some  Christian  or  patriotic  object.  I  kept  my 
promise.  The  JC500  given  me  by  parliament  did  not  remain 
three  weeks  in  my  hands.  I  never  put  a  cent  in  Canada  in  the 
vaults  of  any  bank ;  and  when  I  left  for  Illinois,  in  the  fall  of 
i85i,*instead  of  taking  with  me  $70,000,  as  it  would  have  been 
very  easy,  had  I  been  so  minded,  I  had  hardly  $1,500  in  hand, 
the  price  of  a  part  of  my  library,  which  was  too  heavy  to  be 
carried  so  far  away. 


Chapter  XLV. 

mr  SEBMON  ON  THE  VIRGIN  MABY-COMPIilMENTS  OF  BISHOP 
PRINCE -STORMY  NIGHT -MY  EIRST  SERIOUS  DOUBTS 
ABOUT  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME— PAINFUL  DISCUSSION  "WTTH 
THE  BISHOP— THE  HOLY  FATHERS  OPPOSED  TO  THE  MOD- 
ERN WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN- THE  BRANCHES  OF  THE 
VINE. 

THE  15th  of  August,  1850,  I  preached  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Montreal,  on  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary's  2:)ovver  in  heaven, 
when  interceding  for  sinners.  I  was  sincerely  devoted  to  the 
Virgin  Mary.  Nothing  seemed  to  me  more  natural  than  to 
pray  to  her,  and  rely  on  her  protection.  The  object  of  my  ser- 
mon was  to  show  that  Jesus  Christ  cannot  refuse  any  of  the 
petitions  presented  to  him  by  his  mother;  that  she  has  always 
obtained  the  favors  she  asked  her  Son,  Jesus,  to  grant  to  her 
devotees.  Of  course,  my  address  was  more  sentimental  than 
scriptural,  as  it  is  the  style  among  the  priests  of  Rome.  But  I 
was  honest;  and  I  sincerely  believed  what  I  said. 

"  Who  among  you,  my  dear  brethren,"  I  said  to  the  people, 
*'will  refuse  any  of  the  reasonable  requests  of  a  beloved  mother? 
Who  w^ill  break  and  sadden  her  loving  heart  when,  with  suppli- 
cating voice  and  tears,  she  presents  to  you  a  petition  which  it  is 
in  your  power,  nay,  to  your  interests,  to  grant?  For  my  own 
part,  were  my  beloved  mother  still  living,  I  would  prefer  to  have 
my  right  hand  crushed  and  burned  into  cinders,  to  have  my 
tongue  cut,  than  to  say.  No!  to  my  mother,  asking  me  any  favor 
which  it  was  in  my  power  to  bestow. 

"  These  are  the  sentiments  which  the  God  of  Sinai  wanted 
to  engrave  in  the  very  hearts  of  humanity,  when  giving  his  laws 
to  Moses,  in  the  midst  of  lightning  and  thunders,  and  these  are 
the  sentiments  which  the  God  of  the  Gospel  wanted  to  impress 

470 


MY    SERMON    ON    THE    VIRGIN    MARY. 


471 


on  our  souls  by  the  shedding  of  his  blood  on  Calvary.  These 
sentiments  of  filial  respect  and  obedience  to  our  mothers, 
Christ  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Mary,  practiced  to 
perfection.  Although  God  and  man,  he  was  still  in  perfect  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  his  mother,  of  which  he  makes  a  law  to 
each  of  us. 

"  The  Gospel  says,  in  reference  to  his  parents,  Joseph  and 
Mary,  'He  was  subject  unto  them.'  (Luke  2:51.)  What  a 
grand  and  shining  revelation  we  have  in  these  few  short  words: 
'Jesus  was  subject  unto  Mary!'  Is  it  not  written  in  the  same 
Gospel,  that  'Jesus  is  the  same  to-day,  as  he  ^vas  yesterday,  and 
will  be  forever? '  He  has  not  changed.  He  is  still  the  Son  of 
Mary,  as  he  was  when  only  twelve  years  old. 

"  This  is  why  our  holy  Church,  which  is  the  pillar  and  foun- 
dation of  Truth,  invites  you  and  me,  to-day,  to  put  an  unbounded 
confidence  in  her  intercession.  Remembering  that  Jesus  has 
always  granted  the  petitions  presented  to  him  by  his  divine 
mother,  let  us  put  our  petitions  in  her  hands,  if  we  want  to  re- 
ceive the  favors  we  are  in  need  of. 

"  The  second  reason  why  we  must  all  go  to  Mary,  for  the 
favors  we  want  from  heaven,  is  that  we  are  sinners — rebels  in 
the  sight  of  God.  Jesus  Christ  is  our  Saviour.  Yes!  but  he  is 
also  our  God,  infinitely  just,  infinitely  holy.  He  hates  our  sins 
with  an  infinite  hatred.  He  abhors  our  rebellions  with  an  infin- 
ite, a  godly  hatred.  If  we  had  loved  and  served  him  faithfully 
we  might  go  to  him,  not  only  with  the  hope,  but  with  the  assur- 
ance of  being  welcomed.  But  we  have  forgotten  and  offended 
Him;  we  have  trampled  His  laws  under  our  feet;  we  have  joined 
with  those  who  nailed  Him  on  the  cross,  pierced  his  heart  with 
the  lance,  and  shed  His  blood  to  the  last  drop.  We  belong  to 
the  crowd  which  mocked  at  His  tortures,  and  insulted  Him  at 
His  death.  How  can  we  dare  to  look  at  Him  and  meet  His 
eyes?  Must  we  not  tremble  in  his  presence?  Must  we  not  fear 
before  that  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  whom  we  have  wounded 
and  nailed  to  the  cross? 

"  Where  is  the  rebel  who  does  not  shiver,  when  he  is  dragged 
to  the  feet  of  the  mighty  Prince  against  whom  he  has  drawn  the 


472  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

sword?  What  will  he  do  if  he  wants  to  obtain  pardon?  Will 
he  go  himself  and  speak  to  that  offended  Majesty?  No!  But 
he  looks  around  the  throne  to  see  if  he  can  find  some  one  of  the 
great  officers  and  friends,  or  some  powerful  and  influential  per- 
son, through  whose  intercession  he  can  obtain  pardon.  If  he 
finds  any  such,  he  goes  immediately  to  him,  puts  his  petitions 
into  their  hands,  and  they  go  to  the  foot  of  the  throne  to  plead 
for  the  rebel,  and  the  favor  which  would  have  been  indignantly 
refused  to  the  guilty  subject,  had  he  dared  to  speak  himself,  is 
granted,  when  it  is  asked  by  a  faithful  officer,  a  kind  friend,  a 
dear  sister  or  a  beloved  mother. 

"This  is  why  our  holy  church,  speaking  through  her  infallible 
supreme  pontiff,  the  A'icar  of  Christ,  Gregory  XVI.,  has  told  us,  in 
the  most  solemn  manner,  that  'Mary  is  the  only  hope  of  sinners.' 

Winding  up  my  arguments,  I  added:  "We  are  those  insolent, 
ungrateful  rebels.  Jesus  is  the  King  of  Kings  against  whom 
we  have,  a  thousand  times,  risen  in  rebellion.  He  has  a  thousand 
good  reasons  to  refuse  our  petitions,  if  we  are  impudent  enough 
to  speak  to  Him  ourselves.  But  look  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
offended  King,  and  behold  his  dear  and  divine  mother.  She  is 
your  mother  also.  For  it  is  to  every  one  of  us,  as  well  as  to 
John,  that  Christ  said  on  the  cross,  speaking  of  Mary,  '  Behold 
your  Mother.' 

"Jesus  has  never  refused  any  favor  asked  by  that  Queen  of 
Heaven.  He  cannot  rebuke  His  Mother.  Let  us  go  to  her;  let 
us  ask  her  to  be  our  advocate  and  plead  our  cause,  and  she  will 
do  it.  Let  us  suppliantly  request  her  to  ask  for  our  pardon,  and 
she  will  get  it." 

I  then  sincerely  took  these  glittering  sophisms  for  the  true 
religion  of  Christ,  as  all  the  priests  and  people  of  Rome  are 
bound  to  take  them  to-day,  and  presented  them  with  all  the 
earnestness  of  an  honest  though  deluded  mind. 

My  sermon  had  made  a  visible  and  deep  impression.  Bishop 
Prince,  coadjutor  of  my  Lord  Bourget,  who  was  among  my 
hearers,  thanked  and  congratulated  me  for  the  good  effect  it 
would  have  on  the  people,  and  I  sincerely  thought  I  had  said 
w^hat  was  true  and  right  before  God. 


MY    SERMON    ON    THE    VIRGIN    MARY. 


473 


But  when  night  came,  before  going  to  bed,  I  took  my  Bible 
as  usual,  knelt  down  before  God,  in  the  neat  little  room  I  occu- 
pied in  the  bishop's  palace,  and  read  the  twelfth  chapter  of 
Matthew,  with  a  praying  heart  and  a  sincere  desire  to  understand 
it,  and  be  benefitted  thereby.  Strange  to  say!  when  I  reached 
the  40th  verse,  I  felt  a  mysterious  awe,  as  if  I  had  entered  for 
the  first  time,  into  a  new  and  most  holy  land.  Though  I  had 
read  that  verse,  and  the  following,  many  times,  they  came  to  my 
mind  with  a  freshness  and  newness  as  if  I  had  never  seen  them 
before.  There  was  a  lull  in  my  mind  for  a  few  moments.  Slowly, 
and  with  breathless  attention,  supreme  veneration  and  respect,  I 
read  the  history  of  that  visit  of  Mary  to  the  sacred  spot  where 
Jesus,  my  Saviour,  was  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  feed- 
ing his  happy  hearers  with  the  bread  of  life. 

When  I  contemplated  that  blessed  Mary,  whom  I  loved,  as 
so  tenderly  approaching  the  house  where  she  was  to  meet  her 
divine  Son,  who  had  been  so  long  absent  from  her,  my  heart 
suddenly  throbbed  in  sympathy  with  hers.  I  felt  as  if  sharing 
her  unspeakable  joy  at  every  step  which  brought  her  nearer  to 
her  adorable  and  beloved  son.  What  tears  had  she  not  shed 
when  Jesus  had  left  her  alone,  in  her  poor,  now,  and  cheerless 
home,  that  He  might  preach  the  gospel  in  the  distant  places, 
where  his  Father  had  sent  Him!  With  Jesus  in  her  humble 
home,  was  she  not  more  happy  than  the  greatest  queen  on  her 
throne!  Did  she  not  possess  a  treasure  more  precious  than  all 
the  world!  How  sweet  to  her  ears  were  the  words  she  had 
heard  from  His  lips! 

How  lovely  the  face  of  the  most  beautiful  among  the  sons  of 
men!  How  happy  she  must  have  felt  when  she  heard  that  he 
was,  now,  near  enough  to  allow  her  to  go  and  see  Him!  How 
quick  were  her  steps!  How  cheerful  and  interesting  the  meet- 
ing! How  the  beloved  Saviour  will  repay  by  His  respectful 
and  divine  love  to  his  mother,  the  trouble  and  the  fatigue  of  her 
long  journey !  My  heart  beat  with  joy  at  the  privilege  of  wit- 
nessing that  interview,  and  of  hearing  the  respectful  words  Jesus 
would  address  to  His  mother! 

With  heart  and  soul  throbbing  with  these  feelings,!  slowly  read. 


474 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


"  While  he  talked  to  the  people,  behold  His  mother  and  His 
brethren,  stood  without  desiring  to  speak  with  Him. 

"Then   one  said   unto   Him:      Behold,  thy    mother  and  tb 
brethren  stand  without  desiring  to  speak  with  thee. 

"  But  he  answered,  and  said  unto  him  that  told  Him:  Whc 
is  my  mother?  Who  are  my  brethren? 

"  And  he  stretched  forth  His  hands  towards  His  disciples,  ane 
said :     Behold  my  mother  and  brethren ! 

"  For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  it, 
Heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  sister  and  mother." 

I  had  hardly  finished  reading  the  last  verse,  when  big  drops 
of  sweat  began  to  flow  from  my  face,  my  heart  beat  with  a  tre- 
mendous speed,  and  I  came  near  fainting ;  I  sat  in  my  large  arm- 
chair, expecting  every  minute  to  fall  on  the  floor.  Those  alone 
who  have  stood  several  hours  at  the  fall  of  the  marvellous  Niag- 
ara, heard  the  thundering  noise  of  its  waters,  and  felt  the  shaking 
of  the  rocks  under  their  feet,  can  have  any  idea  of  what  I  felt  in 
that  hour  of  agony. 

A  voice,  the  voice  of  my  conscience,  whose  thunders  were 
like  the  voice  of  a  thousand  Niagaras,  was  telling  me:  "Do  you 
not  see  that  you  have  preached  a  sacrilegious  lie,  this  morning, 
when,  from  the  pulpit,  you  said  to  your  ignorant  and  deluded 
people,  that  Jesus  always  granted  the  petitions  of  His  mother, 
Mary?  Are  you  not  ashamed  to  deceive  yourself,  and  deceive 
your  poor  countrymen  with  such  silly  falsehoods?" 

Reader,  read  again  these  words!  and  understand  that,  far  from 
granting  all  the  petitions  of  Mary,  Jesus  has  always,  except  when 
a  child,  said  "No!"  to  her  requests.  He  has  always  rebuked 
her,  when  she  asked  him  anything  in  public!  Here  she  comes 
to  ask  Him  a  favor  before  the  whole  people.  It  is  the  easiest,  the 
most  natural  favor  that  a  mother  ever  asked  of  her  son.  It  is  a 
favor  that  a  son  has  never  refused  to  a  mother.  He  answers  by 
a  rebuke,  a  public  and  solemn  rebuke!  Is  it  through  want  of 
love  and  respect  for  Mary  that  He  gave  her  that  rebuke?  No! 
Never  a  son  loved  and  respected  a  mother  as  He  did.  But  it 
was  a  solemn  protest  against  the  blasphemous  worship  of  Mary, 
as  practiced  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 


MY    SERMON    ON    THE    VIRGIN    MARY.  475 

I  felt,  at  once,  so  bewildered  and  confounded,  by  the  voice, 
which  was  shaking  my  very  bones,  that  I  thought  it  was  the 
devil's  voice;  and,  for  a  moment,  I  feared  less  I  was  possessed  of 
»  demon. 

"  My  God,"  I  cried,  "have  mercy  on  me!  Come  to  my  help! 
Save  me  from  my  enemy's  hands!" 

As  quick  as  lightning,  the  answer  came:  "  It  is  not  Satan's 
voice  you  hear.  It  is  I,  thy  Saviour  and  thy  God,  w^ho  speaks 
to  thee.  Read  what  Alark,  Luke,  and  John  tell  you  about  the 
way  I  received  her  petitions,  from  the  very  day  I  began  to  work, 
and  speak  publicly  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the 
world." 

These  cries  of  my  awakening  intelligence  were  sounding  in 
my  ears  for  more  than  one  hour,  before  I  consented  to  obey  them. 
At  last,  with  a  trembling  hand,  and  a  distressed  mind,  I  took  ray 
Bible  and  read  in  St.  Mark,  chapter  iii:  verses  31,  32,  33,  34 
and  35:  "There  came  then  his  brethren  and  his  mother,  and 
standing  without,  sent  unto  him,  and  calling  him.  And  the 
multitude  sat  about  him  and  they  said  unto  him:  Behold  thy 
mother  and  thy  brethren  without,  sending  for  thee.  And  he 
answered  them,  saying:  who  is  my  mother  and  my  brethren? 

"  And  he  looked  round  about  on  them  which  sat  about  him, 
and  said :  Behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren.  For  whosoever 
shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother,  my  sister,  and 
my  mother." 

The  reading  of  these  words  acted  upon  me  as  the  shock  of  a 
sword  going  through  and  through  the  body  of  one  who  had 
already  been  mortally  wounded.  I  felt  absolutely  confounded. 
The  voice  continued  to  sound  in  my  ears :  "  Do  you  not  see  you 
have  presented  a  blasphemous  lie,  every  time  you  said  that  Jesu* 
always  granted  the  petitions  of  his  mother?" 

I  remained  again,  a  considerable  time,  bewildered,  not  know- 
ing how  to  fight  down  thoughts  which  were  so  mercilessly  shak- 
ing my  faith,  and  demolishing  the  respect  I  had  kept,  till  then, 
for  my  church.  After  more  than  half  an  hour  of  vain  struggle 
to  silence  these  thoughts,  it  eame  to  my  mind  that  St.  Luke  had 
narrated  this  interview  of  Mary   and  Jesus   in  a  very  different 


476  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

way.  I  opened  the  holy  book  again  to  read  the  eighth  chapter. 
But  how  shall  I  find  words  to  express  my  distress  when  I  saw  that 
the  rebuke  of  Jesus  Christ  was  expressed  in  a  still  sterner  way  by 
St.  Luke  than  by  the  two  other  evangelists! 

"  Then  came  to  him  his  mother  and  brethren,  and  could  not 
come  at  him  for  the  press. 

"And  it  was  told  him:  Thy  mother  and  thy  brethren  stand 
w^ithout,  desiring  to  see  thee. 

"And  he  answered,  and  said  unto  them :  my  mother  and  breth- 
ren are  those  who  will  hear  the  word  of  God  and  do  it."  (Luke 
viii:    19,  20,  21.) 

It  then  seemed  to  me  as  if  those  three  Evangelists  said  to 
me:  "How  dare  you  preach,  with  your  apostate  and  lying 
church,  that  Jesus  has  always  granted  all  the  petitions  of  Mary, 
when  we  were  ordered  by  God  to  write  and  proclaim  that  all 
the  public  petitijons  she  had  presented  to  him,  when  working  as 
the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  had  been  answered 
by  a  public  rebuke  ? " 

What  could  I  answer?  How  could  I  stand  the  rebuke  of 
these  three  Evangelists?  Trembling  from  head  to  foot,  I  fell 
upon  my  knees,  crying  to  the  Virgin  Mary  to  come  to  my  help 
and  pray  that  I  might  not  succumb  to  this  temptation,  and  lose 
my  faith  and  confidence  in  her.  But  the  more  I  prayed,  the 
louder  the  voice  seemed  to  say :  "  Ho\v  dare  you  preach  that  Jesos 
has  always  granted  the  petitions  of  Mary,  when  we  tell  you  the 
contrary  by  the  order  of  God  himself? " 

My  desolation  became  such,  that  a  cold  sweat  covered  mj 
whole  frame  again;  my  head  was  aching,  and  I  think  I  would 
hpve  fainted  had  I  not  been  released  by  a  torrent  of  tears.  In 
my  distress,  I  cried:  "Oh!  my  God!  my  God!  look  down  upon 
me  in  thy  mercy;  strengthen  my  faith  in  thy  Holy  Church! 
Grant  me  to  follow  her  voice  and  obey  her  commands  with  more 
and  more  fidelity ;  she  is  thy  beloved  church.  She  cannot  err. 
She  cannot  be  an  apostate  church."  But  in  vain  I  wept  and 
cried  for  help.  My  whole  being  was  filled  with  dismay  and 
terror  from  the  voices  of  the  three  witnesses,  who  were  crying 
louder  and  louder. 


MY    SERMON    ON    THE    VIRGIN    MARY.  477 

"  How  dare  you  preach  that  Christ  has  always  granted  the 
petitions  of  Mary,  when  the  gospels,  written  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teli  you  so  clearly  the  contrary?" 

When  I  had,  in  vain,  wept,  prayed,  cried,  and  struggled  from 
ten  at  night  till  three  in  the  morning;  the  miraculous  change  of 
water  into  wine,  by  Christ,  at  the  request  of  his  mother,  suddenly 
came  to  my  mind.  I  felt  a  momentary  relief  from  my  terrible 
distress,  by  the  hope  that  I  could  prove  to  myself  that,  in  this 
case  the  Saviour  had  obeyed  the  demands  of  his  holy  mother.  I 
eagerly  opened  my  Bible  again  and  read: 

"  And  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriage  in  Cana,  of  Galileee, 
and  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  there. 

"  And  both  Jesus  was  called,  and  his  disciples,  to  the  marriage. 
And  when  they  wanted  wine,  the  mother  of  Jesus  said  unto 
him,  they  have  no  wine.  Jesus  saith  unto  her:  Woman,  what 
have  I  to  do  with  thee?     Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come. 

"  His  mother  saith  unto  the  servants:  whatsoever  he  saith  unto 
you,  do  it."      (John  ii :  2.) 

Till  that  hour,  I  had  always  accepted  that  text  in  the  sense 
given  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  proving  that  the  very  first 
miracle  of  Jesus  Christ  was  wrought  at  the  request  of  his  mother. 
And  I  was  preparing  myself  to  answer  the  three  mysterious 
witnesses:  "Here  is  the  proof  that  you  are  three  devils,  and  not 
three  evangelists,  when  you  tell  me  that  Jesus  has  never  granted 
the  petitions  of  his  mother,  except  when  a  child.  Here  is  the 
glorious  title  of  Mary  to  my  confidence  in  her  intercession;  here 
is  the  seal  of  her  irresistible  superhuman  power  over  her  divine 
son ;  here  is  the  undeniable  evidence  that  Jesus  cannot  refuse 
anvthing  asked  by  his  divine  mother!"  But  when,  armed  with 
these  explanations  of  the  church,  I  was  preparing  to  meet  what 
Matthew,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke  had  just  told  me,  a  sudden  dis- 
tressing thought  came  to  my  mind ;  and  this  thought  was  as  if 
I  heard  the  three  \vitnesses  saying :  "  How  can  you  be  so  blind 
as  not  to  see  that  instead  of  being  a  favor  granted  to  Mary,  this 
first  miracle  is  the  first  opportunity  chosen  by  Christ  to  protest 
against  her  intercession.  It  is  a  solemn  warning  to  Mary  never 
to  ask  anything  from  him,  and  to  us,  never  to  put  any  confidence 


478  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

in  her  requests.  Here,  Mary,  evidently  full  of  compassion  for 
those  poor  people,  who  had  not  the  means  to  provide  the  wine, 
for  the  guests  w^ho  had  come  with  Jesus,  w^ants  her  Son  to  give 
them  the  wine  they  wanted.  How  does  Christ  answer  her 
requests?  He  answers  it  by  a  rebuke,  a  most  solemn  rebuke. 
Instead  of  saying:  "Yes,  mother,  I  will  do  as  you  wish,"  he 
says,  "Woman,  w^hat  have  I  to  do  with  thee?"  which  clearly  means 
"Woman,  thou  hast  nothing  to  do  in  this  matter.  1  do  not  want 
you  to  speak  to  me  of  the  bridegroom's  distress.  It  was  my  de- 
sire to  come  to  their  help  and  show  my  divine  power.  I  do  not 
want  you  to  put  yourself  between  the  wants  of  humanity  and 
me.  I  do  not  want  the  world  to  believe  that  you  had  any  right, 
any  power  or  influence  over  me,  or  more  compassion  on  the 
miseries  of  man  than  I  have.  Is  it  not  to  me,  and  me  alone,  the  lost 
children  of  Adam  must  look  to  be  saved?  Woman,  what  have 
I  to  do  with  thee  in  my  great  work  of  saving  this  perishing 
world?  Nothing,  absolutely  nothing.  I  know  what  I  have  to 
do  to  fulfill,  not  your  will,  but  my  Father's  will!" 

This  is  what  Jesus  meant  by  the  solemn  rebuke  given  to 
Mary.  He  wanted  to  banish  all  idea  of  her  ever  becoming  an 
intercessor  between  man  and  Christ.  He  wanted  to  protest 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  it  is  through 
Mary  that  He  will  bestow  His  favor,  to  His  disciples,  and  Mary 
understood  it  well  when  she  said,  "  Whatsoever  He  saith  unto 
you,  do  it."  Never  come  to  me,  but  go  to  Him.  "  For  there  is  no 
other  name  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved." 

Every  one  of  these  thoughts  passed  over  my  distressed  soul 
like  a  hurricane.  Every  sentence  was  like  a  flash  of  lightning 
in  a  dark  night.  I  was  like  the  poor  dismantled  ship  suddenly 
overtaken  by  the  tempest  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean. 

Till  the  dawn  of  day,  I  felt  powerless  against  the  efforts  of 
God  to  pull  down  and  demolish  the  huge  fortress  of  sophisms, 
falsehoods,  idolatries,  which  Rome  had  built  around  my  soul. 
What  a  fearful  thing  it  is  to  fight  against  the  Lord! 

During  the  long  hours  of  that  night,  my  God  was  contend- 
ing with  me,  and  I  was  struggling  against  Him.  But  though 
brought  down  to  the  dust;  I  was  not  conquered.      Aly   under- 


MY    SERMON    ON     THE    VIRGIN    MARY. 


479 


Standing  was  very  nearly  convinced ;  but  my  rebellious  and  prood 
will  was  not  yet  ready  to  yield. 

The  chains  by  which  I  was  tied  to  the  feet  of  the  idols  of 
Rome,  though  rudely  shaken,  were  not  yet  broken.  However, 
to  say  the  truth,  my  views  about  the  worship  of  Mary  had  re- 
ceived a  severe  shock,  and  were  much  modified.  That  night 
had  been  sleepless;  and  in  the  morning  my  eyes  were  red,  and 
my  face  swollen  with  my  tears. 

When,  at  breakfast,  Bishop  Prince,  who  was  sitting  by  me, 
aekcd:  "Are  you  sick?  Your  eyes  are  as  if  you  had  wept  all 
night?" 

"Your  lordship  is  not  mistaken,  I  have  wept  the  whole 
night!"     I  answered. 

"Wept  all  the  night!"  replied  the  bishop.  "Might  I  know 
the  cause  of  your  sorrow?" 

"  Yes,  my  lord.  You  can,  you  must  know  it.  But  please 
come  to  your  room.  What  I  have  to  say  is  of  such  a  private 
and  delicate  nature,  that  I  want  to  be  alone  with  your  lordship, 
when  opening  my  mind  to  the  cause  of  my  tears." 

Bishop  Prince,  then  coadjutor  of  Bishop  Bourget  and  late 
bishop  of  St.  Hyacinthe,  where  he  became  insane  in  1858  and 
died  in  i860,  had  been  my  personal  friend  from  the  time  I  en- 
tered the  college  at  Nicolet,  where  he  was  professor  of  Rhetoric. 
He  very  often  came  to  confession  to  me,  and  had  taken  a  lively 
interest  in  my  labors  on  temperance. 

When  alone  with  him,  I  said:  "My  lord,  I  thank  you  for 
vour  kindness  in  allowing  me  to  unburden  my  heart  to  you.  I 
have  passed  the  most  horrible  night  of  my  life.  Temptations 
against  our  holy  religion  such  as  I  never  had  before,  have  as- 
sailed me  all  night.  Your  lordship  remembers  the  kind  words 
you  addressed  to  me,  yesterday,  about  the  sermon  I  preached. 
But,  last  night,  very  different  things  came  to  my  mind,  which 
have  changed  the  joys  of  yesterday  into  the  most  unspeakable 
desolation.  You  congratulated  me,  yesterday,  on  the  manner  I 
had  proved  that  Jesus  had  always  granted  the  request  of  His 
mother,  and  that  He  cannot  refuse  any  of  her  petitions.  The 
whole  night  it  has  been  told  to  me   that  this  was  a  blasphemous 


480  FIFTY    YEARS    IN     THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

lie,  and  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  themselves,  I  have  been  nearly 
convinced  that  you  and  I,  nay,  that  our  holy  church,  are  preach- 
ing a  blasphemous  falsehood  every  time  we  proclaim  the  doc- 
trines of  the  worship  of  Mary  as  the  gospel  truth." 

The  poor  bishop,  thunderstruck  by  this  simple  and  honest 
declaration,  quickly  answered:  "I  hope  you  have  not  yielded 
to  these  temptations,  and  that  you  will  not  become  a  Protestant 
as  so  many  of  your  enemies  whisper  to  each  other." 

"  It  is  my  hope,  my  lord,  that  our  merciful  God  will  keep 
me,  to  the  end  of  my  life,  a  dutiful  and  faithful  priest  of  our 
holy  church.  However,  I  cannot  conceal  from  your  lordship 
that  my  faith  was  terribly  shaken,  last  night. 

"As  a  bishop,  your  portion  of  light  and  wisdom  must  be 
greater  than  mine.  I  hope  you  wifl  grant  me  some  of  the  lights 
which  still  brightly  shine  before  your  eyes:  I  have  never  been 
so  much  in  need  of  the  counsels  of  your  piety  and  the  help  0* 
your  spiritual  knowledge  as  to-day.  Please  help  me  to  come  ovr' 
from  the  intellectual  slough  in  which  I  spent  the  night. 

"  Your  lordship  has  congratulated  me  for  having  said  thai 
Jesus  Christ  has  always  granted  the  petitions  of  Mary.  Please 
tell  me  how  you  reconcile  that  proposition  with  this  text,"  and  I 
handed  him  the  gospel  of  Matthew:  pointing  to  the  last  five 
verses  of  the  twelfth  chapter,  I  requestied  him  to  read  them  aloud." 

He  read  them  and  said :  "  Now  what  do  you  want  from 
me?" 

"  My  lord,  I  want  respectfully  to  ask  you  how  can  we  say 
that  Jesus  has  always  granted  the  requests  of  His  mother,  when 
this  evangelist  tells  us  that  He  never  granted  her  petitions,  when 
acting  in  His  capacity  of  Saviour  of  the  world. 

"  Must  we  not  fear  that  we  proclaim  a  blasphemous  false- 
hood when  we  support  a  proposition  directly  opposed  to  the 
gospel  ? " 

The  poor  bishop  seemed  absolutely  confounded  by  this  sim- 
ple and  honest  question.  I  also  felt  confused  and  sorry  for  his 
humiliation.  Beginning  a  phrase,  he  would  give  it  up;  trying 
arguments,  he  could  not  push  to  their  conclusion.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  he  had  never  read  that  text,  or  if  he  had  read  it,  he,  like 


MV    SERMON    OX    THE     \'IRGIN    MARY.  481 

myself  and  the  rest  of  the  priests  of  Rome,  had  never  noted 
that  they  entirely  demolish  the  stupendous  impostures  of  the 
church  in  reference  to  the  worship  of  Mary. 

In  order  to  help  him  out  of  the  inextricable  difficulties  into 
which  I  had  once  pushed  pushed  him,  I  said:  "  My  lord,  will  you 
allow  me  to  put  a  few  more  questions  to  you?" 

"•  With  pleasure,"  he  answered. 

Well !  my  lord,  who  came  to  this  world  to  save  you  and  nve? 
Is  it  Jesus  or  Mary  ?  " 

"  It  is  Jesus,"  answered  the  bishop. 

"Who  was  called,  and  is,  in  reality,  the  sinner's  best  friend? 
W^as  it  Jesus  or  Mary?  " 

The  bishop  answered:  "  It  was  Jesus." 

"  Now  please  allow  me  a  few  more  questions." 

"■  When  Jesus  and  Mary  were  on  earth,  whose  heart  was  most 
devoted  to  sinners?  Who  loved  them  with  a  more  efficacious 
iind  saving  love;  was  it  Jesus  or  Mary?" 

"•Jesus,  being  God,  His  love  was  evidently  more  efficacious 
and  saving  than  Marv's,"  answered  the  bishop. 

"■  In  the  days  of  Jesus  and  Mary,  to  whom  did  Jesus  invite 
sinners  to  go  for  their  salvation;  was  it  to  himself  or  Mary?" 
I  asked  again. 

The  bishop  answered:  "Jesus  has  said  to  all  sinners,  'Come 
unto  me.'     He  never  said  come  or  go  to  Mary." 

"  Have  we  any  examples,  in  the  Scriptures,  of  sinners,  who, 
fearing  to  be  rebuked  by  Jesus,  have  gone  to  Mary  and  obtained 
access  to  him  through  her,  and  been  saved  through  her  interces- 
sions?" 

"I  do  not  remember  of  any  such  sases,"  replied  the  bishop. 
I  then  asked :  "  To  whom  did  the  penitent  thief,  on  the  cross, 
address  himself  to  be  saved ;  was  it  to  Jesus  or  to  Mary  ?" 

"  It  was  to  Jesus,"  replied  the  bishop. 

"  Did  that  penitent  thief  do  well  to  address  himself  to  Jesus 
on  the  cross,  rather  than  to  Mary  who  was  at  His  feet?  "  said  I. 

"  Surely  he  did  better,"  answered  the  bishop. 

"  Now,  my  lord,  allow  me  only  one  question  more.  You 
told  me  that  Jesus  loved  sinners,  when  on  earth,  infinitely  more 


4iS2  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

than  Mary ;  that  he  was  infinitely  more  their  true  friend  than  she 
was;  that  he  infinitely  took  more  interest  in  their  salvation,  than 
Mary ;  that  it  was  infinitely  better  for  sinners  to  go  to  Jesus  than 
to  Mary,  to  be  saved ;  will  you  please  tell  me  if  you  think  that 
Jesus  has  lost,  in  heaven,  since  he  is  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of 
his  Father,  any  of  his  divine  and  infinite  superiority  of  love  and 
mercy  over  Mary  for  sinners:  and  can  you  show  me  that  what 
Jesus  has  lost  has  been  gained  by  Mary  ?" 

"  I  do  not  think  that  Christ  has  lost  any  of  his  love,  and 
power  to  save  us,  now  that  he  is  in  heaven,"  answered  the  bishop. 

"  Now,  my  lord,  if  Jesus  is  still  my  best  friend;  my  most 
powerful,  merciful  and  loving  friend,  why  should  I  not  go 
directly  to  him?  Why  should  we,  for  a  moment,  go  to  any  one 
who  is  infinitely  inferior,  in  power,  love  and  mercy,  for  our 
salvation?  " 

The  bishop  was  stunned  by  my  questions. 

He  stammered  some  unintelligible  answer,  excused  himself 
for  not  being  able  to  remain  any  longer,  on  account  of  some 
pressing  business;  and  extending  his  hand  to  me  before  leaving 
he  said:  "You  will  find  an  answer  to  your  questions  and  diffi- 
culties in  the  Holy  Fathers." 

"Can  you  lend  me  the  Holy  Fathers,  my  lord  ?" 

He  replied:  "No  sir,  I  have  them  not." 

This  last  answer  from  my  bishop,  shook  my  faith  to  its  foun- 
dation, and  left  my  mind  in  a  state  of  great  distress.  With  the 
sincere  hope  of  finding  in  the  Holy  Fathers,  some  explanations 
which  would  dispel  my  painful  doubts,  I  immediately  went  to 
Mr.  Fabre,  the  great  bookseller  of  Montreal,  who  got  me,  from 
France,  the  splendid  edition  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  by  Migne.  I 
studied  with  the  utmost  attention,  every  page  where  I  might 
find  what  they  taught  of  the  worship  of  Mary,  and  the  doctrines 
that  Jesus  had  never  refused  any  of  her  prayers. 

What  was  my  desolation,  my  shame  and  my  surprise,  to  find 
that  the  Holy  Fathers  of  the  first  six  centuries  had  never  advocated 
the  worship  of  Mary,  and  that  the  many  eloquent  pages  on  the 
power  of  Mary  in  heaven,  and  her  love  for  sinners,  found  in 
every  page  of  my  theologians,   and   other  ascetic  books   I    had 


MY    SERMON    ON    THE    VIRGIN    MARY.  483 

read  till  then,  were  but  impudent  lies;  additions  interpolated  in 
their  works  a  hundred  years  after  their  death. 

When  discovering  these  forgeries,  under  the  name  of  the 
Holy  Fathers,  of  which  my  church  was  guilty,  how  many  times, 
in  the  silence  of  my  long  nights  of  study  and  prayerful  medita- 
tions, did  I  hear  a  voice  telling  me:  "  Come  out  of  Babylon." 

But  where  could  I  go.''  Out  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  where 
could  I  find  that  salvation  which  was  to  be  found  only  within 
her  walls  ?  I  said  to  myself,  "  Surely  there  are  some  errors  in 
my  dear  church." 

"  The  dust  of  ages  may  have  fallen  on  the  precious  gold  of 
her  treasures,  but  will  I  not  find  still  more  damnable  errors 
among  those  hundreds  of  Protestant  churches,  which,  under  the 
name  of  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Methodists,  &c., 
&c.,  are  divided  and  sub-divided  into  scores  of  contemptible  sects 
anathematizing  and  denouncing  each  other  before  the  world?" 

My  ideas  of  the  great  family  of  evangelical  churches,  com- 
prised under  the  broad  name  of  Protestantism,  were  so  exagger- 
ated then,  that  it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  me  to  find  in  them 
that  unity  which  I  considered  the  essentials  of  the  church  of 
Christ. 

The  hour  was  not  yet  come,  but  it  was  coming  fast,  when 
my  dear  Saviour  would  make  me  understand  his  sublime  words: 
"  I  am  the  vine  and  ye  are  the  branches." 

It  was  some  time  later,  vv^hen  under  the  beautiful  vine  I  had 
planted  in  my  own  garden,  and  which  I  had  cultivated  with 
mine  own  hands,  I  saw  that  there  was  not  a  single  branch  like 
another  in  that  prolific  vine. 

Some  branches  were  very  big,  some  very  thin,  some  very 
long,  some  very  short,  some  going  up,  some  going  down,  some 
straight  as  an  arrow,  some  crooked  as  a  flash  of  lightning,  some 
turning  to  the  west,  some  to  the  east,  some  to  the  north,  and 
others  to  the  south. 

But,  although  the  branches  were  so  different  from  each  other 
in  so  many  things,  they  all  gave  me  excellent  fruit,  so  long  as 
thev  remained  united  to  the  vine. 


Chapter   XLVI. 

THE  HOLY  FATHERS- NEW  MENTAL  TROUBLES  AT  NOT  FIND- 
INQ  THE  DOCTRINES  OF  MY  CHTJRCH  IN  THEIR  WRITINGS- 
PHRQATORY  AND  THE  SHCKINQ  Pia  OF  THE  POOR  MAN 
OF  VARENNES. 

THE  most  desolate  work  of  a  sincere  catholic  priest  is  th« 
study  of  the  Holy  Fathers.  He  does  not  make  a  step  in 
the  labyrinth  of  their  discussions  and  controversies  without  see- 
ing the  dreams  of  his  theological  studies  and  religious  views  dis- 
appear as  the  thick  morning  mist,  when  the  sun  rises  above  the 
horizon.  Bound,  as  he  is,  by  a  solemn  oath,  to  interpret  the 
Holy  Scriptures  only  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the 
Holy  Fathers,  the  first  thing  which  puzzles  and  distresses  him. 
is  their  absolute  want  of  unanimity  on  the  greater  part  of  the 
subjects  which  they  discuss.  The  fact  is,  that  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  what  one  Father  has  written,  is  to  prove  that  what 
some  other  Holy  Father  has  written,  is  wrong  and  heretical. 

The  student  of  the  Fathers  not  only  detects  that  they  do  not 
agree  w^ith  one  another,  but  finds  that  many  of  them  do  not  even 
agree  with  themselves.  Very  often  they  confess  that  they  were 
mistaken  when  they  said  this  and  that;  that  they  have  lately 
changed  their  minds;  that  they  now  hold  for  saving  truth,  what 
they  formerly  condemned  as  damnable  error! 

What  becomes  of  the  solemn  oath  of  every  priest,  m  presence 
of  this  undeniable  fact  ?  How  can  he  make  an  act  of  faith  when 
he  feels  that  its  foundation  is  nothing  but  falsehood? 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  mental  tortures  I  felt,  when 
I  saw  positivelv,  that  I  could  not,  any  longer,  preach  on  the  eter- 
nity of  the  suffering  of  the  damned,  nor  believe  in  the  real  pres- 
ence of  the  body,  soul  and  divinity  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament 
of  communion;  nor  in  the  supremacy  of  the  sovereign  pontiff  of 

4S4 


THE    HOLY    FATHERS, 


4^:> 


Rome,  nor  in  any  of  the  other  dogmas  of  the  church,  withont 
perjuring  myself!  For  there  was  not  one  of  those  dogmas 
which  had  not  been  flatly  and  directly  denied  by  some  Holy 
Fathers. 

It  is  true,  that  in  my  Roman  Catholic  theological  books,  I 
had  long  extracts  of  Holy  Fathers,  very  clearly  supporting  and 
confirming  my  faith  in  these  dogmas.  For  instance,  I  had  the 
apostolic  liturgies  of  St.  Peter,  St.  Mark,  and  St.  James,  to  prove 
that  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  purgatory,  prayers  for  the  dead, 
transubstantiation,  were  believed  and  taught  from  the  very  day* 
of  the  apostles. 

But  what  was  my  dismay  when  I  discovered  that  those  litur- 
gies were  nothing  else  than  vile  and  audacious  forgeries  presen- 
ted to  the  world,  by  my  Popes  and  my  church,  as  gospel  truths. 

I  could  not  find  words  to  express  my  sense  of  shame  and 
consternation,  when  I  became  sure  that  the  same  church  which 
had  invented  these  apostolic  liturgies,  had  accepted  and  circula- 
ted the  false  decretals  of  Isidore,  and  forged  innumerable  addi- 
tions and  interpolations  to  the  writings  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  in 
order  to  make  them  say  the  very  contrary  of  what  they  intended. 

How  many  times,  when  alone,  studying  the  history  of  the 
shameless  fabrications,  I  said  to  myself:  "Does  the  man  whose 
treasury  is  filled  with  pure  gold,  forge  false  coins,  or  spurious, 
pieces  of  money?  No!  How,  then,  is  it  possible  thrt  my  church 
does  possess  the  pure  truth,  when  she  has  been  at  work  during 
so  many  centuries,  to  forge  such  egregious  lies,  under  the  names 
of  liturgies  and  decretals,  about  the  holy  mass,  purgatory,  the 
supremacy  of  the  Pope,  etc." 

"  If  those  dogmas  could  have  been  proved  by  the  gospel  and 
the  true  writings  of  the  Fathers,  where  was  the  necessity  of 
forging  lying  documents?  Would  the  Popes  and  councils  have 
treasuries  with  spurious  bank  bills,  if  they  had  had  exhaustless 
mines  of  pure  gold  in  hand?  What  right  has  my  church  to  be 
called  holy  and  infallible,  when  she  is  publicly  guilty  of  such 
impostures? " 

From  my  infancy  I  had  been  taught,  with  all  the  Roman 
Catholics,  that  Mary   is  the  mother  of   God,  and   many   time* 


4S6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

every  day,  when  praying  to  her,  I  used  to  say,  "  Holy  Mary, 
mother  of  God,  pray  for  me." 

But  what  was  my  distress  when  I  read  in  the  "  Treatise  on 
Faith  and  Creed,"  by  St  Augustine,  chapter  iv.,  §  9,  these  very 
^vords,  "  When  the  Lord  said :  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do 
with  thee?  Mine  hour  is  not  yet  come."  (Johnxix:4.)  He 
rather  admonishes  us  to  understand  that,  in  respect  of  His  being 
God,  there  was  no  mother  for  Him. 

This  was  so  completely  demolishing  the  teachings  of  my 
church,  and  telling  me  that  it  was  blasphemy  to  call  Mary, 
mother  of  God,  that  I  felt  as  if  struck  with  a  thunderbolt. 

Several  volumes  might  be  written,  if  my  plan  were  to  give 
the  story  of  my  mental  agonies,  when  ixading,  the  Holy  Fathers, 
I  found  their  furious  battles  against  each  other,  and  reviewed 
their  fierce  divisions  on  almost  every  subject.  The  horror  of 
many  of  them  at  the  dogmas  which  my  church  had  taught  to 
make  me  believe  from  my  infancy,  as  the  most  solemn  and 
sacred  revelations  of  God  to  man,  such  as  transubstantiation, 
auric'.ilar  confession,  purgatory,  the  supremacy  of  Peter,  the  ab- 
solute supremacy  of  the  Pope  over  the  whole  church  of  Christ. 
Yes!  what  thrilling  pages  I  would  give  to  the  world,  were  it 
my  intention  to  portray  in  their  true  colors,  the  dark  clouds,  the 
flashing  lights  and  destructive  storms  which,  during  the  long 
and  silent  hours  of  the  many  nights  I  spent  in  comparing  the 
Fathers  with  the  Word  of  God  and  the  teachings  of  my  church. 
Their  fierce  and  constant  conflicts;  their  unexpected,  though 
undeniable  opposition  to  many  of  the  articles  of  the  faith  I 
had  to  believe  and  preach ;  were  coming  to  me  day  after  day,  as 
the  barbed  darts  thrown  at  the  doomed  whale  w^hen  coming  out 
of  the  dark  regions  of  the  deep  to  see  the  light  and  breathe  the 
pure  air. 

Thus,  as  the  unexpected  contradictions  of  the  Holy  Fathers 
to  the  tenets  of  my  church,  and  their  furious  and  uncharitable 
<iivisions  among  themselves,  were  striking  me,  I  plunged  deeper 
and  deeper  in  the  deep  waters  of  the  Fathers  and  the  Word  of 
Ood,  with  the  hope  of  getting  rid  of  the  deadly  darts  which  were 
piercing  my  Roman   Catholic  conscience.     But  it  was  in  vain. 


THE    HOLY    FATHERS. 


487 


The  deeper  I  went,  the  more  the  deadly  weapons  would  stick  to 
the  flesh  and  bone  of  my  soul.  How  deep  was  the  wound  I 
received  from  Gregory  the  Great,  one  of  the  most  learned  Popes 
of  Rome,  against  supremacy  and  universality  of  the  power 
of  the  Pope  of  Rome  as  taught  to-day,  the  following  extracts 
from  his  writings  will  show:  "But  I  confidently  say  that  who- 
soever calls  himself  universal  bishop,  or  desires  to  be  called  so,  in 
his  pride,  he  prefers  himself  to  the  rest.  And  he  is  led  to  error 
with  a  similar  pride.  For  as  that  wicked  one  wishes  to  appear 
a  God,  above  all  men,  whosoever  he  is,  who  alone  desires  to  be 
called  a  supreme  Bishop,  extols  himself  above  the  other  bishops." 
(Bk.  vii.  Int.  15.  Epist.  33,  to  Maurituus  Augustus.) 

These  words  wounded  me  very  painfully.  I  showed  them  to 
Mr.  Brassard,  saying:  "  Do  you  not  see  here  the  incontrovertible 
proof  of  what  I  have  told  you  many  times,  that,  during  the  first 
six  centuries  of  Christianity,  we  do  not  find  the  least  proof  that 
there  was  anything  like  our  dogma  of  the  supreme  power  and 
authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  or  any  other  bishop,  over  the 
rest  of  the  Christian  world?  If  there  is  anything  which  comes 
to  the  mind  with  an  irresistible  force,  when  reading  the  Fathers 
of  the  first  centuries,  it  is  that,  not  one  of  them  had  any  idea  that 
there  was,  in  the  church,  any  man  chosen  by  God,  to  be  in  fact 
or  name,  the  universal  and  supreme  pontiff.  With  such  an 
undeniable  fact  before  us,  how  can  we  believe  and  say  that  the 
religion  we  profess  and  teach  is  the  same  which  was  preached 
from  the  begining  of  Christianity?" 

"  My  dear  Chiniquy,"  anwered  Mr.  Brassard,  "did  I  not  tell 
you,  when  you  bought  the  Holy  Fathers,  that  you  were  doing  a 
foolish  and  dangerous  thing?  In  every  age,  the  man  who  sin- 
gularises  himself  and  walks  out  of  the  common  tracks  of  life  is 
subject  to  fall  into  ridicule.  As  you  are  the  only  priest  in  Can- 
ada who  has  the  Holy  Fathers,  it  is  thought  and  said  in  many 
quarters,  that  it  is  through  pride  you  got  them;  that  it  is  to 
raise  yourself  above  the  rest  of  the  clergy,  that  you  study  them, 
not  only  at  home,  but  that  you  carry  some  wherever  you  go.  I 
see  with  regret,  that  you  are.  fast  losing  ground  in  the  mind,  not 
only  of  the  bishop,  but  of  the  priests  in  general,  on  account  of 


488  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

your  indomitable  perseverance  in  giving  all  your  spare  time  in 
their  study.  You  are  also  too  free  and  imprudent  in  speaking 
of  what  you  call  the  contradictions  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  and 
their  want  of  harmony  with  some  of  our  religious  views. 
Many  say  that  this  too  great  application  to  study,  without  a 
moment  of  relaxation,  will  upset  your  intelligence  and  trouble 
your  mind.  They  even  whisper  that  there  is  danger  ahead  for 
your  faith,  which  you  do  not  suspect,  and  that  they  would  not 
be  surprised  if  the  reading  of  the  Bible  and  the  Holy  Fathers 
would  drive  you  into  the  abyss  of  Protestantism.  I  know  that 
that  they  are  mistaken,  and  I  do  all  in  my  power  to  defend  you. 
But,  I  thought,  as  your  most  devoted  friend,  that  it  was  my  duty 
to  tell  you  those  things,  and  warn  you  before  it  is  too  late." 

I  replied:  "Bishop  Prince  told  me  the  very  same  things, 
and  I  will  give  you  the  answer  he  got  from  me ;  '  When  you 
ordain  a  priest,  do  you  not  make  him  swear  that  he  will  never 
interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures,  except  according  to  the  unanimous 
consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers?  Ought  you  not,  then,  to  know 
what  they  teach?  For,  how  can  we  know  their  unanimous  con- 
sent without  studying  them.  Is  it  not  more  than  strange  that 
not  only  the  priests  do  not  study  the  Holy  Fathers,  but  the  only 
one  in  Canada  who  is  trying  to  study  them,  is  turned  into  ridi- 
cule and  suspected  of  heresy?  Is  it  my  fault  if  that  precious 
stone,  called  '  unanimous  consent  of  the  Holy  Fathers  '  which  is 
the  very  foundation  of  our  religious  belief  and  teachings,  is  to  be 
found  nowhere  in  them?  Is  it  my  fault  if  Origen  never  believed 
in  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  damned ;  if  St.  Cyprien  denied 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  if  St.  Augustine 
positively  said  that  nobody  was  obliged  to  believe  in  purgatory, 
if  St.  John  Chrysostom  publicly  denied  the  obligations  of 
auricular  confession,  and  the  real  presence  of  the  body  of  Christ 
in  the  eucharist?  Is  it  my  fault  if  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
holy  Popes,  Gregory  the  Great,  has  called  by  the  name  of  Anti- 
christ, all  his  successors,  for  taking  the  name  of  supreme  pontiff, 
and  trying  to  persuade  the  world  that  they  had,  by  divine 
authority,  a  supreme  jvu'isdiction  and  power  over  the  rest  of  the 
church?" 


THE    HOLY    FATHERS.  aSq 

"And  what  did  Bishop  Prince  answer  you?"  rejoined 
Mr.   Brassard. 

"Just  as  you  did,  by  expressing  his  fears  that  my  too  great 
appUcation  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  the  Holy  Fathers 
would  either  send  me  to  the  lunatic  asylum,  or  drive  me  into 
the  bottomless  abyss  of  Protestantism." 

I  answered  him,  in  a  jocose  way:  "that  if  the  too  great  studv 
of  the  Bible  and  the  Holy  Fathers  were  to  open  me  the  gates  of 
the  lunatic  asylum,  I  feared  I  would  be  left  alone  there,  for  I 
know  that  they  are  keeping  themselves  at  a  respectable  distance 
from  those  dangerous  writings."  I  added  seriously.  "  So  long 
as  God  keeps  my  intelligence  sound,  I  cannot  join  Protestants, 
for  the  numberless  and  ridiculous  sects  of  these  heretics  are  a 
sure  antidote  against  their  poisonous  errors.  I  will  not  remain  a 
good  Catholic  on  account  of  the  unanimity  of  the  Holy  Fathers, 
which  does  not  exist,  but  I  will  remain  a  Catholic  on  account  of 
the  grand  and  visible  unanimity  of  the  prophets,  apostles  and  the 
evangelists,  with  Jesus  Christ.  My  faith  will  not  be  founded  up- 
on the  fallible,  obscure  and  wavering  words  of  Origein,  Tertullian^ 
Chrysostom,  Augustine  or  Jerome;  but  on  the  infallible  word  of 
Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  and  His  inspired  writers;  Mathew,  Mark, 
Luke,  John,  Peter,  James  and  Paul.  It  is  Jesus,  not  Origen 
who  will  now  guide  me;  for  the  second  was  a  sinner,  like  my- 
self, and  the  first  is  forever  my  Saviour  and  my  God.  I  know 
enough  of  the  Holy  Fathers  to  assure  your  lordship  that  the 
oath  we  take  accepting  the  Word  of  God  according  to  their 
unanimous  consent,  is  a  miserable  blunder,  if  not  a  blasphemous 
perjury.  It  is  evident  that  Pius  IV.,  who  imposed  the  obligation 
of  that  oath  upon  us  all,  never  read  a  single  volume  of  the  Holy 
Fathers.  He  would  not  have  been  guilty  of  such  an  incredible 
blunder,  if  he  had  known  that  the  Holy  Fathers  are  unanimous 
in  only  one  thing,  which  is  to  differ  from  each  other  on  almost 
everything;  except  we  suppose  that,  like  the  last  Pope,  he  was 
too  fond  of  good  champagne,  and  that  he  wrote  that  ordinance 
after  a  luxurious  dinner." 

I  spoke  this  last  sentence  in  a  half-serious  and  half-joking 
way. 


49©  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  bishop  answered :  "  Who  told  you  that  about  our  la^ 
Pope?" 

"  Your  lordship,"  I  answered,  "  told  me  that,  when  you 
complimented  me  on  the  apostolical  benediction  which  the 
present  Pope  sent  me  through  my  Lord  Baillargeon,  '  that  his 
predecessor  would  not  have  given  me  his  benediction  for  preach- 
ing temperance  because  he  was  too  fond  of  wine ! " 

"Oh  yes!  yes!  I  remember  it  now,"  answered  the  bishop. 
"  But  it  was  a  bad  joke  on  my  part,  which  I  regret." 

"  Good  or  bad  joke,"  I  replied,  "  It  is  not  the  less  the  fact, 
that  our  last  Pope  w^as  too  fond  of  wine.  There  is  not  a  single 
priest  of  Canada  who  has  gone  to  Rome,  without  bringing  that 
back  as  a  public  fact,  from  Italy." 

"  And  wliat  did  my  Lord  Prince  say  to  that,"  asked  again 
Mr.  Brassard. 

"Just  as  when  he  was  cornered  by  me,  on  the  subject  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  he  abruptly  put  an  end  to  the  conversation,  by 
looking  at  his  watch  and  saying  that  he  had  a  call  to  make,  at 
that  very  hour." 

Not  long  after  that  painful  conversation  about  the  Holy 
Fathers,  it  was  the  w^ill  of  God,  that  new  arrow  should  be 
thrust  into  my  Roman  Catholic  conscience,  which  went  through 
and  through,  in  spite  of  myself. 

I  had  been  invited  to  give  a  course  of  three  sermons  at 
Varennes.  The  second  day,  at  tea  time,  after  preaching  and 
hearing  confessions  for  the  whole  afternoon,  I  was  coming  from 
the  church  with  the  curate,  when  half-way  to  the  parsonage, 
we  were  met  by  a  poor  man,  w^ho  looked  more  like  one  coming 
out  of  the  grave,  than  a  living  man;  he  was  covered  with  rags, 
and  his  pale  and  trembling  lips  indicated  that  he  was  reduced  to 
the  last  degree  of  human  misery.  Taking  off  his  ,hat,  through 
respect  for  us,  he  said  to  Rev.  Primeau,  with  a  trembling  voice; 
"  You  know,  Mr.  le  Cure,  that  my  poor  wife  died,  and  was 
buried  ten  days  ago,  but  I  was  too  poor  to  have  a  funeral  ser- 
vice sung  the  day  she  was  buried,  and  I  fear  she  is  in  purgatory, 
for  almost  every  night,  I  see  her  in  my  dreams,  wrapped  up  in 
>  urning  flames.      She  cries  to  me  for  help,  and   asks  me  to  have 


THE   HOLY  FATHERS. 


491 


a  high  mass  sung  for  the  rest  of  her  soul.  I  come  to  ask  you  to 
be  so  kind  as  to  sing  that  high  mass  for  her." 

"  Of  course,"  answered  the  curate,  "  your  wife  is  in  the 
flames  of  purgatory,  and  suffers  there  the  most  unspeakable  tor- 
tures, which  can  be  relieved  only  by  the  offering  of  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  mass.  Give  me  five  dollars  and  I  will  sing  that  mass 
to-morrow  morning." 

"  You  know  very  well,  Mr.  le  Cure,"  answered  the  poor 
man,  in  a  most  supplicating  tone,  "  that  my  wife  has  been  sick, 
as  well  as  myself,  a  good  part  of  the  year.  I  am  too  poor  to 
give  you  five  dollars!  " 

"  If  you  cannot  pay,  you  cannot  have  any  mass  sung.  You 
know  it  is  the  rule.     It  is  not  in  my  power  to  change  it." 

These  words  were  said  by  the  curate  with  a  high  and  unfeel- 
ing tone,  which  were  in  absolute  contrast  with  the  solemnity  and 
distress  of  the  poor  sick  man.  They  made  a  very  painful  im- 
pression upon  me,  for  I  felt  for  him.  I  knew  the  curate  was 
well-off,  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  richest  parishes  of  Canada; 
that  he  had  several  thousand  dollars  in  the  bank.  I  hoped  at 
first,  that  he  would  kindly  grant  the  petition  presented  to  him, 
without  speaking  of  the  pay,  but  I  was  disappointed.  My  first 
thought,  after  hearing  his  hard  rebuke,  was  to  put  my  hand  in 
my  pocket  and  take  one  of  the  several  five-dollar  gold  pieces  I 
had,  and  give  it  to  the  poor  man,  that  he  might  be  relieved  from 
his  terrible  anxiety  about  his  wife.  It  came  also  to  my  mind  to 
say  to  him :  "  I  will  sing  your  high  mass  for  nothing  to-morrow." 
But  alas!  I  must  confess,  to  my  shame,  I  was  too  cowardly  to  do 
that  noble  deed.  I  had  a  sincere  desire  to  do  it,  but  was  pre- 
vented by  the  fear  of  insulting  that  priest,  who  was  older  than 
myself,  and  for  whom  I  had  always  entertained  great  respect. 
It  was  evident  to  me  that  he  would  have  taken  my  action  as  a 
condemnation  of  his  conduct. 

When  I  was  feeling  ashamed  of  my  own  cowardice,  and  still 
more  indignant  against  myself  than  against  the  curate,  he  said  to 
the  disconcerted  poor  man:  "That  woman  is  your  wife;  not 
mine.  It  is  your  business,  and  not  mine,  to  see  how  to  get  her 
out  of  purgatory." 


492  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Turning  to  me,  he  said,  in  the  most  amiable  way:  "Please, 
sir,  come  to  tea." 

We  hardly  started,  when  the  poor  man,  raising  his  voice, 
said,  in  a  most  touching  way :  "  I  cannot  leave  my  poor  wife  in 
the  flames  of  purgatory;  if  you  cannot  sing  a  high  mass,  will 
you  please  say  five  low  masses  to  rescue  her  soul  from  those 
burning  flames  ?  " 

The  priest  turned  towards  him  and  said:  "  Yes,  I  can  say 
five  masses  to  take  the  soul  of  your  wife  out  of  purgatory,  but 
give  me  five  shillings;  for  you  know  the  price  of  a  low  mass  is 
one  shilling." 

The  poor  man  answered :  "  I  can  no  more  give  one  dollar 
than  I  can  five.  I  have  not  a  cent;  and  my  three  poor  little 
children  are  as  naked  and  starving  as  myself." 

"Well!  well!"  answered  the  curate,  "when  I  passed  this 
morning,  before  your  house,  I  saw  two  beautiful  sucking  pigs. 
Give  me  one  of  them,  and  I  will  say  your  five  low  masses." 

The  poor  man  said:  "  These  small  pigs  were  given  me  by  a 
charitable  neighbor,  that  I  might  raise  them  to  feed  my  poor 
children  next  winter.  They  will  surely  starve  to  death,  if  I 
give  my  pigs  away." 

But  I  could  not  listen  any  longer  to  that  strange  dialogue; 
every  word  of  which  fell  upon  my  soul  as  a  shower  of  burning 
coals.  I  was  beside  myself  with  shame  and  disgust.  I  abruptly 
left  the  merchant  of  souls,  finishing  his  bargains,  went  to  my 
sleeping-ioom,  locked  the  door,  and  fell  upon  my  knees  to  weep 
to  my  heart's  content. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  the  curate  knocked  at  my  door 
and  said:  "Tea  is  ready;  please  come  down!"  I  answered: 
"  I  am  not  well ;  I  want  some  rest.  Please  excuse  me,  if  I  do 
not  take  my  tea  to-night." 

It  would  require  a  more  eloquent  pen  than  mine  to  give  the 
correct  history  of  that  sleepless  night.  The  hours  were  dark 
and  long. 

"  My  God!  my  God!"  I  cried,  a  thousand  times,  "  Is  it  pos- 
sible that,  in  my  so  dear  Church  of  Rome,  there  can  be  such 
abominations  as  I  have  seen  and  heard  to-day  ?     Dear  and  adora- 


THE    HOLY    FATHERS. 


493 


ble  Saviour,  if  thou  wert  still  on  earth,  and  should  see  the  soul 
of  a  daughter  of  Israel  fallen  into  a  burning  furnace,  wouldst 
thou  ask  a  shilling  to  take  it  out?  Wouldst  thou  force  the  poor 
father,  with  his  starving  children,  to  give  their  last  morsel  of 
bread,  to  persuade  thee  to  extinguish  the  burning  flames?  Thou 
hast  shed  the  last  drop  of  thy  blood  to  save  her.  And  how- 
cruel,  how  merciless,  we,  thy  priests,  are,  for  the  same  precious 
soul!  But  are  we  really  thy  priests?  Is  it  not  blasphemous 
to  call  ourselves  thy  priests,  when  not  only  we  will  not  sacrifice 
anything  to  save  that  soul,  but  will  starve  the  poor  husband  and 
his  orphans?  What  right  have  we  to  extort  such  sums  of  money 
from  thy  poor  children  to  help  them  out  of  purgatory?  Do  not 
thy  apostles  say  that  thy  blood  alone  can  purify  the  soul  ? 

"  Is  it  possible  that  there  is  such  a  iiery  prison  for  the  sinners 
after  death,  and  that  neither  thyself  nor  any  of  thy  apostles  has 
said  a  word  about  it? 

''  Several  of  the  Fathers  consider  purgatory  as  of  Pagan  ori- 
gin. Tertullian  spoke  of  it  only  after  he  had  joined  the  sect  of 
the  Montanists,  and  he  confesses  that  it  is  not  through  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  but  through  the  inspiration  of  the  Paraclete  of  Mon- 
tanus  that  he  knows  anything  about  purgatory.  Augustine,  the 
most  learned  and  pious  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  does  not  find  pur- 
gatory in  the  Bible,  and  positively  says  that  its  existence  is 
dubious;  that  every  one  may  believe  what  he  thinks  proper 
about  it.  Is  it  possible  that  I  am  so  mean  as  to  have  refused  to 
extend  a  helping  hand  to  that  poor  distressed  man,  for  fear  of 
offending  the  cruel  priest? 

"We  priests  believe,  and  say  that  we  can  help  souls  out  of 
the  burning  furnace  of  purgatory,  by  our  prayers  and  masses; 
but  instead  of  rushing  to  their  rescue,  we  turn  to  the  parents, 
friends,  the  children  of  those  departed  souls,  and  say:  "Give 
me  five  dollars ;  give  me  a  shilling,  and  I  will  put  an  end  to  those 
tortures;  but  if  you  refuse  us  that  money,  we  will  let  your 
father,  husband,  wife,  child,  or  friend  endure  those  tortures,  hun- 
dreds of  years  more!  Would  not  the  people  throw  us  into  the 
river,  if  they  could  once  understand  the  extent  of  our  meanness 
and  avarice  ?     Ought  we  not  to  be  ashamed  to  ask  a  shilling  to 


4^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

take  out  of  the  fire  a  human  being  who  calls  us  to  the  rescue  ? 
Who,  except  a  priest,  can  descend  so  low  in  the  regions  of 
depravity  ?  " 

It  would  take  too  long  to  give  the  thoughts  which  tortured 
rtie  during  that  terrible  night.  I  literally  bathed  my  pillow  with 
my  tears.  Before  saying  my  mass  next  morning,  I  went  to  con- 
fess my  criminal  cowardice  and  want  of  charity  towards  that 
poor  man,  and  also  the  terrible  temptation  against  my  faith  which 
tortured  my  conscience  dnring  the  long  hours  of  that  night! 
And  I  repaired  my  cowardice  by  giving  $5.00  to  that  poor  man. 

I  spent  the  morning  in  hearing  confessions  till  ten  o'clock, 
when  I  delivered  a  very  exciting  sermon  on  the  malice  of  sin, 
proved  by  the  sufferings  of  Christ  on  the  cross.  This  address 
gave  a  happv  diversion  to  my  mind,  and  made  me  forget  the  sad 
story  of  the  sucking  pig. 

After  the  sermon,  the  curate  took  me  by  the  hand  to  his  din- 
ing room,  where  he  gave  me,  in  spite  of  myself,  the  place  of  honor. 

He  had  the  reputation  of  having  one  of  the  best  cooks  of 
Canada,  in  the  widow  of  one  of  the  governors  of  Nova  Scotia, 
whom  he  had  as  his  housekeeper.  The  dishes  before  our  eyes 
did  not  diminish  his  good  reputation. 

The  first  dish  was  a  sucking  pig,  roasted  with  an  art  and  per- 
fection as  I  had  never  seen ;  it  looked  like  a  piece  of  pure  gold, 
and  its  smell  would  have  brought  water  to  the  lips  of  the  most 
penitent  anchorite. 

I  had  not  tasted  anything  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours;  had 
preached  two  exciting  sermons,  and  spent  six  hours  in  hearing 
confessions.  I  felt  hungry;  and  the  sucking  pig  was  the  most 
tempting  thing  to  me.  It  was  a  real  epicurean  pleasure  to  look 
at  it  and  smell  its  fragrance.  Besides,  that  was  a  favorite  dish 
with  me.  I  cannot  conceal  that  it  was  with  real  pleasure  that  I 
saw  the  curate,  after  sharpening  his  long,  glittering  knife  on  the 
file,  cutting  a  beautiful  slice  from  the  shoulder,  and  offering  it  to 
me.  I  was  too  hungry  to  be  over  patient.  My  knife  and  fork 
had  soon  done  their  work.  I  was  carrying  to  my  mouth  the 
tempting  and  succulent  mouthful,  when,  suddenly,  the  remem- 
brance of  the  poor  man's  sucking  pig  came  to  my  mind.      I  laid 


THE    HOLY    FATHERS. 


495 


the  piece  on  my  plate,  and  with  painful  anxiety,  looked  at  the 
curate  and  said :  "  Will  you  allow  me  to  put  you  a  question 
about  this  dish?" 

"  Oh !  yes ;  ask  me,  not  only  one,  but  two  questions,  and  I 
will  be  happy  to  answer  you  to  the  best  of  my  ability,"  answered 
he,  with  his  fine  manners. 

"  Is  this  the  sucking  pig  of  the  poor  man  of  yesterday?  "  I 
asked. 

With  a  convulsive  fit  of  laughter,  he  replied:  "Yes;  it  is 
just  it.  If  we  cannot  take  away  the  soul  of  the  poor  woinan 
out  of  the  flames  of  purgatory,  we  will,  at  all  events,  eat  a  fine 
sucking  pig! " 

The  other  thirteen  priests  filled  the  room  with  laughter,  to 
show  their  appreciation  of  their  host's  wit. 

However,  their  laughter  was  not  of  long  duration.  With  a 
feeling  of  shame  and  uncontrollable  indignation,  I  pushed  away 
my  plate  VN'ith  such  force,  that  it  crossed  the  table,  and  nearly 
fell  on  the  floor,  saying,  with  a  sentiment  of  disgust  which  no 
pen  can  describe :  "  I  would  rather  starve  to  death  than  eat  of 
that  execrable  dish;  I  see  in  it  the  tears  of  the  poor  man;  I  see 
the  blood  of  his  starsing  children;  it  is  the  price  of  a  soul.  No! 
no,  gentlemen;  do  not  touch  it.  You  know,  Mr.  Curate,  how 
30,000  priests  and  monks  were  slaughtered  in  France,  in  the 
bloody  days  of  1792.  It  was  for  such  iniquities  as  this  that 
God  Almighty  visited  the  church  in  France.  The  same  future 
awaits  us  here  in  Canada,  the  very  day  that  people  will  awaken 
from  their  slumber  and  see  that,  instead  of  being  ministers  of 
Christ,  we  are  vile  traders  of  souls,  under  the  mask  of 
religion." 

The  poor  curate,  stunned  by  the  solemnity  of  my  words,  as 
well  as  by  the  consciousness  of  his  guilt,  lisped  some  excuse. 
The  sucking  pig  remained  untouched;  and  the  rest  of  the  dinner 
had  more  the  appearance  of  a  burial  ceremony  than  of  a  con- 
vivial repast. 

By  the  mercy  of  God,  I  had  redeemed  my  cowardice  of  the 
day  before.  But  I  had  mortally  wounded  the  feelings  of  that 
curate  and  his  friends,  and  forever  lost  their  good-will. 


49^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

It  is  in  such  ways  that  God  was  directing  the  step>s  of  his 
unprofitable  servant  through  ways  unknown  to  him.  Furious 
storms  were  constantly  blowing  around  my  fragile  bark,  and 
tearing  my  sails  into  fragments.  But,  every  storm  was  pushing 
me,  in  spite  of  myself,  towards  the  shores  of  eternal  life,  where 
I  was  to  land  safely  a  few  years  later. 


Chapter    XLVII 


LBTTKK  PKOM  THE  BEV.  BISHOP  VANDEVBLD,  OF  CHIOAOO- 
VA8T  PBOJECT  OF  THE  BISHOPS  OF  THE  XTNITED  STATES 
TO  TAKE  POSSESSION  OP  THE  BICH  VALLEY  OF  THE  MISS- 
ISSIPPI AND  THE  PBAIBIES  OF  THE  WEST,  TO  BULE  THAT 
QBEAT  BEPUBLIC  -THEY  'WANT  TO  PUT  ME  AT  THE  HEAD 
OF  THE  WOBK-MY  LECTUBES  ON  TEMPEBANCE  AT  DE- 
TBOIT  INTEMPEBANCE  OF  THE  BISHOP  AND  PBIESTS  OF 
THAT  CITY. 


0 


N    the    15th   of  December,    1850,    [    received    the   following 
letter : 


Chicago,  111.,  Dec.  ist,  1850. 
Rkv.  F"athkr  Chiniquy, 

Apostle  of  Temperance  of  Canada. 

Dear  Sir  : — When  I  was  in  Canada,  last  fall,  I  intended  to  confer  with 
vou  on  a  verv  important  subject.  But  you  were  then  working  in  the  diocese 
of  Boston,  and  my  limited  time  prevented  me  from  going  so  far  to  meet 
you.  You  are  aware  that  the  lands  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  the  whole 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  are  among  the  richest  and  most  fertile  of  the 
world.  In  a  near  future,  those  regions,  which  are  now  a  comparative  wil- 
derness, will  be  the  granary,  not  only  of  the  United  States,  but  of  the  whole 
world ;  and  those  who  will  possess  them,  \vill  not  only  possess  the  very 
heart  and  arteries  of  this  young  and  already  so  great  republic,  but  will  be- 
come its  rulers. 

It  is  our  intention,  without  noise,  to  take  possession  of  those  vast  and 
magnificent  regions  of  the  west  in  the  name  and  for  the  benefit  of  our  holy 
church.  Our  plan  to  attain  that  object  is  as  sure  as  easy.  There  is,  every 
year,  an  increasing  tide  of  emigration  from  the  Roman  Catholic  region*  of 
Europe  and  Canada  towards  the  United  States.  Unfortunately,  till  now, 
our  emigrants  have  blindly  scattered  themselves  among  the  Protestant 
populations,  which  too  often  absorb  them  and  destroy  their  faith. 

Why  should  we  not  direct  their  steps  to  the  same  spot.^  Why  should 
we  not,  for  instance,  induce  them  to  come  and  take  possession  of  these  fer- 
tile States  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa,  Kansas,  etc.  They  can  get  those  lands 
now  at  a  nominal  price.     If  we  succeed,  as  I  hope  we  will,  our  holy  church 

•«>7 


49^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THECHURCH    OF    ROME. 

will  soon  count  her  children  here  by  ten  and  twenty  millions,  and  throu^ 
their  numbers,  their  wealth  and  unity,  they  will  have  such  a  weight  in  the 
balance  of  power  that  they  will  rule  everything. 

The  Protestants,  always  divided  among  themselves,  will  never  form 
any  strong  party  without  the  help  of  the  united  vote  of  our  Catholic  people; 
aad  that  party  alone  which  will  ask  and  get  our  help  by  yielding  to  our 
just  demands,  will  rule  the  country.  Then,  in  reality,  though  not  in  ap- 
pearance, our  holy  church  will  rule  the  United  States,  as  she  is  called  by 
our  Saviour  Himself  to  rule  the  whole  world.  There  is,  to-day,  a  wave  of 
emigration  from  Canada  towards  the  United  States  which,  if  not  stopped  or 
well  directed,  is  threatening  to  throw  the  good  French  Canadian  people  into 
the  mire  of  Protestantism.  Your  countrymen,  when  once  mixed  with  the 
numberless  sects  which  try  to  attract  them,  are  soon  shaken  in  their  faith. 
Their  children  sent  to  Protestant  schools,  will  be  unable  to  defend  them- 
selves against  the  wily  and  imited  efforts  made  to  pervert  them. 

But  put  yourself  at  the  head  of  the  emigrants  from  Canada,  France 
and  Belgium ;  prevent  them  from  settling  any  longer  among  the  Protest- 
ants, by  inducing  them  to  follow  you  to  Illinois,  and  with  them  you  will 
soon  see  here  a  Roman  Catholic  people,  whose  number,  wealth  and  influ- 
ence will  amaze  the  world.  God  Almighty  has  wonderfully  blessed  your 
labors  in  Canada,  in  that  holy  cause  of  temperance.  But  now  the  work  is 
done,  the  same  Great  God  presents  to  your  Christian  ambition  a  not  less 
great  and  noble  work  for  the  rest  of  your  life.  Make  use  of  your  great 
influence  over  your  countrymen  to  prevent  them  from  scattering  any  longer 
among  Protestants,  by  inducing  them  to  come  here,  in  Illinois.  You  will 
then  lay  the  foundation  of  a  Roman  Catholic  French  people  whose  piety, 
unity,  wealth  and  number  will  soon  renew  and  revive,  on  this  continent,  the 
past  and  fading  glories  of  the  Church  of  France. 

We  have  already,  at  Bourbonnais,  a  fine  colony  of  French  Canadians. 
They  long  to  see  and  hear  you.  Come  and  help  me  to  make  that  compar- 
atively small,  though  thriving  people,  grow  with  the  emigrants  from  the 
French-speaking  countries  of  Europe  and  America,  till  it  covers  the  whole 
territory  of  Illinois  with  its  sturdy  sons  and  pious  daughters.  1  will  ask 
the  pope  to  make  you  my  coadjutor,  and  you  will  soon  become  my  suc- 
cessor, for  I  already  feel  too  weak  and  unhealthy  to  bear  alone  the  burden 
of  my  too  large  diocese. 

Please  consider  what  I  propose  to  you  before  God,  and  answer  me. 
But  be  kind  enough  to  consider  this  overture  as  strictly  confidential  between 
you  and  me,  till  we  have  brought  our  plans  into  execution. 

Truly  Yours,  |J(Oliv  Vandeveld, 

Bishop  of  Chicago. 

I  answered  him  that  the  bishops  of  Boston,  Buffalo  and 
Detroit  had  already  advised  me  to  put  myself  at  the  head  of  the 


MY    LECTURES    ON    TEMPERANCE    AT    DETROIT.  4^ 

French  Canadian  emigration,  in  order  to  direct  its  tide  towards 
the  vast  and  rich  regions  of  the  West,  I  wrote  him  that  I  felt 
as  he  did,  that  it  was  the  best  way  to  prevent  my  countrymen 
from  falling  into  the  snares  laid  before  them  by  Protestants, 
among  whom  they  were  scattering  themselves.  I  told  him  that 
I  would  consider  it  a  great  honor  and  privilege  to  spend  the  last 
part  of  my  life  in  extending  the  power  and  influence  of  our  holv 
church  over  the  United  States,  and  that  I  would,  in  June  next, 
pay  my  respects  to  him  in  Chicago,  when  on  mv  way  towards 
the  colony  of  my  countrymen  at  Bourbonnais  Grove.  I  added 
that  after  I  should  have  seen  those  territories  of  Illinois  and  the 
Mississippi  valley  with  my  own  eyes  it  would  be  more  easy  to 
give  him  a  definite  answer.  I  ended  my  letter  by  saying:  "  But 
1  respectfully  request  your  lordship  to  give  up  the  idea  of  select- 
ing me  for  your  coadjutor  or  successor.  I  have  already  twice 
refused  to  become  a  bishop.  That  high  dignity  is  too  much 
above  my  merits  and  capacities  to  be  ever  accepted  by  me.  I  am 
happy  and  proud  to  fight  the  battles  of  our  holy  church ;  but  let 
my  superiors  allow  me  to  continue  to  remain  in  her  ranks  simply 
as  a  soldier  to  defend  her  honor  and  extend  her  power.  I  may, 
then,  with  the  help  of  God,  do  some  good.  But  I  feel  and  know 
that  I  would  spoil  everything,  if  raised  to  an  elevated  position, 
for  which  I  am  not  fit." 

Without  speaking  to  anybody  of  the  proposition  of  the 
Bishop  of  Chicago,  I  was  preparing  to  go  and  see  the  new  field 
where  he  wanted  me  to  work,  when,  in  the  beginning  of  May, 
1851, 1  received  a  very  pressing  invitation  from  my  Lord  Lefebre^ 
Bishop  of  Detroit,  to  lecture  on  temperance  to  the  French 
Canadians,  who  were  then  forming  the  majority  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  that  city. 

That  bishop  had  taken  the  place  of  Bishop  Rese,  whose 
public  scandals  and  infamies  had  covered  the  whole  Catholic 
church  of  America  with  shame.  During  the  last  years  he  had 
spent  in  his  diocese,  very  few  weeks  had  been  passed  without  his 
being  picked  up  beastly  drunk  in  the  lowest  taverns,  and  even  in 
the  streets  of  Detroit,  and  dragged,  unconscious  to  his  palace. 

After  long  and  vain  efforts  to  reform   him,  the  pope  and   the 


500 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


bishops  of  America  had  happily  succeeded  in  persuading  him  to 
go  to  Rome,  and  pay  his  respects  to  the  so-called  vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  was  a  snare  too  skilfully  laid  to  be  suspected  by 
the  drunken  bishop.  He  had  hardly  set  his  feet  in  Rome  when 
the  inquisitors  threw  him  into  one  of  their  dungeons,  where  he 
remained  till  the  republicans  set  him  at  liberty,  in  1848,  after 
Pope  Pius  IX.  had  fled  to  Civita  Vecchia. 

In  order  to  blot  out  from  the  face  of  his  church  the  black 
spots  with  which  his  predecessor  had  covered  it,  my  Lord  Lefe- 
bre  made  the  greatest  display  of  zeal  for  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance. As  soon  as  he  v/as  inducted,  he  invited  his  people  to  fol- 
low his  example  and  enroll  themselves  under  its  banners,  in  a 
very  powerful  address  on  the  evils  caused  by  the  use  of  intoxica- 
ting drinks.  At  the  end  of  his  eloquent  sermon,  laying  his  right 
hand  on  the  altar,  he  made  a  solemn  promise  never  to  drink  any 
alcoholic  liquors. 

His  telling  sermon  on  temperance,  with  his  solemn  and  pub- 
lic promise,  were  published  through  nearly  all  the  papers  of  that 
time,  and  I  read  it  many  times  to  the  people  with  good  effect. 
When  on  my  way  to  Illinois,  I  reached  the  city  of  Detroit  to 
give  the  course  of  lectures  demanded  by  the  bishop,  in  the  first 
week  in  June.  Though  the  bishop  was  absent,  I  immediately 
began  to  preach  to  an  immense  audience  in  the  Cathedral.  I 
had  agreed  to  give  five  lectures,  and  it  was  only  during  the  third 
one  that  Bishop  Lefebre  arrived.  After  paying  me  great  com- 
pliments for  my  zeal  and  success  in  the  temperance  cause,  he 
took  me  by  the  hand  to  his  dining-room  and  said:  "  Let  us  go 
and  refresh  ourselves." 

I  shall  never  forget  my  surprise  and  dismay,  when  I  per- 
ceived the  long  dining  table  covered  with  bottles  of  brandy, 
wine,  beer,  etc.,  prepared  for  himself  and  his  six  or  seven  priests, 
who  were  already  around  it,  joyfully  emptying  their  glasses. 
My  first  thonght  was  to  express  my  surprise  and  indignation, 
and  leave  the  room  in  disgust,  but  by  a  second  and  better 
thought  I  waited  a  little  to  see  more  of  that  unexpected  spec- 
tacle. I  accepted  the  seat  offered  me  by  the  bishop  at  his  right 
hand. 


MY     LECTURES    OX     TEMPERANCE    AT    DETROIT.  50 1 

"  Father  Chiniquy,"  he  said,  "  this  is  the  sweetest  claret  you 
ever  drank."  And  before  1  could  utter  a  word,  he  had  filled  my 
large  glass  with  the  wine  and  drank  his  own  to  my  health. 

Looking  at  the  bishop  in  amazement,  I  said:  "What  does 
this  mean,  my  lord?" 

"  It  means  that  I  want  to  drink  with  you  the  best  claret  you 
ever  tasted." 

"Do  you  take  me  for  a  comedian?  and  have  you  called  me 
here  to  play  such  a  strange  comedy?"  I  replied,  with  lips  trem- 
bling with  indignation. 

"  I  did  not  invite  you  to  play  a  comedy,"  he  answered.  "  I 
invited  you  to  lecture  on  temperance  to  my  people,  and  you  have 
done  it  in  a  most  admirable  way  these  last  three  days.  Though 
you  did  not  see  me,  I  was  present  at  this  evening's  address.  I 
never  heard  anything  so  eloquent  on  that  subject  as  what  you 
said.  But  now  that  you  have  fulfilled  your  duty,  I  must  do 
mine,  which  is  to  treat  you  as  a  gentleman  and  drink  that  bottle 
of  wine  with  you." 

"  But,  my  lord,  allow  me  to  tell  you  that  I  would  not  deserve 
to  be  called  or  treated  as  a  gentleman  were  I  vile  enough  to 
drink  wine  after  the  address  1  gave  this  evening." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon  for  differing  from  you,"  answered  the 
bishop.  "  Those  drunken  people  to  w  horn  you  spoke  so  well 
against  the  evils  of  intemperance  are  in  need  of  the  stringent 
and  bitter  remedies  you  offer  them  in  your  teetotalism.  But  here 
we  are  sober  men  and  gentlemen,  we  do  not  want  such  remedies. 
I  never  thought  that  the  physicians  were  absolutely  bound  to 
take  the  pills  they  administer  to  their  patients." 

"  I  hope  your  lordship  will  not  deny  me  the  right  you  claim 
for  yourself,  to  differ  with  me  in  this  matter.  I  entirely  differ 
from  you,  when  you  say  that  men  who  drink  as  you  do  with 
your  priests,  have  a  right  to  be  called  sober  men." 

"  1  fear,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  that  yoi  forget  where  you  are,  and  to 
whom  you  speak  just  now,"  repliea  the  bishop. 

"  It  may  be  that  I  have  made  a  blunder,  and  that  I  am  guilty 
of  some  grave  error  in  coming  here  and  speaking  to  you  as  I  am 
doing,  my    lord.     In   that  case,  I  am  ready  to  ask  your  pardoa. 


502  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

But  before  I  retract  what  I  have  said,  please  allow  me  to  respect- 
fully ask  you  a  very  simple  question." 

Then  taking  from  my  pocket-book  his  printed  address,  and 
his  public  and  solemn  promise  never  to  drink,  neither  to  offe-r 
any  intoxicating  drinks  to  others,  I  read  it  aloud,  and  said: 

"  Are  you  the  same  Bishop  of  Detroit,  called  Lefebre,  who 
has  made  this  solemn  promise?  If  you  are  not  the  same  man,  i 
will  retract  and  beg  your  pardon,  but  if  you  are  the  same,  I  have 
nothing  to  retract." 

My  answer  fell  upon  the  poor  bishop  as  a  thunderbolt. 

He  lisped  some  unintelligible  and  insignificant  explanation, 
which,  however,  he  ended  by  a  coup  d^etat^  in  saying: 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Chiniqu}^,  I  did  not  invite  you  to  preach  to 
the  bishop,  but  only  to  the  people  of  Detroit." 

"  You  are  right,  my  lord,  I  was  not  called  to  preach  to  the 
bishop,  but  allow  me  to  tell  j'ou  that  if  I  had  known  sooner  that 
when  the  Bishop  of  Detroit,  with  his  priests,  solemnly,  publicly, 
and  with  their  right  hand  on  the  altar,  promised  that  they  would 
never  drink  any  intoxicating  drinks,  it  means  that  they  will  drink 
and  fill  themselves  with  those  detestable  liquors  till  their  brains 
shiver  with  their  poisonous  fumes,  I  would  not  have  troubled  you 
with  my  presence  or  my  remarks  here.  However,  allow  me  to 
tell  your  lordship  to  be  kind  enough  to  find  another  lecturer  for 
your  temperance  meetings;  for  I  am  determined  to  take  the 
train  to-morrow  morning  for  Chicago." 

There  is  no  need  to  say  that  during  that  painful  conversation 
the  priests  (with  only  one  exception)  were  as  full  of  indignation 
against  me  as  they  were  full  of  wine.  I  left  the  table  and  went 
to  my  sleeping  apartment,  overwhelmed  with  sadness  and  shame. 

Half  an  hour  later,  the  bishop  was  with  me,  conjuring  me  to 
continue  my  lectures,  on  account  of  the  fearful  scandals  which 
would  result  from  my  sudden  and  unexpected  exit  from  Detroit, 
when  the  whole  people  had  the  assurance  from  me  that  very 
night  that  I  would  continue  to  lecture  the  two  following  even- 
ings. I  acknowledged  that  there  would  be  a  great  scandal,  but 
I  told  him  that  he  was  the  only  one  responsible  for  it,  by  his 
want  of  fbith  and  consistency. 


MY    LECTURES    ON    TEMPERANCE    AT    DETROIT.  503 

He,  at  first,  tried  to  persuade  me  that  he  was  ordered  to  drink 
by  his  own  physicians,  for  his  health;  but  I  showed  him  that 
this  was  a  miserable  illusion.  He  then  said  that  he  regretted 
what  had  occurred,  and  confessed  that  it  would  be  better  if  the 
priests  practiced  what  they  preached  to  the  people.  After  which, 
he  asked  me,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  forget 
the  errors  of  the  bishop  and  priests  of  Detroit,  in  order  to  thiak 
only  of  the  good  which  the  conversion  of  the  numberless  drunk- 
ards of  that  city  would  do  to  the  people. 

He  spoke  to  me  with  such  earnestness  of  the  souls  saved,  the 
tears  dried,  the  happiness  restored  to  hundreds  of  families  by 
temperance,  that  he  touched  the  most  sensitive  chords  of  my 
heart,  and  got  from  me  the  promise  that  I  would  deliver  the 
other  two  expected  lectures.  He  was  so  glad  that  he  piessed  me 
on  his  bosom  and  gave  me,  what  we  .call  in  French,  Z-c  baiser 
de  paix  (kiss  of  peace),  to  show  me  his  esteem  and  gratitude. 

When  alone,  I  tried  to  drown  in  a  sound  sleep  the  sad  emo- 
tions of  that  evening;  but  it  was  impossible.  That  night  was  to 
be  again  a  sleepless  one  to  me.  The  intemperance  of  that  high 
dignitary  and  his  priests  filled  me  with  an  unspeakable  horror 
and  disgust.  Many  times  during  the  dark  hours  of  that  night, 
I  heard  as  if  it  were  a  voice,  saying  to  me:  "  Do  you  not  see 
that  the  bishops  and  priests  of  your  church  do  not  believe  a  word 
•f  their  religion?  Their  only  object  is  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes 
of  the  people,  and  live  a  jolly  life.  Do  you  not  see  that  you  do 
not  follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  only  the  vain  and  lying  tra- 
ditions of  men,  in  the  Church  of  Rome?  Come  out  of  it;  break 
the  heavy  yoke  which  is  upon  you,  and  follow  the  simple,  pure 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ." 

I  triad  to  silence  that  voice  by  saying  to  myself:  "These 
sins  are  not  the  sins  of  my  holy  church — they  are  the  sins  of 
individuals.  It  was  not  the  fault  of  Christ  if  Judas  was  a  thief  I 
It  is  not  more  the  fault  of  my  holy  church  if  this  bishop  and 
his  priests  are  drunkards  and  worldly  men.  Where  will  I  go  if 
I  leave  my  church?  Will  I  not  find  drunkards  and  infidels 
everywhere  I  may  go  in  search  of  a  better  religion  ?  " 

The  dawn  of  the  next  day  found  me  feverish,  and  unable  tc 


504  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

get  any  rest  in  my  bed.  Hoping  that  the  first  fresh  air  of  the 
morning  would  do  me  good,  1  w^nt  to  the  beautiful  garden, 
covered  with  fruit  trees  of  all  kinds,  which  was  then  around  the 
Episcopal  residence.  But  what  was  my  surprise  to  see  the 
bishop  leaning  on  a  tree,  ■with  his  handkerchief  over  his  face,  and 
bathed  in  tears.  I  approached  him  with  the  least  noise  possible. 
I  saw  that  he  did  not  perceive  me.  By  the  motion  of  his  head 
and  shoulders,  it  became  evident  to  me  that  he  was  in  anguish  of 
soul.  I  said  to  him:  "My  dear  bishop,  what  is  the  matter? 
Why  do  you  weep  and  cry  at  such  an  early  hour?" 

Pressing  my  hand  convulsively  in  his,  he  answered: 

"  Dear  Father  Chiniqu}',  you  do  not  yet  know  the  awful 
calamity  which  has  befallen  me  this  night." 

"  What  calamity  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Do  you  not  remember,"  he  answered,  "  that  young  priest 
who  was  sitting  at  your  right  hand,  last  evening?  Well!  he 
went  away,  during  the  night,  with  the  wife  of  a  young  man, 
whom  he  had  seduced,  and  stole  $4,000  from  me  before  he  left." 

"  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  at  that,  when  I  remember  how  that 
priest  emptied  his  glasses  of  beer  and  wine  last  night,"  I  answered. 
"  When  the  blood  of  a  man  is  heated  by  those  fiery  liquors, 
it  is  sheer  absurdity  to  think  that  he  will  keep  his  vow  of 
chastity." 

''You  are  right!  You  are  right!  God  Almighty  has  pun- 
ished me  for  breaking  the  public  pledge  I  had  taken  never  to 
drink  any  intoxicating  drinks.  We  want  a  reform  in  our  midst, 
and  we  will  have  it,"  he  answered.  "But  what  horrible  scan- 
dal! One  of  my  young  priests  gone  with  that  young  wife,  after 
stealing  $4,000  from  me!  Great  God!  Must  we  not  hide  our 
face  now,  in  this  city?  " 

I  could  say  noticing  to  alleviate  the  sorrow  of  the  poor  bishop, 
but  to  mingle  my  tears  of  shame  and  sorrow  with  his.  I  went 
back  to  my  room,  where  I  wept  a  part  of  the  day,  to  my  heart's 
content,  on  the  unspeakable  degradation  of  that  priesthood  of 
which  I  had  been  so  proud,  and  about  which  I  had  such  exalted 
views  when  I  entered  its  ranks,  before  I  had  an  inside  view  of 
its  dark  mysteries. 


MY    LECTURES    ON    TEMPERANCE    IN    DETROIT.  505 

Of  course,  the  next  two  days  that  I  was  the  guest  of  Bishop 
Lefebre,  not  a  single  drop  of  intoxicating  drink  was  seen  on  the 
table.  But  I  know  that  not  long  after,  that  representative  of  the 
pope  forgot  again  his  solemn  vows  and  continued  with  his 
priests  di  inking,  till  he  died  a  most  miserable  death  in  1875. 


Chapter  XL VIII. 

jmr  "VTSIT  TO  CHICAGO  IN  1851- BISHOP  VANDEVELD-HIS 
PREDECESSOR  POISONED-MAGNIFICENT  PRAIRIES  OF  THE 
WEST-RETURN  TO  CANADA- BAD  FEELINGS  OF  BISHOP 
BOURGET-I  DECLINE  SENDING  A  RICH  WOMAN  TO  THE 
NUNNERY  TO  ENRICH  THE  BISHOP-A  PLOT  TO  DESTROY 
HE. 

THE  journey  from  Detroit  to  Chicago,  in  the  month  of  June, 
1 85 1,  was  not  so  pleasant  as  it  is  to-day.  The  Michigan 
Central  Railroad  was  completed  then  only  to  New  Buffalo.  We 
took  the  steamer  there  and  crossed  Lake  Michigan  to  Chicago, 
whei'e  w^e  arrived  the  next  morning,  after  nearly  perishing  in  a 
terrible  storm.  On  the  15th  of  June,  I  first  landed,  with  the 
greatest  difficulty,  on  a  badly  wrecked  wharf,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  Some  of  the  streets  I  had  to  cross  in  order  to  reach 
the  bishop's  palace  were  almost  impassable.  In  many  places 
loose  planks  had  been  thrown  across  them  to  prevent  people 
from  miring  in  the  mud  and  quicksands. 

The  first  sight  of  Chicago  was  then  far  from  giving  an  idea 
of  what  that  city  has  become  in  1886.  Though  it  had  rapidly 
increased  in  the  last  ten  years,  its  population  was  then  not  much 
more  than  30,000.  The  only  line  of  railroad  finished  was  from 
Chicago  to  Aurora,  about  forty  miles. 

The  whole  population  of  the  State  of  Illinois  was  then  not 
much  beyond  200,000.  To-day,  Chicago  alone  numbers  more 
than  500,000  souls  within  her  limits.  Probably  more  grain, 
lumber,  beef  and  pork  are  now  bought  and  sold  in  a  single  day 
in  Chicago  than  Avere  then  in  a  whole  year. 

When  I  entered  the  miserable  house  called  the  "  bishop's 
palace,"  I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes.  The  planks  of  the 
lower  floor,  in  the  dining-room,  w^ere  floating,  and  it  required  a 
great   deal   of  ingenuity  to  keep  my  feet  drv  while  dining  with 

506 


A    PLOT    TO    DESTROY    ME.  507 

him  for  the  first  lime.  But  the  Christian  kindness  and  courtesy 
of  the  bishop,  made  me  more  happy  in  his  poor  house  than  1 
felt,  later,  in  the  white  marble  palace  built  by  his  haughty  suc- 
cessor, C.  O'Rcgan. 

There  were  then  in  Chicago  about  200  French  Canadian 
families,  under  the  pastorate  of  the  Rev.  M.  A.  Lebel,  who,  like 
myself,  was  born  in  Kamouraska.  The  drunkenness  and  other 
immoralities  of  the  clergy,  pictured  to  me  by  that  pi'iest,  surpassed 
all  I  had  ever  heard  or  known. 

After  getting  my  promise  that  I  would  never  reveal  the  fact 
before  his  death,  he  assured  me  that  the  last  bishop  had  been 
poisoned  by  one  of  his  grand  vicars  in  the  following  way.  He 
said,  the  grand  vicar,  being  father  confessor  of  the  nuns  of 
Loretto,  had  fallen  in  love  with  one  of  the  so-called  virgins,  who 
died  a  few  days  after  becoming  the  mother  of  a  still-born 
child. 

This  fact  having  transpired,  and  threatening  to  give  a  great 
deal  of  scandal,  the  bishop  thought  it  was  his  duty  to  make  an 
inquiry  and  punish  his  priest,  if  he  should  be  found  guilty.  But 
the  grand  vicar,  seeing  that  his  crime  was  to  be  easily  detected, 
found  that  the  shortest  way  to  escape  exposure  was  to  put  an 
end  to  the  inquest  by  murdering  the  poor  bishop.  A  poison  very 
difficult  to  detect  was  administered,  and  the  death  of  the  prelate 
soon  followed,  without  exciting  any   surprise  in  the  community. 

Horrified  by  the  long  and  minute  details  of  that  mystery  of 
iniquity,  I  came  very  near  returning  to  Canada,  immediately, 
without  going  any  further.  But  after  more  mature  consideration, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  these  awful  iniquities  on  the  part  of  the 
priests  of  Illinois  was  just  the  reason  why  I  should  not  shut  my 
•ears  to  the  voice  of  God,  if  it  were  His  will  that  I  should  come 
to  take  care  of  the  precious  souls  He  would  trust  to  me.  I  spent 
a  week  in  Chicago,  lecturing  on  temperance  every  evening,  and 
listening  during  the  Jays  to  the  grand  plans  the  bishop  was 
maturing,  in  order  to  make  our  Church  of  Rome  the  mistress 
and  ruler  of  the  magnificent  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  which 
included  the  States  of  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Miss- 
issippi, etc.     He  clearly  demonstrated  to  me,  that   once  mistress 


508  FIFTV    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  the  incalculable  treasures  of  those  rich  lands,  throug/i  the 
millions  of  her  obedient  children,  our  church  would  easily  com- 
mand the  respect  and  the  submission  of  the  less  favored  states  of 
the  east. 

My  zeal  for  my  church  was  so  sincere  that  I  would  have 
given,  with  pleasure,  every  drop  of  my  blood,  in  order  to  secure 
to  her  such  a  future  of  power  and  greatness.  I  felt  really  happy 
and  thankful  to  God  that  He  should  have  chosen  me  to  help  the 
pope  and  the  bishops  realize  such  a  noble  and  magnificent  pro- 
iect. 

Leaving  Chicago,  it  took  me  nearly  three  days  to  cross  the 
vast  prairies,  which  were  then  a  perfect  wilderness,  between 
Chicago  and  Bourbonnais,  where  I  spent  three  weeks  in  preach- 
ing and  exploring  the  country  extending  from  the  Kankakee 
river  to  the  south-west  towards  the  Mississippi. 

It  was  only  then  that  I  plainly  understood  the  greatness  of 
the  plans  of  the  bishop,  and  that  I  determined  to  sacrifice  the 
exalted  position  God  had  given  me  in  Canada  to  guide  the  steps 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  emigrants  from  France,  Belgium  and 
Canada  towards  the  regions  of  the  west,  in  order  to  extend  the 
power  and  influence  of  my  church  all  over  the  United  States. 

On  my  return  to  Chicago,  in  the  second  week  of  July,  all 
was  arranged  with  the  bishop  for  my  coming  back  in  the  autumn, 
to  help  him  to  accomplish  his  gigantic  j^lans. 

However,  i.t  was  understood  between  us  that  my  leaving 
Canada  for  the  United  States  would  be  kept  a  secret  till  the  last 
hour,  on  account  of  the  stern  opposition  I  expected  from  my 
bishop. 

The  last  thing  to  be  done,  on  my  return  to  Canada,  in  order 
to  prepare  the  emigrants  to  go  to  Illinois,  rather  than  any  other 
part  of  the  United  States,  was  to  tell  them  through  the  press  the 
unrivaled  advantages  which  God  had  prepared  for  them  in  the 
west.  I  did  so  by  a  letter,  which  was  published  not  only  by  the 
press  of  Canada,  but  also  in  many  papers  of  France  and  Bel- 
gium. The  importance  of  that  letter  is  such  that  I  hope  my 
reader  will  bear  with  me  in  reproducing  the  following  extracts 
from  it. 


A  PLOT  TO  TO  DESTROY  ME. 


509 


we 


Montreal,  Canada  East. 

August  13th,  1851. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  our  friends,  by  narration,  an   idea  of  what 
feel,  when  we  cross  for  the  first  time  the  immense  prairies  of  Illinois.     It 
is  a  spectacle  which  must  be  seen  to  be  well  understood. 

As  you  advance  in  the  midst  of  these  boundless  deserts,  where  your 
eyes  perceive  nothing  but  lands  of  inexhaustible  richness,  remaining  in  the 
most  desolating  solitude,  you  feel  something  which  you  cannot  express  bj 
any  words. 

Is  your  soul  filled  with  joy,  or  your  heart  broken  with  sadness  .■*  You 
cannot  say.  You  lift  up  your  eyes  to  heaven,  and  the  voice  of  your  soul  is 
chanting  a  hymn  of  gratitude.  Tears  of  joy  are  trickling  down  your  cheeks, 
and  3'ou  bless  God,  whose  curse  seems  not  to  have  fallen  on  the  land  where 
you  stand:  "Cursed  is  the  earth  in  thy  work;  thorns  and  thistles  shall  it 
bring  forth  to  thee." 

You  see  around  you  the  most  luxuriant  verdure;  flowers  of  everv  kind, 
and  magnificence  above  description. 

But,  if  in  the  silence  of  meditation,  you  look  with  new  attention  on 
those  prairies,  so  rich,  so  magnificent,  you  feel  an  inexpressible  sentiment 
of  sadness,  and  addressing  yourself  to  the  blessed  land,  you  say:  "Why 
art  thou  so  solitary  ?     Why  is  the  wild  game  alone  here  to  glorify  my  God.-* " 

And  if  you  continue  to  advance  through  those  immense  prairies,  which, 
like  a  boundless  ocean,  are  spreading  their  rolling  waves  before  you,  and 
seem  to  long  after  the  presence  of  man,  to  cover  themselves  with  incalculable 
treasures,  you  remember  your  friends  in  Canada,  and  more  particularly 
those  among  them  who,  crushed  down  by  misery,  are  watering  with  the 
sweat  of  their  brow  a  sterile  and  desolated  soil,  you  say: 

'■  Ah !  if  such  and  such  of  my  friends  were  here,  how  soon  they  would 
see  their  hard  and  ungrateful  labors  changed  into  the  most  smiling  and  happy 
position." 

Perhaps  I  will  be  accused  here,  of  trying  to  depopulate  my  country,  and 
drive  my  countrymen  from  Canada  to  the  United  States. 

No!  no.  I  never  had  so  perverse  a  design.  Here  is  my  mind  about 
the  subject  of  emigration,  and  I  see  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  it,  or  to 
conceal  it. 

It  is  a  fact  that  a  great  number  (and  much  greater  than  generally  be- 
lieved) of  French  Canadians  are  yearly  emigrating  from  Canada,  and  no- 
body regrets  it  more  than  I  dp ;  but  as  long  as  those  who  govern  Canada 
will  not  pay  more  attention  to  that  evil,  it  will  be  an  incurable  one,  and 
every  year  Canada  will  lose  thousands  and  thousands  of  its  strongest  arms 
and  noblest  hearts,  to  benefit  our  happy  neighbors. 

With  many  others,  I  had  the  hope  that  the  eloquent  voice  of  the  poor 
settlers  of  our  eastern  townships  would  be  heard,  and  that  the  government 
would  help  them ;  but  that  hope  has  gone  like  a  dream,  and  we  have  now 


5IO  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

every  reason  to  fear  that  our  unfortunate  settlers  of  the  east  will  be  left  to 
themselves. 

The  greatest  part  of  them,  for  the  want  of  roads  to  the  markets  of 
Quebec  and  Montreal,  and  still  more  by  the  tyranny  of  their  cruel  landlords, 
will  soon  be  obliged  to  bid  an  eternal  adieu  to  their  country,  and  with  an 
enraged  heart  against  their  haughty  oppressors,  they  will  seek  in  the  exile 
to  a  strange  land  the  protection  they  could  not  find  in  their  own  country. 

Yes!  If  our  Canadian  government  continues  a  little  longer  to  show  the 
same  incomprehensible  and  stupid  apathy  for  the  welfare  of  its  own  subjects, 
emigration  will  increase  every  year  from  Canada  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the 
American  people. 

Since  we  cannot  stop  that  emigration,  is  it  not  our  first  duty  to  direct  it 
in  such  a  way  that  it  will  be  to  the  poor  emigrants  as  little  injury  as  pos- 
sible ? 

Let  us  do  everything  to  hinder  them  from  going  to  the  large  cities  of 
the  United  States. 

Drowned  in  the  mixed  population  of  American  cities,  our  unfortimate 
emigrating  countrymen  would  be  too  much  exposed  to  losing  their  morality 
and  their  faith. 

Surely  there  is  not  another  country  under  the  heavens  where  space, 
bread,  and  liberty  are  so  universally  assured  to  every  member  of  the  com- 
munity, as  the  United  States.  But  it  is  not  in  the  great  cities  of  the  United 
States  that  our  poor  countrymen  will  soonest  find  these  three  gifts.  The 
French  Canadian  who  will  stop  in  the  large  cities,  will  not,  with  a  very  few 
exceptions,  raise  himself  above  the  unenviable  position  of  a  poor  journey- 
man. 

But  those  among  them  who  will  direct  their  steps  towards  the  rich  and 
extensive  prairies  of  Bourboimais,  will  certainly  find  a  better  lot. 

Many  in  Canada  would  believe  that  I  am  exaggerating,  were  I  to  pub 
lish  how  happy,  prosperous  and  respectable  is  the  French  Canadian  popula- 
tion of  Bourbonnais. 

The  French  Canadians  of  Bourbonnais  have  had  the  intelligence  to 
follow  the  good  example  of  the  industrious  American  farmers  m  the  man- 
ner of  cultivating  the  lands. 

On  their  farms  as  well  as  those  of  their  neighbors,  you  will  find  the 
best  machinery  to  cut  their  crops,  to  thresh  their  grain. 

They  enjoy  the  just  reputation  of  having  the  best  horses  in  the  country, 
and  very  few  can  beat  them  for  the  number  and  quality  of  their  cattle. 

Now,  what  can  be  the  prospects  of  a  young  man  in  Canada,  if  he  has 
not  more  than  $200.''  A  whole  life  of  hard  labor  and  continued  privation 
is  his  too  certain  lot.  But,  let  that  young  man  go  directly  to  Bourbonnais, 
and  if  he  is  industrious,  sober  and  religious,  before  a  couple  of  years  he  will 
see  nothing  to  envy  in  the  most  happy  farmer  in  Canada. 

As  the  land  he  will  take  in  Illinois,  is  entirely  prepared  for  tl>e  plow, 
he  has  no  trees  to  cut  or  eradicate,   no  stones  to  move,   no  ditch  to  dig,  his 


A    PLOT    TO    DESTROY    ME. 


511 


only  work  is  to  fence  and  break  his  land  and  sow  it,  and  the  very  first  year 
the  value  of  the  crop  will  be  sufficient  to  pay  for  his  farrfi. 

Holy  Providence  has  prepared  everything  for  the  benefit  of  the  happy 
farmers  of  Illinois. 

That  fertile  country  is  well  watered  by  a  multitude  of  rivers  and  large 
creeks,  who^e  borders  are  generally  covered  with  the  most  rich  and  exten- 
sive groves  of  timber  of  the  best  quality,  as  black  oak,  maple,  white  oak, 
burr  oak,  etc. 

The  seeds  of  the  beautiful  acacia  (locust),  after  five  or  six  years,  will 
give  you  a  splendid  tree. 

The  greatest  variety  of  fruits  are  growing  naturally  in  almost  every  part 
of  Illinois;  coal  mines  have  been  discovered  in  the  very  heart  of  the  country, 
more  than  sniflcient  for  the  wants  of  the  people.  Betore  long,  a  railroad 
from  Chicago  to  Bourbonnais  will  bring  our  happy  countrymen  to  the  most 
extensive  market,  the  Queen  city  of  the  west — Chicago. 

I  will  then  say  to  my  young  countrymen  who  intend  emigrating  from 
Canada:  "  My  friend,  exile  is  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  can  befall 
a  mau. 

"  Young  Canadian,  remain  in  thv  country,  keep  thy  heart  to  love  it, 
thy  intelligence  to  adorn  it,  and  thine  arms  to  protect  it. 

"  Young  and  dear  countrymen,  remain  in  thy  beautiful  country;  there 
is  nothing  more  grand  and  sublime  in  the  world  then  the  waters  of  the 
St.  Lawrence.  It  is  on  those  deep  and  majestic  waters  that,  before  long 
Europe  and  America  will  meet  and  bind  themselves  to  each  other  by  the 
blessed  bonds  of  an  eternal  peace;  it  is  on  its  shores  that  they  will  exchange 
their  incalculable  treasures.  Remain  in  the  country  of  thy  birth,  my  dear 
son.  Let  the  sweat  of  thy  brow  continue  to  fertilize  it,  and  let  the  perfume 
of  thy  virtues  bring  the  blessing  of  God  upon  it. 

"  But,  my  dear  son,  if  thou  hast  no  more  room  in  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence,  and  if,  by  the  want  of  protection  from  the  Government,  thou 
canst  not  go  to  the  forest  without  running  the  danger  of  losing  thy  life  in 
a  pond,  or  being  crushed  under  the  feet  of  an  English  or  Scotch  tyrant,  I 
am  not  the  man  to  invite  thee  to  exhaust  thy  best  days  for  the  benefit  of  the 
insolent  strangers,  who  are  the  lords  of  the  eastern  lands.  I  will  sooner  tell 
the,  '  go  my  child,'  there  are  many  extensive  places  still  vacant  on  the 
earth,  and  God  is  everywhere.  That  Great  God  calleth  thee  to  another 
land,  submit  thyself  to  His  Divne  Will. 

"  But,  before  you  bid  a  final  adieu  to  thy  country,  engrave  on  thy  heart 
and  keep  as  a  holy  deposit,  the  love  of  thy  holy  religion,  of  thy  beautiful 
language  and  of  the  dear  and  unfortunate  country  of  thy  birth. 

"  On  thy  way  to  the  land  of  exile,  stop  as  little  as  possible  in  the  great 
cities,  for  fear  of  the  many  snares  thy  eternal  enemy  has  prepared  for  thy 
perdition . 

"  But  go  straight  to  Bourbonnais.  There  you  will  find  many  of  thy 
brothers,  who  have  erected  the  cross  of  Christ;  join    thyself  to  them,   thou 


512  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

shalt  be  strong  of  their  strength ;  go  and  help  them  to  conquer  to  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  those  rich  countries,  which  shall,  very  soon,  weigh  more  than  is 
generally  believed,  in  the  balance  of  the  nations. 

"  Yes,  go  straight  to  Illinois.  Thou  shalt  be  not  entirely  in  a  strange 
and  alien  country.  Holy  Providence  has  chosen  thy  fathers  to  find  that 
rich  country,  and  to  reveal  to  the  world  its  admirable  resources. 

"  More  than  once,  that  land  of  Illinois  has  been  sanctified  by  the  blood 
of  thy  ancestors. 

"  In  Illinois,  thou  shalt  not  make  a  step  without  finding  indestructible 
proof  of  the  perseverance,  genius,  bravery  and  piety  of  thy  French  forefathers. 

"  Go  to  Illinois,  and  the  many  names  of  Bourboivnais,  Joliet,  Dubuque, 
La  Salle,  St.  Charles,  St.  Mary,  etc.,  that  you  will  meet  everywhere,  will 
tell  you  more  than  my  words,  that  that  country  is  i  othing  but  the  rich 
inheritance  which  your  fathers  have  found  for  the  benefit  of  their  grand- 
children." 

C.  CHINIQUY. 

I  would  never  have  published  this  letter,  ii  I  had  foreseen  its 
effects  on  the  farmers  of  Canada.  In  a  few  days  after  its  appear- 
ance, their  farms  fell  to  half  their  value.  Every  one,  in  some 
parishes,  wanted  to  sell  their  lands  and  emigrate  to  the  west. 
It  was  only  for  want  of  purchasers  that  we  did  not  see  an  emi- 
gration which  would  have  surely  ruined  Canada,  I  was  fright- 
ened by  its  immediate  effect  on  the  public  mind.  However, 
while  some  were  praising  me  to  the  skies,  for  having  published 
it,  others  were  cursing  me,  and  calling  me  a  traitor.  The  very 
day  after  its  publication,  I  was  in  Quebec,  where  the  bishops  of 
Canada  were  met  in  council.  The  first  one  I  met,  was  my  Lord 
De  Charbonel,  Bishop  of  Toronto.  After  having  blessed  me, 
he  pressed  my  hand  and  said : 

*'  I  have  just  read  your  admirable  letter.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  and  eloquently  written  articles  I  ever  read.  The 
Spirit  of  God  has  surely  inspired  every  one  of  its  sentences.  I 
have,  just  now,  forwarded  six  copies  of  it  to  different  journals  of 
France  and  Belgium,  where  they  will  be  republished  and  do  an 
incalculable  amount  of  good,  by  directing  the  French-speaking 
Catholic  emigrants  towards  a  couiatry  where  they  will  run  no 
risk  of  losing  their  faith,  with  the  assurance  of  securing  a  future 
of  unbounded  prosperity  for  their  families.  Your  name  will  be 
put  among  the  names  of  the  greatest  benefactors   of  humanity." 


A    PLOT    TO    DESTROY    ME. 


:)'3 


Though  these  compliments  seemed  to  me  much  exaggerated 
and  unmerited,  I  cannot  deny  that  they  pleased  me,  by  adding  to 
my  hopes  and  convictions  that  great  good  would  surely  come 
from  the  plan  I  had  of  gathering  all  the  Roman  Catholic  emi- 
grants on  the  same  spot,  to  form  such  large  and  strong  congre- 
gations; that  they  would  have  nothing  to  fear  from  heretics.  I 
thanked  the  bishop  for  his  kind  and  friendly  words,  and  left  him 
to  go  and  present  my  respectful  salutations  to  my  Bishop  of 
Montreal,  my  Lord  Bourget,  and  give  him  a  short  sketch  of  my 
voyage  to  the  far  west.  I  found  him  alone  in  his  room,  in  the 
very  act  of  reading  my  letter.  A  lioness,  who  had  just  lost  her 
whelps,  would  not  have  looked  upon  me  with  more  angry  and 
threatening  eyes  than  that  bishop  did. 

"  Is  it  possible,"  he  said,  "  Mr.  Chiniquy,  that  your  hand  has 
written  and  signed  such  a  perfidious  document?  How  could  you 
so  cruelly  pierce  the  bosom  of  your  own  country,  after  her  deal- 
ing so  nobly  with  you?  Do  you  not  see  that  your  treasonable 
letter  will  give  such  an  impetus  to  emigration  that  our  most 
thriving  parishes  will  soon  be  turned  into  solitude?  Though 
you  do  not  say  it,  we  feel  at  every  line  of  that  letter,  that  you 
also  will  leave  your  country,  to  give  help  and  comfort  to  our 
natural  enemies." 

Surprised  by  this  unexpected  burst  of  bad  feelings,  I  kept 
mv  sang  froid^  and  answered: 

"  Mv  lord,  your  lordship  has  snrely  misunderstood  me,  if 
you  have  found  in  my  letter  any  treasonable  plan  to  run  our 
country.  Please  read  it  again,  and  you  will  see  that  every  line 
has  been  inspired  by  the  purest  motives  of  patriotism,  and  the 
highest  views  of  religion.  How  is  it  possible  that  the  worthy 
Bishop  of  Toronto  should  have  told  me  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
Himself  had  dictated  every  line  of  that  letter,  when  my  good 
bishop  s  opinion  is  so  completely  opposite?" 

The  abrupt  answer  the  bishop  gave  to  these  remarks,  clearly 
indicated  that  my  absence  would  be  more  welcome  than  my 
presence.  I  left  him,  after  asking  his  blessing,  which  he  gave 
me  in  the  coldest  manner  possible. 

^dw  the  25th  of  August,  I  was  back   at  Longueuil,   frona    my 


514  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

voyage  to  Quebec,  which  1  had  extended  as  far  as  Kamouraska, 
to  see  again  the  noble-hearted  parishioners,  whose  unanimity  in 
taking  tlie  pledge  of  temperance,  and  admirable  fidelity  in  keep- 
ing it  then,  had  filled  my  heart  with  such  joy. 

I  related  my  last  interview  with  Bishop  Bourget  to  my  faith- 
ful fi'iend  Mr.  Brassard.     He  answered  me: 

"  The  present  bad  feelings  of  the  Bishop  of  Montreal  against 
you,  are  no  secret  to  me.  Unfortunately  the  low-minded  men 
who  surround  and  council  him,  are  as  unable  as  the  bishop 
himself,  to  understand  your  exalted  views  in  directing  the  steps 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  towards  the  splendid  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  They  are  beside  themselves,  because  they  see  that 
you  will  easily  succeed  in  forming  a  grand  colony  of  French- 
speaking  people  in  Illinois.  Now,  I  am  sure  of  what  I  say, 
though  I  am  not  free  to  tell  you  how  it  came  to  my  knowledge; 
there  is  a  plot  somewhere  to  dishonor  and  destroy  you,  at  once. 
Those  who  are  at  the  head  of  that  plot,  hope  that  if  they  can 
succeed  in  destroying  your  popularity,  nobody  will  be  tempted 
to  follow  you  to  Illinois.  For,  though  you  have  concealed  it  as 
well  as  you  could,  it  is  evident  to  every  one  now,  that  you  are 
the  man  selected  by  the  bishops  of  the  west  to  direct  the  uncer- 
tain steps  of  the  poor  emigrants  towards  those  rich  lands." 

"  Do  you  mean,  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard,"  I  replied,  "that 
there  are  priests  around  the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  cruel  and  vile 
enough  to  forge  calumnies  against  me,  and  spread  them  before 
the  country  in  such  a  way  that  I  shall  be  unable  to  refute 
them." 

"It  is  just  what  I  mean,"  answered  Mr.  Brassard.  "Mind 
what  I  tell  you;  the  bishop  has  made  use  of  you  to  reform  his 
diocese.  He  likes  you  for  that  work.  But  your  popularity  is 
too  great,  to-day,  for  your  enemies;  they  "want  to  get  rid  of  you, 
and  no  means  will  be  too  vile  or  criminal  to  accomplish  your 
destruction,  if  they  can  attain  their  object." 

"  But,  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard,  can  you  give  me  any  details  of 
the  plots  which  are  in  store  against  me?"  I  aoked. 

"No!  I  cannot,  for  I  know  them  not.  But  be  on  your 
guard;  for  your  few,  but  powerful  enemies,  are  jubilant.     They 


A    PLOT    TO    DESTROY    ME.  515 

speak  of  the  absolute  impotency  to  which  you  will  soon  be 
reduced;  if  you  accomplish  what  they  so  maliciously  and  falsely 
call  your  treacherous  objects." 

I  answered;  "Our  Saviour  has  said  to  all  His  disciples;  'In 
the  world,  ye  shall  have  tribulations.  But  be  of  good  cheer,  I 
have  overcome  the  world.'  I  am  more  determined  than  ever,  to 
put  my  trust  in  God  and  fear  no  man." 

Two  hours  after  this  conversation,  I  received  the  following 
from  the  Rev.  M.  Pare,  secretary  to  the  Bishop: 

To  THE  Rev.  Mr.  Chiniquy, 

Apostle  of  Temperance. 
My  Dbar  Sir: — My  lord  Bishop  of  Montreal  would  like  to  see  you 
upon  6ome  important  business.     Please  come  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

Yours  truly, 

Jos.  Pare,  Secretary. 

The  next  morning  I  was  alone  with  Monseigneur  Bourget, 
who  received  me  very  kindly.  He  seemed  at  first  to  have  en- 
tirely banished  the  bad  feelings  he  had  shown  in  our  last  inter- 
view at  Quebec.  After  making  some  friendly  remarks  on  my 
continual  labors  and  success  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  he 
stopped  for  a  moment,  and  seemed  embarrassed  how  to  resume 
the  conversation.     At  last  he  said: 

"Are  you  not  the  father  confessor  of  Mrs.  Chenier?" 

"  Yes!  my  lord.  I  have  been  her  confessor  since  I  lived  in 
Longueuil." 

"  Very  well,  very  well,"  he  rejoined,  "  I  suppose  that  you 
know  that  her  only  child  is  a  nun,  in  the  Congregation  Con- 
vent." 

"Yes!  my  lord,  I  know  it,"  I  replied. 

"Could  you  not  induce  Mrs  Chenier  to  become  a  nun  also?" 
asked  the  bishop. 

"  I  never  thought  of  that,  my  lord,"  I  answered,  "  and  I  do 
not  see  why  I  should  advise  her  to  exchange  her  beautiful  cot- 
tage, washed  by  the  fresh  and  pure  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
where  she  looks  so  happy  and  cheerful,  for  the  gloomy  walls  of 
the  nunnery." 


5l6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  But  she  is  still  young  and  beautiful;  she  may  be  deceived 
by  temptation  when  she  is  there,  in  that  beautiful  house,  sur- 
rounded by  all  the  enjoyments  of  her  fortune,"  replied  the 
bishop. 

"  I  understand  your  lordship.  Yes,  Mrs  Chenier  has  the 
reputation  of  being  rich;  though  I  know  nothing  of  her  fortune, 
she  has  kept  well  the  charms  and  freshness  of  her  youth.  How- 
ever, I  think  that  the  best  remedy  against  the  temptations  you 
seem  to  dread  so  much  for  her,  is  to  advise  her  to  marry.  A 
good  Christian  husband  seems  to  me  a  much  better  remedy 
against  the  dangers,  to  which  your  lordship  alludes,  than  the 
cheerless  walls  of  a  nunnery." 

"You  speak  just  as  a  Protestant,"  rejoined  the  bishop,  with 
an  evident  nervous  irritation.  "  We  remark  that,  though  you 
hear  tha  confessions  of  a  great  number  of  young  ladies,  there  is 
not  a  single  one  of  them  who  has  ever  become  a  nun.  You 
seem  to  ignore,  that  the  vow  of  chastity  is  the  shortest  way  to  a 
life  of  holiness  in  this  world  and  happiness  in  the  next." 

"  I  am  sorry  to  differ  from  your  lordship,  in  that  matter," 
I  replied.  "  But  I  cannot  help  it,  the  remedy  you  have  found 
against  sin  is  quite  modern.  The  old  remedy  offered  by  our 
God  Himself,  is  very  different  and  much  better,  I  think." 

"  'It  is  not  good  that  man  shall  remain  alone,  I  will  make  a 
help-mate  for  him,'  said  our  Creator  in  the  earthly  paradise. 
*  And  to  avoid  fornication,  let  every  man  have  his  wife,  and  let 
every  woman  have  have  her  husband,'  said  the  same  God, 
through  His  apostle  Paul. 

"  I  know  too  well  how  the  great  majority  of  nuns  keep  their 
vows  of  chastity,  to  believe  that  the  modern  remedy  against  the 
temptations  you  mention,  is  an  improvement  on  the  old  one 
found  and  given  by  our  God ! "  I  answered. 

With  an  angry  look,  the  bishop  replied: 

"  This  is  Piotestantism,  Mr.  Chiniquy.  This  is  sheer  Pro- 
testantism." 

"  I  respectfully  ask  your  pardon  for  differing  from  your 
lordship.  This  is  not  Protestantism.  It  is  simply  and  absolutely 
the  '  pure  word  of  God.'     But,  my   lord,  God   knows  that  it  is 


A     PLOT     ro    DJiSTUOY     MH. 


^)'r 


my  sincere  desire,  as  it  is  my  interest  and  my  duty,  to  do  all  in 
my  power  to  deserve  your  esteem.  I  do  not  want  to  vex  nor 
disobey  you.  Please  give  me  a  good  reason  why  I  should  ad- 
vise Mrs.  Chenier  to  enter  a  monastery,  and  I  will  comply  with 
your  request  the  very  first  time  she  comes  to  confess." 

Resuming  his  most  amiable  manner,  the  bishop  answered  me: 

"  My  first  reason  is,  the  spiritual  good  which  she  would  re- 
ceive from  her  vows  of  perpetual  chastity  and  poverty  in  nunnery. 
The  second  reason  is,  that  the  lady  is  rich ;  and  we  are  in  need 
uf  money.  We  would  soon  possess  her  whole  fortune;  for  her 
only  child  is  already  in  the  Congregation  Convent." 

"  My  dear  bishop,"  I  replied,  "you  already  know  what  I 
think  of  your  first  reason.  After  having  investigated  that  fact, 
not  in  the  Protestant  books,  but  from  the  lips  of  the  nuns  them- 
selves, as  well  as  from  their  father  confessors,  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced that  the  real  virtue  of  purity  is  much  better  kept  in  the 
homes  of  our  Christian  mothers,  married  sisters,  and  female 
friends,  than  in  the  secret  rooms,  not  to  say  prisons,  where  the 
poor  nuns  are  enchained  by  the  heavy  fetters  assumed  by  their 
vows,  which  the  great  majority  curse  when  they  cannot  break 
them. 

"  And  for  the  second  reason,  your  lordship  gives  me  to 
induce  Mrs.  Chenier  becoming  a  nun,  I  am  again  sorry  to  say, 
that  I  cannot  conscientiously  accept  it.  I  have  not  consecrated 
myself  to  the  priesthood  to  deprive  respectable  families  of  their 
legal  inheritance  in  order  to  enrich  myself,  or  anybody  else.  I 
know  she  has  poor  relations  who  need  her  fortune  after  her 
deflth.*' 

"  Do  you  pretend  to  say  that  your  bishop  is  a  thief?"  angrily 
rejoined  the  bishop. 

"No,  my  lord!  By  no  means.  No  doubt,  from  your  high 
standpoint  of  view,  your  lordship  may  see  things  in  a  very  diff- 
erent aspect,  from  what  I  see  them,  in  the  low  position  I  occupy 
in  the  church.  But,  as  your  lordship  is  bound  to  follow  the  dic- 
tates of  your  conscience  in  everything,  I  also  feel  obliged  to  give 
heed  to  the  voice  of  mine." 

This  painful  conversation  had  already  lasted  too  long.     I  was 


5l8  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

anxious  to  see  the  end  of  it;  for  I  could  easily  read  in  the  face 
of  my  supeiior  that  every  word  I  uttered  was  sealing  my  doom. 
I  rose  up  to  take  leave  of  him,  and  said :  "  My  lord,  I  beg  your 
pardon  for  disappointing  your  lordship." 

He  coldly  answered  me: 

"It  is  not  the  first  time,  though  I  would  it  were  the  last,  that 
you  show  such  a  want  of  respect  and  submission  to  the  will  of 
your  superiors.  But,  as  I  feel  it  is  a  conscientious  affair  on  your 
part,  I  have  no  ill-will  against  you,  and  I  am  happy  to  tell  you 
that  I  entertain  for  you  all  my  past  esteem.  The  only  favor  I  ask 
from  you,  just  now,  is  that  this  conversation  may  be  kept  secret." 

I  answered:  "  It  is  still  more  to  my  interest  than  yours  to 
keep  this  unfortunate  affair  a  secret  between  us.  I  hope  that 
neither  your  lordship,  nor  the  Great  God,  who  alone  has  heard 
us,  will  ever  make  it  an  imperious  duty  for  me  to  mention  it." 

"  What  good  news  do  you  bring  me  from  the  bishop's  palace  ? " 
asked  my  venerable  friend,  Mr.  Brassard,  when  I  returned,  late 
in  the  afternoon. 

"  I  would  have  very  spicy,  though  unpalatable  news  to  give 
you,  had  not  the  bishop  asked  me  to  keep  what  has  been  said 
between  us  a  secret." 

Mr.  Brassard  laughed  outright,  at  my  answer,  and  replied: 

"A  secret!  a  secret!  Ah!  but  it  is  a  gazette  secret;  for  the 
bishop  has  bothered  me,  as  well  as  many  others,  with  that  matter, 
frequently,  since  your  return  from  Illinois.  Several  times  he 
has  asked  us  to  persuade  you  to  advise  your  devoted  penitent, 
Mrs.  Chenier,  to  become  a  nun.  I  knew  he  invited  you  to  his 
palace,  yesterday,  for  that  object." 

"  The  eyes  and  the  heart  of  our  poor  bishop,"  continued  Mr. 
Brassard,  "  are  too  firmly  fixed  on  the  fortune  of  that  lady. 
Hence,  his  zeal  about  the  salvation  of  her  soul,  through  the  mon- 
astic life.  In  vain  I  tried  to  dissuade  the  bishop  from  speaking 
to  you  on  that  subject,  on  account  of  your  prejudices  against  our 
good  nuns.  He  would  not  listen  to  me.  No  doubt  you  have 
realized  my  worst  anticipations;  you  hav^e,  with  your  usual  stub- 
bornness, refused  to  yield  to  his  demands.  I  fear  you  have  added 
to  his  bad  feelings,  and  consummated  your  disgrace.*' 


A    PLOT    TO    DESTROY    ME. 


519 


"  What  a  deceitful  man  that  bishop  is,"  I  answered  indio-- 
nantly.  "  He  has  given  me  to  understand  that  this  was  a  most 
sacred  secret  between  him  and  me;  when  I  see,  by  what  you  sav 
that  it  is  nothing  else  than  a  farcical  secret,  known  by  the  hundreds 
who  have  heard  of  it. 

»  But  please,  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard,  tell  me,  is  it  not  a  burn- 
ing shame  that  our  nunneries  are  changed  into  real  traps,  to  steal 
cheat  and  ruin  so  many  unsuspecting  families?  I  have  no  words 
to  express  my  disgust  and  indignation,  when  I  see  that  all  those 
great  demonstrations  and  eloquent  tirades  about  the  perfection 
and  holiness  of  the  nuns,  on  the  part  of  our  spiritual  rulers,  are 
nothing  else,  in  reality,  than  a  veil  to  conceal  their  stealing 
operations.  Do  you  not  feel  that  those  poor  nuns  are  the  victims 
of  the  most  stupendous  system  of  swindling  the  world  has  ever 
seen  ? 

"  I  know  that  there  are  some  honorable  exceptions.  For 
instance,  the  nunnery  30U  have  founded  here,  is  an  exception. 
You  have  not  built  it  to  enrich  yourself,  as  you  have  spent  your 
last  cent  in  its  erection.  But  you  and  I  are  only  simpletons,  who 
have,  till  now,  ignored  the  terrible  secrets  which  put  that 
machine  of  the  nunneries  and  monkeries  in  motion.  I  am  more 
than  ever  disgusted  and  terrified,  not  only  b}-  the  unspeakable 
corruptions,  but  also  by  the  stupendous  system  of  swindling 
which  is  their  foundation  stone.  If  the  cities  of  Quebec  and 
Montreal  could  know  what  I  know  of  the  incalculable  sums  of 
money  secretly  stolen  through  the  confessional  to  aid  our  bishops 
in  building  the  famous  cathedrals  and  splendid  palaces,  or  to 
cover  themselves  with  robes  of  silk,  satin,  silver  and  gold;  to  live 
more  luxurious  than  the  Pashas  of  Turkey,  they  would  set  fire  to 
all  those  palatial  buildings;  they  would  hang  the  confessors  who 
have  thrown  the  poor  nuns  into  these  dungeons,  under  the  pre- 
text of  saving  their  souls,  when  the  real  motive  was  to  lay  hands 
on  their  inheritance  and  raise  their  colossal  fortunes.  The 
bishop  has  opened  before  me  a  most  deplorable  and  shameful 
pao-e  of  the  history  of  our  church.  It  makes  me  understand 
many  facts  which  were  a  mystery  to  me  till  to-day.  Now  I 
understand  the  terrible  wrath  of  the  English   people  in  the  days 


520  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  old,  and  of  the  French  people  more  recently,  when  they  so 
violently  wrenched  from  the  hands  of  the  clergy  the  enormous 
wealth  they  had  accumulated  during  the  dark  ages.  I  have  con- 
demned those  great  nations  till  now.  But,  to-day,  I  absolve 
them.  I  am  sure  that  those  men,  though  blind  and  cruel  in  their 
vengeance,  were  the  ministers  of  the  justice  of  God.  The  God 
of  heaven  could  not,  forever,  tolerate  a  sacrilegious  system  of 
swindling,  as  I  know,  now,  to  be  in  operation  from  one  end  to 
the  other,  not  only  of  Canada,  but  of  the  whole  world,  under 
the  mask  of  religion.  I  know  that  the  bishop  and  his  flatterers 
will  hate  and  persecute  me  for  my  stern  opposition  to  his  rapacity. 
But  I  do  feel  happy  and  proud  of  his  hatred.  The  God  of  truth 
and  justice,  the  God  of  tlie  gospel,  will  be  on  my  side,  when 
they  attack  me.  I  do  not  fear  them ;  let  them  come.  That 
bishop  surely  did  not  know  me,  when  he  thought  that  I  would 
consent  to  be  the  instrument  of  his  hypocrisy,  and  that,  under 
the  false  pretext  of  a  delusive  perfection,  I  would  throw  that 
lady  into  a  dungeon  for  her  life,  that  he  might  become  rich  with 
her  inheritance." 

Mr.  Brassard  answered  me:  "I  cannot  blame  you  for  your 
disobeying  the  bishop,  in  this  instance.  I  foretold  him  what  has 
occurred;  for  I  knew  what  you  think  of  the  nuns.  Though  I 
do  not  go  as  far  as  you  in  that,  I  cannot  absolutely  shut  my  eyes 
to  the  facts  which  stare  us  in  the  face.  Those  monkish  commu- 
nities have,  in  every  age,  been  the  principal  cause  of  the  calamities 
which  have  befallen  the  church.  For  their  love  of  riches,  their 
pride  and  laziness,  with  their  other  scandals,  have  always  been 
the  same. 

"  Had  I  been  able  to  foresee  what  has  occurred  inside  the 
walls  of  the  nunnery  I  built  up  here,  I  never  would  have  erected 
it.  However,  now  that  I  have  built  it,  it  is  the  child  of  my 
old  age;  I  feel  bound  to  support  it  to  the  end.  This  does  not 
prevent  me  from  behig  afflicted  when  I  see  the  facility  with 
which  our  poor  nuns  yield  to  the  criminal  desires  of  their  too 
weak  confessors.  Who  could  have  thought,  for  instance,  that 
that  lean  and  ugly  superior  of  the  oblates,  Father  Allard, 
could  have  fallen  in  love  with  his  young  nuns,  and  that  so  many 


A    PLOT    TO    DESTROY     ME.  52 1 

would  have  lost  their  hearts  on  his  account.  Have  you  heard 
how  the  young  men  of  our  village,  indignant  at  his  spending 
the  greater  part  of  the  night  with  the  nuns,  have  whipped  him, 
when  he  was  crossing  the  bridge,  not  long  before  his  leaving 
Longueuil  for  Africa?  It  is  evident  that  our  bishop  multiplies 
IDO  fast  those  religious  houses. 

"My  fear  is  that  they  will,  sooner  than  we  expect,  bring 
upon  our  Church  of  Canada  the  same  cataclysms  which  have  so 
often  desolated  iier  in  England,  France,  Germany  and  even  in 
Italy." 

The  clock  struck  twelve  just  when  this  last  sentence  fell 
from  the  lips  of  Mr.  Brassard.  It  was  quite  time  to  take  some 
rest.     When  leaving  me  for  his  sleeping  room,  he  said: 

'  My  dear  Chiniquy,  gird  your  loins  well,  sharpen  your  sword 
for  the  impending  conflict.  My  fear  is  that  the  bishop  and  his 
advisers  will  never  forget  your  wrenching  from  their  hands  the 
booty  they  were  coveting  so  long. 

"  They  will  never  forgive  the  spirit  of  independence  with 
which  you  have  rebuked  them. 

"  In  fact,  the  conflict  is  already  begun ;  may  God  protect  you 
against  the  open  blows,  and  the  secret  machinations  they  have 
in  store  for  you." 

I  answered  him :  "  I  do  not  fear  them.  I  put  my  trust  in 
God.  It  is  for  His  honor  I  am  fighting  and  suffering.  He  will 
surely  protect  me  from  those  sacrilegious  traders  in  souls." 


Chapter   XLIX. 

THS  PLOT  TO  DKSTROY  MB— THE  INTEBDICT— THE  BBTBBA.T 
AT  THE  JESUITS'  COLIiE&E— THE  LOST  GIBL,  EMPLOYED 
BY  THE  BISHOP,  BETRACTS— THE  BISHOP  CONFOUNDED, 
SEES  HIS  INJUSTICE,  MAKES  AMENDS-  TESTIMONIAL  LET- 
TEBS-THB  CHALICE— THE  BENEDICTION  BEFOBE  I  LEAVE 
CANADA. 

THE  first  week  of  September,  1851,  I  was  hearing  confessions 
in  one  of  the  churches  of  Montreal,  when  a  fine-looking 
girl  came  to  confess  sins,  whose  depravity  surpassed  anything  I 
had  ever  heard.  Though  I  forbade  her  twice  to  do  it,  she  gave 
me  the  names  of  several  priests  who  were  the  accomplices  of 
her  orgies.  The  details  of  her  iniquities  were  told  with  such 
cynical  impudence  that  the  idea  struck  me,  at  once,  that  she  was 
sent  by  some  one  to  ruin  me.  I  abruptly  stopped  her  disgusting 
stories  by  saying:  "  The  way  you  confess  your  sins,  is  a  sure 
indication  that  you  do  not  come  here  to  reconcile  yourself  to  God, 
but  to  ruin  me.  By  the  grace  of  God,' you  will  fail.  I  forbid 
you  to  come  any  more  to  my  confessional.  If  I  see  you  again 
among  my  penitents,  I  will  order  the  beadle  to  turn  you  out  of 
the  church." 

I  instantly  shut  the  door  of  the  small  aperture  through  which 
&he  was  speaking  to  me. 

She  answered  something  which  I  could  not  understand.  But 
the  tone  of  her  voice,  the  shaking  of  her  hands  and  head,  with 
her  manner  of  walking,  when  she  left  the  confessional,  indicated 
that  she  was  beside  herself  with  rage,  as  she  went  to  speak  a 
few  words  to  a  carter  who  was  in  the  church  preparing  himself 
to  confess. 

The  next  evening,  I  said  to  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  that  1 
suspected  that  a  girl  was  sent  to  my  confessional  to  ruin  me. 


THE    INTERDICT. 


5*3 


He  answered :  "  Did  I  not  warn  you  sometime  ago  that 
there  was  a  plot  to  destroy  you  ?  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but 
that  that  girl  was  hired  to  begin  that  diabolical  work.  You 
have  no  idea  of  my  anxiety  about  you.  For  I  know  your 
enemies  will  not  shrink  fi'om  any  iniquity  to  destroy  your  good 
name,  and  prevent  you  from  directing  the  tide  of  emigration 
from  Canada  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi." 

I  replied  "  that  I  could  not  partake  of  his  fears;  that  God 
knew  my  innocence  and  the  purity  of  my  motives;  He  would 
defend  and  protect  me." 

"My  dear  Chiniquy,"  replied  Mr.  Brassard,  "I  know  your 
enemies.  They  are  not  numerous,  but  they  are  implacable,  and 
their  power  for  mischief  knows  no  limits.  Surely,  God  can  save 
you  from  their  hands;  but  I  cannot  share  your  security  for  the 
future.  Your  answer  to  the  bishop,  in  reference  to  Mrs.  Chenier, 
when  you  refused  to  send  her  to  the  nunnery,  that  he  might  in- 
herit her  fortune,  has,  forever,  alienated  him  from  you.  Bishop 
Bourget  has  the  merited  reputation  of  being  the  most  revengeful 
man  in  Canada.  He  will  avail  himself  of  the  least  opportunity 
to  strike  you  without  mercy." 

I  answered:  "Though  there  should  be  a  thousand  Bishops 
Bourget  to  plot  against  me,  I  will  not  fear  them,  so  long  as  [  am 
in  the  right,  as  1  am  to-day." 

As  the  clock  struck  twelve,  I  bade  him  good  night,  and  ten 
minutes  later  I  was  sound  asleep. 

The  following  days  I  went  to  deliver  a  course  of  lectures  on 
temperance  to  several  parishes  south  of  Laprairie,  till  the  28th 
of  September,  after  which  I  came  back  from  St.  Constant  to  rest, 
for  a  few  days,  and  prepare  to  start  for  Chicago. 

On  my  arrival,  1  found  on  my  table  a  shoit  letter  from  Bishop 
Bourget,  telling  me  that,  for  a  criminal  action,  which  he  did  not 
want  to  mention,  committed  with  a  person  he  would  not  name, 
he  had  withdrawn  all  my  priestly  powers  and  interdicted  me. 

I  handed  the  letter  to  Mr.  Brassard  and  said:  "Is  not  this 
the  fulfillment  of  your  prophecies?  What  do  you  think  of  a 
bishop  who  interdicts  a  priest  without  giving  him  a  single  fact, 
and  without  even  allowing  him  to  know  his  accusers? " 


524  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  It  is  just  what  I  expected  from  the  implacable  vengeance 
of  the  Bishop  of  Montreal.  He  will  never  give  you  the  reasons 
of  your  interdict,  for  he  knows  well  you  are  innocent,  and  he 
will  never  confront  you  with  your  accusers ;  for  it  would  be  too 
e';sy  for  you  to  confound  them." 

"But  is  not  this  against  all  the  laws  of  God  and  man?  Is  it 
;  ot  against  the  laws  of  the  church?"  I  replied. 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  he  answered ;  ''  but  do  you  not  know  that, 
m  this  continent  of  America,  the  bishops  have,  long  ago,  thrown 
overboard  all  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  and  all  the  laws  of  the 
:hurch,  to  rule  and  enslave  the  priests?" 

I  replied:  "If  it  be  so,  are  not  Protestants  correct  when 
they  say  that  our  church  has  rejected  the  Word  of  God,  to  fol- 
low the  traditions  of  man?  What  can  we  answer  them  when 
they  tell  us  that  our  church  has  no  right  to  be  called  the  Church 
of  God?  Would  the  Son  of  God  have  given  up  his  life  on  the 
'  ross  to  save  men,  that  they  might  be  the  property  of  a  few  law- 
ess  tyrants,  who  should  have  the  right  to  take  away  their  honor 
mdlife?" 

"  I  am  not  ready  to  answer  those  puzzling  questions,"  he 
answered,  "  but  this  is  the  fact.  Though  it  is  absolutely  against 
all  the  laws  of  the  church  to  condemn  a  priest  without  showing 
him  his  guilt,  and  confronting  him  with  his  accusers,  our  modem 
bishops,  every  week,  condemn  some  of  their  priests  without 
specifying  any  fact,  or  even  giving  them  the  names  of  their 
accusers." 

"  Mind  what  I  tell  you,"  I  replied.  "  I  will  not  allow  the 
bishop  to  deal  with  me  in  that  way.  If  he  dares  to  trample  the 
laws  of  the  gospel  under  his  feet  to  accomplish  my  ruin,  and 
satisfy  his  vengeance,  I  will  teach  him  a  lesson  that  he  will  never 
forget.  Thanks  be  to  God,  it  is  not  the  gory  cross  of  the  bloody 
Inquisition,  but  the  emblem  of  the  British  Lion  which  I  see  there 
floating  on  the  tower,  to  protect  our  honor  and  life  in  Canada. 
I  am  innocent;  God  knows  it.  My  trust  is  in  Him;  He  will  not 
forsake  me.  I  will  go  immediately  to  the  bishop.  If  he  never 
knew  what  power  there  is  in  an  honest  priest,  he  will  learn  it 
(to-day." 


THE    INTERDICT.  ^2< 

Two  hours  later,  I  was  knocking  at  the  bishop's  door.  He 
received  me  with  icy  politeness, 

"My  lord,"  I  said,  "you  already  know  why  I  am  in  your 
presence.  Here  is  a  letter  from  you,  accusing  me  of  a  crime 
which  is  not  specified,  under  the  testimony  of  accusers  whom 
you  refuse  to  name!  And  before  hearing  me,  and  confronting 
me  with  my  accusers,  you  punish  me  as  guilty!  You  not  only 
take  away  my  honor,  with  that  unjust  sentence,  but  my  life!  I 
come  in  the  name  of  God,  and  of  His  Son,  Jesus  Christ,  to  re- 
spectfully ask  you  to  fell  me  the  crime  of  which  I  am  accused, 
that  I  may  show  you  my  inaocence.  I  want  to  be  confronted 
with  my  accusers,  that  1  may  confound  them." 

The  bishop  was,  at  first,  evidently  embarrassed  by  my  pres- 
ence ;  his  lips  were  pale  and  trembling,  but  his  eyes  were  dry  and 
red,  like  the  tiger's  eyes  in  the  presence  of  his  prey.  He 
answered : 

"  I  cannot  grant  your  request,  sir." 

Opening,  then,  my  New  Testament,  I  read: 

"  Receive  no  accusation  against  a  priest,  except  under  two  or 
three  witnesses  "  (ist  Tim.  v:  19).  I  added:  "It  was  after  I 
had  heard  this  voice  of  God,  and  of  His  holy  church,  that  I  con- 
sented to  be  a  priest.  I  hope  it  is  not  the  intention  of  your  lord- 
ship to  put  aside  this  Word  of  God  and  of  His  church.  It  is 
not  your  intention  to  break  that  solemn  covenant  made  by  Christ, 
with  His  priests,  and  sealed  with  His  blood?" 

With  an  air  of  contempt  and  tyrannical  authority,  which  I 
had  never  suspected  to  be  possible  in  a  bishop,  he  answered : 

"I  have  no  lesson  of  Scripture  or  canonical  law  to  receive 
from  you,  sir,  and  no  answer  to  give  to  your  impertinent  ques- 
tions.    You  are  interdicted!     I  haVe  nothing  to  do  with  you." 

These  words,  uttered  by  the  man  whom  I  was  accustomed  to 
consider  as  my  superior,  had  a  strange  effect  upon  me.  I  felt  as 
if  awakening  from  a  long  and  painful  dream. 

For  the  first  time,  I  understood  the  sad  prophecies  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Brassard,  and  I  realized  the  horror  of  my  position.  My 
ruin  was  accomplished.  Though  I  knew  that  that  high  dignitary 
was  a  monster  of  hypocrisy,  injustice  and  tyranny,  he  had,  among 


536  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  masses,  the  reputation  of  a  saint.  His  unjust  sentence  would 
be  considered  as  just  and  equitable  by  the  multitude  over  whom 
he  was  reigning  supremely.  At  a  nod  of  his  head,  the  people 
would  fall  at  his  feet  and  obey  his  commands  to  crush  me.  All 
ears  would  be  shut,  and  all  hearts  hardened  against  me.  In  that 
fatal  hour,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  my  moral  strength  and 
courage  failed  me.  I  felt  as  if  I  had  just  fallen  into  a  bottom- 
less abyss,  out  of  which  it  was  impossible  to  escape.  What 
would  my  innocence,  known  only  to  God,  avail  me,  when  the 
whole  world  would  believe  me  guilty?  No  words  can  give  an 
idea  of  the  mental  torture  of  that  horrible  hour. 

For  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  not  a  word  was  exchanged 
between  the  bishop  and  me.  He  seemed  very  busy  writing  let- 
ters, while  I  was  resting  my  head  between  my  hands,  and  shed- 
ding torrents  of  tears.  At  last,  I  fell  on  my  knees,  took  the 
hands  of  the  bishop  in  mine,  and,  with  a  voice  half  choked  with 
sighs,  I  said :  "  My  lord,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  in  the  presence  of  God,  I  swear  that  I  have  done  nothing 
which  could  bring  such  a  sentence  against  me.  I  again  implore 
your  lordship  to  confront  me  with  my  accusers,  that  I  may  show 
you  my  innocence." 

With  a  savage  insolence,  the  bishop  withdrew  his  hands,  as 
if  I  had  contaminated  them,  and  said,  after  rising  from  his  chair: 

"  You  are  guilty ;  go  out  of  my  presence." 

A  thousand  times  since,  I  have  thanked  my  God  that  I  had 
no  dagger  with  me,  for  I  would  have  plunged  it  into  his  heart. 
But,  strange  to  say,  the  diabolical  malice  and  dishonesty  of  that 
depraved  man,  suddenly  brought  back  m^'  former  self-respect 
and  courage.  I  at  once  took  the  stern  resolution  to  face  the 
storm.  I  felt,  in  my  soul,  that  giant  strength  which,  often,  God 
Himself  implants  in  the  breast  of  the  oppressed  when  he  is  in 
the  presence  of  his  merciless  tyrants.  It  seemed  that  a  flash  of 
lightning  had  passed  through  my  soul,  after  having  written  in 
letters  of  fire  on  the  walls  of  the  palace:  "  Mystery  of  iniquity.'^ 

Relying  entirely  on  the  God  of  truth  and  justice,  who  knew 
my  innocence  and  the  great  perversity  of  my  oppressor,  I  left 
the  room,  without  saying  a  word,  and  hastened  back  to  Longueuil, 


THE    INTERDICT. 


527 


to  acquaint  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  with  my  firm  resolution  to 
fight  the  bishop  to  the  end.  He  burst  into  tears  when  I  told 
him  what  had  occurred  in  the  bishop's  palace. 

"  Though  innocent,  you  are  condemned,"  he  said.  "  The 
infallible  proof  of  your  innocence,  is  the  cruel  refusal  of  allow- 
ing you  to  be  confronted  with  your  accusers.  Were  you  guilty, 
they  would  be  too  glad  to  show  it,  by  confounding  you  before 
those  witnesses.  But  the  perversity  of  your  accusers  is  so  well 
known  that  they  are  ashamed  of  giving  their  names.  The  bishop 
prefers  to  crush  you  under  the  weight  of  his  unmerited  reputa- 
tion for  justice  and  holiness;  for  very  few  know  him  as  we  do. 
My  fear  is  that  he  will  succeed  in  destroying  you.  Though  in- 
nocent, you  are  condemned  and  lost.  You  will  never  be  able  to 
contend  against  such  a  mighty  adversary." 

"My  dear  Mr.  Brassard,  you  are  mistaken,"  I  replied.  "I 
never  was  so  sure  of  coming  out  victorious  from  a  conflict  as  to- 
day. The  monstrous  iniquity  of  the  bishop  carries  its  antidote 
with  itself.  It  was  not  a  dream  I  saw  when  he  so  ignominiously 
turned  me  out  of  his  room.  A  flash  of  lightning  passed  before 
my  eyes  and  wrote,  as  if  on  the  walls  of  the  palace,  '  Mystery  of 
iniquity!'  When  Canada,  the  whole  of  Christendom,  shall 
know  the  infamous  conduct  of  that  dignitary;  when  they  shall 
see  the  '  mystery  of  iniquity,'  which  I  shall  stamp  upon  his 
forehead,  there  will  be  only  one  cry  of  indignation  against  him! 
Oh!  if  I  can  only  find  out  the  names  of  my  accusers!  How  I 
will  force  that  mighty  tyrant  to  withraw  that  sentence,  at  double 
quick 

*'  I  am  determined  to  show,  not  only  to  Canada,  but  to  the 
whole  world,  that  this  infamous  plot  is  but  the  work  of  the  vile 
male  and  female  slaves  by  whom  the  bishop  is  surrounded. 

«My  first  thought  was  to  start  immediately  for  Chicagoi^ 
where  Bishop  Vandeveld  expected  me. 

"  But  I  am  resolved  not  to  go  until  I  have  forced  my  mer- 
ciless oppressor  to  withdraw  his  unjust  sentence.  I  will,  im- 
mediately, go  to  the  Jesuit  College,  where  I  propose  spending 
the  next  eight  days  in  prayer  and  retreat. 

"  The  Jesuits  are  the  ablest  men  under  heaven  to  detect  the 


528  FIFTY    YKARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

most  hidden  things.  I  hope  they  will  help  rae  to  unearth  that 
dark  mystery  of  iniquity,  and  expose  it  to  the  world." 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  that  you  do  not  fear  the  terrible  storm 
which  is  upon  you,  and  that  your  sails  are  so  well  trimmed," 
answered  Mr.  Brassard.  "  You  do  well  in  putting  your  trust  in 
God,  first,  and  in  the  Jesuits  afterwards.  The  fearless  way  in 
which  you  intend  to  meet  the  attacks  of  your  merciless  enemies, 
will  give  you  an  easy  victory.  My  hope  is  that  the  Jesuits  will 
help  you  to  find  out  the  names  of  your  false  accusers,  and  that 
you  will  make  use  of  them  to  hurl  back  in  the  face  of  the  bishop 
the  shame  and  dishonor  he  had  prepared  for  you." 

At  six  p.  M.,  in  a  modest,  well-lighted  and  ventilated  room  of 
the  Jesuit  College,  I  was  alone  with  the  venerable  Mr,  Schneider, 
its  director. 

I  told  him  how  the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  four  years  before, 
after  giving  up  his  prejudices  against  me,  when  I  had  left  the 
oblate,  had  earnestly  supported  me  in  my  labors.  I  acquainted 
him  also  with  the  sudden  change  of  those  good  feelings  into  the 
•most  uncontrollable  hatred,  from  the  day  I  had  refused  to  force 
Mrs.  Chenier  to  become  a  nun,  that  he  might  secure  her  fortune. 
I  told  him  also  how  those  bad  feelings  had  found  new  food  in 
my  plan  of  consecrating  the  rest  of  my  life  to  direct  the  tide  of 
the  French  Catholic  emigration  towards  the  Mississippi  valley. 
I  exposed  to  him  my  suspicions  about  that  miserable  girl  I  had 
turned  out  from  my  confessional.  "  I  have  a  double  object  in 
view,"  I  added: 

"  The  first,  is  to  spend  the  last  eight  days  of  my  residence  in 
Canada  in  prayer.  But  my  second  is,  to  ask  the  help  of  your 
charity,  wisdom  and  experience  in  forcing  the  bishop  to  with- 
draw his  unjust  sentence  against  me.  I  am  determined,  if  he  does 
not  withdraw  it,  to  denounce  h'm  before  the  whole  country, 
and  to  challenge  him,  publicly,  to  confront  me  with  my  ac- 
cusers." 

"  If  you  do  that,"  answered  Mr,  Schneider,  "  I  fear  lest  you 
not  only  do  an  irreparable  damage  to  the  Bishop  of  Montreal^ 
but  to  our  holy  church  also.'^ 

I  replied  :  "  Our  holy  church  w^ould  indeed  suffer  an  irreparable 


THE      INTERDICT. 


5»9 


damage,  if  she  sanctioned  the  infamous  conduct  of  the  bishop-, 
but  this  is  impossible." 

"  You  are  correct,"  rejoined  the  Jesuit.  "  Our  holy  church 
cannot  sanction  such  criminal  conduct.  She  has,  hundreds  of 
times,  condemned  those  tyrannical  and  unjust  actions,  in  other 
bishops.  Such  want  of  common  honesty  and  justice  will  be  con- 
demned everywhere,  as  soon  as  it  is  known.  The  first  thing  we 
have  to  do,  is  to  find  out  the  names  of  your  accusers.  I  have 
not  the  least  doubt  that  they  are  the  blind  instruments  of  Ma- 
chiavelist  plots  against  you.  But  those  plots  have  only  to  be 
brought  to  light,  to  vanish  away.  My  impression  is,  that  the 
miserable  girl  you  have  so  abruptly  and  so  wisely  turned  out  of 
your  confessional,  knows  more  than  the  bishop  wants  us  to  find 
out,  about  the  plots.  It  is  a  pity  you  did  not  ask  her  name  and 
residence.  At  all  events,  you  may  rely  on  my  efforts  to  persuade 
our  bishop  that  his  personal  interest,  as  well  as  the  interest  of 
our  holy  religion,  is,  that  he  should  speedily  withdraw  that  sen- 
tence, which  is  a  nullity  by  itself.  It  will  not  be  difficult  for  me 
to  show  him  that  he  has  fallen  into  the  very  pit  he  has  dug  un- 
der your  feet.  He  has  taken  a  position  against  you  which  is  ab- 
solutely untenable.  Before  your  retreat  is  at  an  end,  no  doubt 
he  will  be  too  happy  to  make  his  peace  with  you.  Only  trust  in 
God,  and  in  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  you  have  nothing  to 
fear  from  the  conflict.  Our  bishop  has  put  himself  above  all  the 
laws  of  man  and  God,  to  condemn  the  priest  he  had  himself  of- 
ficially named:  'the  Apostle  of  Temperance  of  Canada.'  There 
is  not  a  single  man,  in  the  church,  who  will  allow  him  to  stand 
on  that  ground.  The  200,000  soldiers  you  have  enrolled  under 
the  holy  banners  of  temperance,  will  force  him  to  retract  his  too 
hasty  and  unjust  sentence." 

It  would  be  too  long  to  repeat  here  all  the  encouraging 
words  which  that  wise  Jesuit  uttered. 

Father  Schneider  was  a  European  priest,  who  was  in  Montreal 
only  since  1S49.  He  had  won  mj- confidence,  the  very  first  time 
I  met  him,  and  I  had  chosen  him,  at  once,  for  my  confessor  and 
adviser.  The  third  day  of  my  retreat.  Father  Schneider  came  to 
my  room  earlier  than  usual,  and  said: 


53®  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  I  have  worked  hard  the  last  two  days,  to  find  out  the  name 
and  residence  of  the  carter  to  \\4iom  that  miserable  girl  spoke  ia 
the  church,  after  you  had  turned  her  out  of  your  confessional, 
and  I  have  it.  If  you  have  no  objection  I  will  send  for  him. 
He  may  know  that  girl  and  induce  her  to  come  here." 

**  By  all  means,  dear  father,"  I  answered,  *'  do  it  without  los- 
ing a  moment." 

Two  hours  later,  the  carter  was  with  me.  I  recognized  him 
as  one  of  those  dear  countrymen  whom  our  society  of  temper- 
ance had  transformed  into  a  new  man.  I  asked  him  if  he  re- 
membered the  name  of  the  girl  who,  a  few  days  before,  had 
spoken  to  him  in  the  church,  after  going  out  of  my  confessional. 

"Yes  sir!  I  know  her  well.  She  has  a  very  bad  name, 
though  she  belongs  to  a  respectable  family." 

I  added:  "Do  you  think  you  could  induce  her  to  come  here, 
by  telling  her  that  a  priest,  in  the  Jesuit  College,  wants  to  see 
her?     But  do  not  give  her  my  name." 

He  answered:  "  Nothing  is  more  easy.  She  will  be  here  in 
a  couple  of  hours,  if  I  find  her  at  home." 

At  three  p.  m.,  the  carter  was  again  knocking  at  my  door,  and 
said,  with  a  low  voice: 

"The  girl  you  want  is  in  the  parlor;  she  has  no  idea  you  are 
here,  for  she  told  me  that  you  were  now  preaching  in  St.  Con- 
stant. She  seems  to  be  very  angry  against  you,  and  bitterly 
complains  against  your  want  of  courtesy,  the  very  first  time  she 
went  to  confess  to  you." 

"  Is  it  possible  that  she  told  you  that?"  1  replied. 

"Yes  sir!  She  told  me  that  to  explain  her  terrible  excite- 
ment when  coming  out  of  your  confessional,  the  other  day;  she 
then  requested  me  to  drive  her  home.  She  was  really  beside  her- 
self, and  swore  that  she  would  make  you  pay  for  your  harsh  words 
and  rude  manner  towards  her.  You  will  do  well  to  be  on  your 
guard  with  her.  She  is  one  of  the  most  depraved  girls  of 
Montreal,  and  has  a  most  dangerous  tongue,  though  to  the 
shame  of  our  holy  religion,  she  is  daily  seen  in  the  bishop'fr 
palace." 

I    immediately  went  to    Father  Schneider,  and  said:     "My 


THE      INTERDICT.  53 1 

dear  father,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  the  girl  we  want  to  sec  is  m 
the  parlor.  By  what  I  have  just  heard  from  the  carter  who 
drove  her,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt  but  that  she  is  the  one  em- 
ployed by  the  bishop  to  slander  me,  and  get  a  pretext  for  what 
he  has  done.  Please  come  with  me  to  witness  my  innocence. 
But,  take  your  gospel,  ink,  paper  and  pen  with  you." 

"  All  right,"  answered  the  wise  Jesuit. 

Two  minutes  later  we  were  in  her  presence. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  her  dismay,  when  she  saw  me. 
She  came  near  fainting.  I  feared  she  should  not  be  able  to  utter 
a  word. 

I  spoke  to  her  very  kindly,  and  ran  to  get  a  glass  of  cold 
water,  which  did  her  good. 

When  she  recovered,  I  said  to  her,  with  a  tone  of  mixed  au- 
thority and  kind  firmness:  "You  are  here  in  the  presence  of 
God  and  two  of  his  priests.  That  great  God  will  hear  every 
word  which  will  fall  from  your  lips.  You  must  speak  the  truth. 
You  have  denoimced  me  to  the  bishop  as  guilty  of  some  great 
iniquity.  You  are  the  cause  of  my  being  interdicted.  You,  alone, 
can  repair  the  injury  you  have  done  me.  That  injury  is  very 
great;  but  it  can  be  easily  repaired  by  you.  In  the  presence  of 
that  venerable  priest,  say  whether  or  not,  I  am  guilty  of  the 
crime  you  have  brought  to  my  charge ! " 

At  these  words,  the  unfortunate  girl  burst  into  tears.  She 
hid  her  face  in  her  handkerchief,  and  with  a  voice  half-suffocated 
with  sighs,  she  said : 

"  No  sir!     You  are  not  guilty." 

I  added:  "  Confess  another  thing.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  you 
had  come  to  my  confessional  more  with  the  intention  of  tempt- 
ing me  to  sin,  than  to  reconcile  yourself  to  God?" 

"Yes  sir!"  she  added,  "this  was  my  wicked  intention. 

"  Continue  to  tell  the  truth,  and  our  great  and  merciful  God 
will  forgive  you.  Is  it  not  to  revenge  yourself  for  my  rebuking 
you,  that  you  have  brought  the  false  accusations  to  the  bishop  in 
order  that  he  might  interdict  me?" 

"Yes  sir!  that  is  the  only  reason  I  had  for  accusing  you." 

After    Father    Schneider  had    made   four  copies   of  those 


532 


FIFTY     YEARS     IN     THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 


declarations,  signed  by  him  as  witness,  and  after  she  had  sworn 
on  the  gospel,  I  forgave  her  the  injury  she  had  done  me,  I  gave 
her  some  good  advice  and  dismissed  her. 

"Is  it  not  evident,"  I  said  to  Father  Schneider,  "that  our 
merciful  God  never  forsakes  those  who  trust  in  him?" 

"  Yes,  I  never  saw  the  interposition  of  God  so  marvellously 
manifested  as  in  this  perfect  deliverance  from  the  hands  of  your 
enemies.  But,  please  tell  me  why  you  requested  me  to  make 
four  copies  of  her  sworn  declaration  of  your  innocence;  was  not 
one  sufficient?"  asked  Mr.  Schneider. 

I  answered:  "One  of  those  copies  was  for  the  bishop;  an- 
other will  remain  hi  your  hands,  Mi".  Brassard  will  have  one, 
and  I  need  one  for  myself.  For  the  dishonesty  of  the  bishop  is 
so  evident  to  me,  now,  that  I  think  him  able  to  destroy  the  copy 
I  will  send  him,  with  the  hope,  after  its  destruction,  of  keeping 
me  at  his  feet.  If  he  does  that  new  act  of  iniquity,  I  will  con- 
found him  with  the  three  other  authentic  copies  which  will  re- 
main. Besides,  this  unfortunate  girl  may  die  sooner  than  we  ex- 
pect. In  that  case,  I  would  find  myself  again  with  the  bishop's 
knife  on  my  throat,  if  I  had  no  other  retractation  to  the  perjured 
declaration  which  he  has  persuaded  her  to  give  him." 

"  You  are  right,"  replied  Father  Schneider,  "  now  the  only 
thing  for  you  to  do  is  to  send  that  retractation  to  the  bishop,  with 
a  firm  and  polite  request  to  retract  his  unjust  sentence  against 
you.  Let  me  do  the  rest  with  him.  The  battle  is  over.  It  has 
been  fierce,  but  short.  However,  thanks  be  to  God,  you  have  a 
most  complete  victory  over  your  unjust  aggressors.  The  bishop 
will  do  all  in  his  power,  no  doubt,  to  make  you  forget  this  dark- 
est page  of  his  life." 

The  shrewd  Jesuit  was  correct,  in  his  previsions.  Never  did 
any  bishop  receive  me  with  so  many  marks,  not  only  with  kind- 
ness, but  I  dare  say. of  respect,  than  Bishop  Bourget,  when,  after 
my  retreat,  I  went  to  take  leave  of  him,  before  my  departure 
from  Canada  to  the  United  States. 

"  I  trust,  my  lord,"  I  said,  "  that,  to-day,  I  can  hope  to 
posssess  the  confidence  and  friendly  feelings  of  your  lordship?" 

"  Certainly,  my  dear   Mr.    Chiniquy,  certainly;  you   possesss 


THE    INTERDICT. 


533 


ny  full  confidence  and  friendship,  I  dare  say  morei  you  possess 
ny  most  sincere  gratitude,  for  what  yon  have  done  in  my 
liocese." 

I  answered:  "I  am  much  obliged  to  your  lordship  for  this 
expression  of  your  kind  feelings.  But,  now,  I  have  two  new  favors 
,0  ask  from  your  lordship.  The  first,  is  a  written  document  ex- 
oressive  of  those  kind  feelings. 

"The  second,  is  a  chalice  from  your  hands  to  offer  the  holv 
sacrifice  of  mass  the  rest  of  my  life." 

"  I  will  grant  your  request  with  the  utmost  pleasure,"  an- 
swered the  bishop;  and  without  losing  a  moment,  he  wrote  the 
following  letter,  which  I  reproduce  here,  on  account  of  its  im- 
portance. 

TRAXSLATIOX. 

Montreal,  Oct.  13th,  1851. 

Sir  : — You  request  me  to  give  jou  permission  to  leave  m_v  diocese  in  order 
to  go  and  offer  jour  services  to  the  Bishop  of  Chicago.  As  you  still  belong 
to  the  Diocese  of  Quebec,  I  think  vou  ought  to  address  yourself  to  mj  lord 
of  Quebec,  to  get  the  extract  you  want.  As  for  me,  I  cannot  but  thank  you 
for  what  you  have  done  in  our  midst ;  and  in  my  gratitude  towards  jou,  I 
wish  vou  the  most  abundant  blessing  from  heaven .  Every  day  of  my  life, 
I  will  remember  you.  You  will  always  be  in  my  heart,  and  I  hope  that  on 
some  future  day,  the  providence  of  God  will  give  me  some  opportunity  of 
showing  you  all  the  feelings  of  gratitude  I  feel  towards  you. 
I  remain,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

^ Igxace. 
Rev.  C.  Chiniquy.  Bishop  of  Montreal. 

Though  that  letter  was  a  most  perfect  recantation  of  all  he 
had  said  and  done  against  me,  and  was  of  immense  value  to  me 
in  such  circumstances,  the  bishop  added  to  its  importance  by  the 
exceedingly  kind  manner  in  which  he  handed  it  to  me. 

As  he  was  going  into  another  room  he  said: 

"  I  will  give  }'OU  the  silver  chalice  you  want,  to  offer  the 
holy  sacrifice  of  mass  the  rest  of  your  days." 

But,  he  came  back  and  said : 

"  My  secretary  is  absent,  and  has  the  key  of  the  trunk  which 
contains  those  vases." 

"  It  makes   no  difference,  my  lord,"  I   replied,  "  please  order 


534  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

your  secretary  to  put  that  chalice  in  the  hands  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bras- 
sard, who  will  forward  it,  with  a  box  of  books  which  he  has  to 
send  me  to  Chicago,  next  week." 

The  bishop  very  kindly  promised  to  do  so;  and  he  fulfilled 
his  promise.  The  next  day,  the  precious  gift  was  put  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Brassard,  in  presence  of  several  priests. 

It  was  sent,  the  following  week,  to  Chicago,  where  I  got  it, 
and  that  fine  silver  chalice  is  still  in  my  possession. 

I  then  fell  on  my  knees,  and  said: 

"  My  lord,  I  am  just  leaving  Canada  for  the  Far  West,  please 
give  me  your  benediction." 

He  blessed  me  and  pressed  me  to  his  heart  with  a  tender- 
ness of  a  father,  saying: 

« May  God  Almighty  bless  you,  wherever  you  go  and  in 
everything  you  do,  till  the  end  of  your  life." 


Chapter  L. 

▲DDBBSS  PRBSSNTBD  MB  AT  LONQITBUIL-I  ABJIIVB  AT  CHI- 
OAQO-I  SELECT  THE  SPOT  FOB  MY  COLONY-I  BXTELD  THE 
BTBST  •HAPEL-JEALOUSY  AND  OPPOSITION  OP  THE 
PRIESTS  OF  BOURBONNAIS  AND  CHIC  AGO- GEEAT  SUC- 
CESS OF  THE  COLONY. 

THOUGH  I  had  kept  my  departure  from  Canada  as  secret  as 
possible,  it  had  been  suspected,  by  many;  and  Mr.  Brassard, 
unable  to  resist  the  desire  that  his  people  should  give  me  the  ex- 
pression of  their  kind  feelings,  had  let  the  secret  slip  from  his  lips, 
two  days  before  I  left.  I  was  not  a  little  suprised,  a  few  hours 
before  my  taking  leave  of  him,  to  see  his  whole  parish  gathered 
at  the  door  of  his  parsonage,  to  present  me  the  following 
address. 

TO    THE    REV.    FATHER    CHINIQUY. 

Venerable  Sir: — It  is  only  three  years  since  we  presented  you  your 
portrait,  not  only  as  an  expression  of  our  gratitude  for  your  labors  and  suc- 
cess in  the  cause  of  temperance  in  our  midst,  but  also  as  a  memorial,  which 
would  tell  our  grandchildren  the  good  you  have  done  to  our  country.  We 
were,  then,  far  from  thinking  that  we  were  so  near  the  day  when  we  would 
have  the  sorrow  to  see  you  separating  yourself  from  us. 

Your  unforseen  exit  from  Canada  fills  us  with  a  regret  and  sadness, 
which  is  increased  by  the  fear  we  have,  that  the  reform  you  have  startedt 
and  so  gloriously  established  everywhere,  will  suffer  from  your  absence . 
May  our  merciful  God  grant  that  your  faithful  co-laborers  may  continue  it, 
and  walk  in  your  footsteps. 

While  we  submit  to  the  decrees  of  providence,  we  promise  that  we  will 
never  forget  the  great  things  you  have  done  for  the  prosperity  of  our  coun- 
try. Your  likeness,  which  is  in  every  Canadian  family,  will  tell  to  the 
future  generations,  what  Father  Chiniquy  has  done  for  Canada. 

We  console  ourselves  by  the  assurance  that,  wherever  you  go,  you  will 
raise  the  glorious  banners  of  temperance  among  those  of  our  countrymen 

S3i 


536  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

who  are  scattered  in  the  land  of  exile.  May  those  brethren  put  on  jour 
forehead,  the  crown  of  immortalitj,  which  you  have  so  well  deserved  for 
your  noble  work  in  our  midst.     Signed 

L.  M.  Brassard, 

Priest  and  Curate. 
H.  Hicks,  Vicar. 

and  300  others. 

1    answered: 

Gentlemen  : — I  thank  you  for  the  honor  you  do  me  by  your  address. 
But  allow  me  to  tell  you,  that  the  more  I  look  upon  the  incalculable  good 
resulting  from  the  Temperance  Reform  I  have  established,  nearly  from  one 
end  of  Canada  to  the  other,  the  more  I  would  deceive  myself,  were  I  to 
attribute  to  myself  the  whole  merit  of  that  blessed  work. 

If  our  God  has  chosen  me,  his  so  feeble  servant,  as  the  instrument  of 
his  infinite  mercies  towards  our  dear  country  ;  it  is  because  he  wanted  us  to 
understand  that  He  alone  could  make  the  marvellous  change  we  see  every- 
where, and  that  we  shall  give  all  the  glory  to  Him. 

It  is  more  to  the  fervent  prayers,  and  to  the  good  examples  of  our  ven- 
erable bishops  and  curates,  than  to  my  feeble  efforts,  that  we  owe  the  tri- 
umph of  temperance  in  Canada;  and  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that  that  holy 
cause  will  lose  nothing  by  my  absence. 

Our  merciful  God  has  called  me  to  another  field.  I  have  heard  his 
voice.  Though  it  is  a  great  saerifice  for  me  to  leave  my  own  beloved  coun- 
try, I  must  go  to  work  in  the  midst  of  a  new  people,  in  the  distant  lands  of 
Illinois. 

From  many  parts  of  Europe  and  Canada,  multitudes  are  rushing  tow- 
ards the  western  territories  of  the  United  States,  to  secure  to  their  families, 
the  incalculable  treasures  which  the  good  providence  of  God  has  scattered 
over  those  broad  prairies. 

Those  emigrants  are  in  need  of  priests.  They  are  like  those  little  ones 
of  whom  God  speaks  in  his  Word,  who  wanted  bread  and  had  nobody  to 
give  them  any :  "  I  have  heard  their  cries,  I  have  seen  their  wants."  And 
in  spite  of  the  great  sacrifice  I  am  called  upon  to  make,  I  must  bless  the 
Good  Master,  who  calls  me  to  work  in  that  vineyard,  planted  by  his  own 
hands,  in  those  distant  lands. 

If  anything  can  diminish  the  sadness  of  my  feelings,  when  I  bid  adieu 
to  my  countrymen,  it  is  the  assurance  given  me  by  the  nobk  people  of 
Longueuil.  that  I  have  in  Canada  many  friends  whose  fervent  prayers  will 
constantly  ascend  to  the  throne  of  grace,  to  bring  the  benedictions  of  heaven 
upon  me,  wherever  I  go. 

C.  Chiniquy. 

I  arrived  at  Chicago  on  the  29th  of  October,  1851,  and  spent 


I    SELECT    THE    SPOT    FOR    MY    COLONY.  537 

six  days  with  Bishop  Vandeveld,  in  maturing  the  plans  of  our 
Catholic  colonization. 

He  gave  me  the  wisest  advice  with  the  most  extensive 
powers  which  a  bishop  can  give  a  priest,  and  urged  me  to  begin, 
at  once,  the  work,  by  selecting  the  most  suitable  spot  for  such  an 
important  and  vast  prospect. 

My  heart  was  filled  with  uncontrollable  emotions  when  the 
hour  came  to  leave  my  superior  and  go  to  the  conquest  of  the 
magnificent  State  of  Illinois,  for  the  benefit  of  my  church. 

I  fell  at  his  knees  to  ask  his  benediction,  and  requested  him 
never  to  forget  me  in  his  prayers.  He  was  not  less  affected  than 
I  was,  and  pressing  me  to  his  bosom,  bathed  my  face  with  his 
tears,  and  blessed  me. 

It  took  me  three  days  to  cross  the  prairies  from  Chicago  to 
Bourbonnais.  Those  prairies  were  then  a  vast  solitude,  with  al- 
most impassable  roads.  At  the  invitation  of  their  priest,  Mr. 
Courjeault,  several  people  had  come  long  distances  to  receive 
and  overwhelm  ine  with  the  public  expressions  of  their  joy  and 
respect. 

After  a  few  days  of  rest,  in  the  midst  of  their  interesting 
young  colony,  I  explained  to  Mr.  Courjeault  that,  having  been 
sent  by  the  bishop  to  found  a  settlement  of  Roman  Catholic  em- 
igrants, on  a  sufficiently  grand  scale  to  rule  the  government  of 
Illinois,  it  was  my  duty  to  go  further  south,  in  order  to  find  the 
most  suitable  place  for  the  first  village  I  intended  to  raise.  But 
to  my  unspeakable  regret,  I  saw  that  my  proposition  filled  the 
heart  of  that  unfortunate  priest  with  the  most  bitter  feelings  of 
jealousy  and  hatred.  It  had  been  just  the  same  thing  with  Rev. 
Mr.  Lebel,  at  Chicago. 

The  very  moment  I  told  him  the  object  of  my  coming  to  Il- 
linois, I  felt  the  same  spirit  of  jealousy  had  turned  him  into  an 
implacable  enemy.  I  had  expected  very  different  things  from 
those  two  priests,  for  whom  I  had  entertained,  till  then,  most 
sincere  sentiments  of  esteem.  So  long  as  they  were  under  the 
impression  that  I  had  left  Canada  to  help  them  increase  their 
small  congregations,  by  inducing  the  emigrants  to  settle  among 
them,  they  loaded  me,  both  in  public  and  private,  with  mark& 


<^8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

of  their  esteem.  But  the  moment  they  saw  that  I  was  going 
to  found,  in  the  very  heart  of  IlHnois,  settlements  on  such  a  large 
scale,  they  banded  together  to  paralyze  and  ruin  my  efforts.  Had 
I  suspected  such  opposition  from  the  very  men  on  whose  moral 
help  I  had  relied  for  the  success  of  my  colonizing  schemes,  I 
would  have  never  left  Canada,  for  Illinois.  But  it  was  now  too 
late  to  stop  my  onward  march.  Trusting  in  God  alone  for  suc- 
cess, I  felt  that  those  two  men  were  to  be  put  among  those  un- 
forseen  obstacles  which  Heaven  wanted  me  to  overcome,  if  i 
could  not  avoid  them.  I  persuaded  six  of  the  most  respectable 
citizens  of  Bourbonnais  to  accompany  me,  in  three  wagons,  iti 
search  of  the  best  site  for  the  center  of  my  future  colony.  I  had 
a  compass,  to  guide  me  through  those  vast  prairies,  which  were 
spread  before  me  like  a  boundless  ocean.  I  wanted  to  select  the 
highest  point  in  Illinois  for  my  first  town,  in  order  to  secure  the 
purest  air  and  water  for  the  new  emigrants. 

I  was  fortunate  enough,  under  the  guidance  of  God,  to 
succeed  better  than  I  expected,  for  the  government  surveyors 
have  lately  acknowledged  that  the  village  of  St.  Anne  occupies 
the  very  highest  point  of  that  splendid  state. 

To  my  great  surprise,  ten  days  after  I  had  selected  that 
spot,  fifty  families  from  Canada  had  planted  their  tents  around 
mine,  on  the  beautiful  site  which  forms  to-day  the  town  of  St. 
Anne. 

We  were  at  the  end  of  November,  and  though  the  weather 
was  still  mild,  I  felt  I  had  not  an  hour  to  lose  in  order  to  secure 
shelter  for  every  one  of  those  families,  before  the  cold  winds  and 
chilly  rains  of  winter  should  spread  sickness  and  death  among 
them.  The  greater  part  were  illitei'ate  and  poor  people, 
without  any  idea  of  the  dangers  and  incredible  difficulties  of  es- 
tablishing a  new  settlement,  where  everything  had  to  be  created. 
There  were,  at  first,  only  two  small  houses,  one  25  by  30,  and 
the  other  16  by  20  feet,  to  lodge  us. 

With  the  rest  of  my  dear  emigrants,  wrapped  in  buffalo 
robes,  w^ith  my  overcoat  for  my  pillow,  I  slept  soundly,  many 
nights  on  the  bare  floor,  during  the  three  months  which  it  took 
to  get  my  first  house  erected. 


I  SELECT  THE  SPOT  FOR  MY  COLON  .         539 

Having  taken  the  census  of  the  people  on  the  first  of  Decem- 
ber, I  found  two  hundred  souls,  one  hundred  of  whom  were 
adults.     I  said  to  them: 

"  There  are  not  three  of  jou,  if  left  alone,  able  to  prepare  a 
shelter  for  your  families,  this  winter;  but  if,  forgetting  your- 
selves, you  work  for  each  other,  as  true  friends  and  brethren, 
you  will  increase  your  strength  tenfold,  and  in  a  few  weeks, 
there  will  be  a  sufficient  number  of  small,  but  solid  buildings, 
to  protect  you  against  the  storms  and  snow  of  the  winter  which 
is  fast  coming  upon  us.  Let  us  go  to  the  forest  together  and  cut 
the  wood,  to-day;  and  to-morrow  we  will  draw  that  timber  to 
one  of  the  lots  you  have  selected,  and  you  will  see  with  what 
marvellous  speed  the  house  will  be  raised,  if  your  hands  and 
hearts  are  perfectly  united  to  work  for  each  other,  under  the 
eyes  and  for  the  love  of  the  merciful  God  who  gives  us  this 
splendid  country  for  our  inheritage.  But  before  going  to  the 
forest,  let  us  kneel  down  to  ask  our  Heavenly  Father  to  bless 
the  work  of  our  hands,  and  grant  us  to  be  of  one  mind  and  one 
heart,  and  to  protect  us  against  the  too  common  accidents  of 
those  forests  and  building  works." 

We  all  knelt  on  the  grass,  and,  as  much  with  our  tears  a& 
with  our  lips,  we  sent  to  the  mercy-seat  a  prayer,  which  was 
surely  heard  by  the  One  who  said,  "Ask  and  you  will  receive," 
and  we  started  for  the  forest. 

The  readers  would  scarcely  believe  me,  were  I  to  tell  them 
with  what  marvellous  rapidity  the  first  forty  small,  but  neat 
houses  were  put  up  on  our  beatiful  prairies. 

Whilst  the  men  were  cutting  timber,  and  raising  one  another's 
houses,  with  a  unity,  a  joy,  a  good-will  and  rapidity,  which 
many  times  drew  from  me  tears  of  admiration,  the  women  would 
prepare  the  common  meals.  We  obtained  our  flour  and  pork 
from  Bourbonnais  and  Momence,  at  a  very  low  price;  and,  as 
I  was. a  good  shot,  one  or  two  friends  and  I,  used  to  kill, 
every  day,  enough  prairie  chickens,  quails,  ducks,  wild  geese, 
brants  and  deer,  to  feed  more  people  than  there  were  in  our 
young  colony. 

Those  delicious  viands,  which  would  have  been  welcomed  oa 


54©  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  table  of  the  king,  and  which  would  have  satisfied  the  most 
fastidious  gourmand,  caused  many  of  my  poor,  dear  emigrants  to 
say: 

"Our  daily  and  most  common  meals  here,  are  more  sumptu- 
ous and  delicate  than  the  richest  ones  in  Canada,  and  they  cost 
almost  nothing." 

When  I  saw  that  a  sufficient  number  of  houses  had  been 
built  to  give  shelter  to  every  one  of  the  first  emigrats,  I  called  a 
meeting  and  said: 

"  My  dear  friends,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  and  in  almost 
a  miraculous  way,  (thanks  be  to  the  unity  and  charity  which 
have  bound  you  to  each  other  till  now,  as  members  of  the  same 
family,)  you  are  in  your  little,  but  happy  homes,  and  you  have 
nothing  to  fear  from  the  winds  and  snow  of  the  winter,  I  think 
that  my  duty  now  is  to  dirrect  your  attention  to  the  necessity 
of  building  a  two-story  house.  The  upper  jjart  will  be  used  as 
the  school-house  for  your  children  on  week  days,  and  for  a 
chapel  on  Sundays,  and  the  lower  part  will  be  my  parsonage.  I 
will  furnish  the  money  for  the  flooring,  shingles,  the  nails  and 
the  windows,  and  you  will  give  your  work  gratis  to  cut  and 
draw  the  timber  and  put  it  up.  I  will  also  pay  the  architect,  with- 
out asking  a  cent  from  you.  It  is  quite  time  to  provide  a  school 
for  your  children;  for  in  this  country,  as  in  any  other  place,  there 
is  no  possible  prosperity  or  happiness  for  a  people,  if  they  neg- 
lect the  education  of  their  children.  Now,  we  are  too  numerous 
to  continue  having  our  Sabbath  worship  in  any  private  house,  as 
we  have  done  till  now.     What  do  you  think  of  this?" 

They  unanimously  answered : 

"Yes!  after  you  have  worked  so  hard  to  give  a  home  to 
every  one  of  us,  it  is  just  that  we  should  help  you  to  make  one 
for  yourself.  We  are  happy  to  hear  that  it  is  your  intention  to 
secure  a  good  education  for  our  children.  Let  us  begin  the  work 
at  once." 

This  was  the  i6th  of  January,  1852.  The  sun  was  as  warm 
<s  on  a  beautiful  day  of  May  in  Canada.'  We  again  fell  upon 
OUT  knees  to  implore  the  help  of  God,  and  sang  a  beautiful 
French  hymn. 


I    SELECT    THE    SPOT    FOR    MY    COLONY. 


54 » 


The  next  day,  we  were  seventy-two  men  in  a  neighboring 
forest,  felling  the  great  oaks;  and  on  the  17th  of  April,  only 
three  months  later,  that  fine  two-story  building,  nearly  forty  feet 
square,  was  blessed  by  Bishop  Vandeveld. 

It  was  surmounted  by  a  nice  steeple,  thirty  feet  high,  in  which 
we  had  put  a  bell,  weighing  250  pounds,  whose  solemn  sound 
was  to  tell  our  joys  and  sorrows  over  the  boundless  prairies. 

On  that  day,  instead  of  being  only  fifty  families,  as  at  the  last 
census,  we  numbered  more  than  one  hundred,  among  whom 
more  than  500  were  adults.  The  chapel  which  we  thought,  at 
first,  would  be  too  large,  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity  on  the 
day  of  its  consecration  to  God. 

Not  a  month  later,  we  had  to  speak  of  making  an  addition  of 
forty  feet  more,  which  when  finished,  six  months  later,  was  found 
to  be  still  insufficient  for  the  accommodation  of  the  constantly 
increasing  flood  of  immigration,  which  came,  not  only  from 
Canada,  but  from  Belgium  and  France.  It  soon  became  neces- 
say  to  make  a  new  center,  and  expand  the  limits  of  my  first  col- 
ony;  which  I  did,  by  planting  a  cross  at  I'Erable,  about  fifteen 
miles  southwest  of  St.  Anne,  and  another  at  a  place  we  call  St. 
Mary,  twelve  miles  southeast,  in  the  county  of  Iroquois.  These 
settlements  were  soon  filled;  for  that  very  spring,  more  than 
one  thousand  new  families  came  from  Canada,  to  join  us. 

No  words  can  express  the  joy  of  my  heart,  when  I  saw  with 
what  rapidity,  my  (then)  so  dear  Church  of  Rome  was  taking 
possession  of  those  magnificent  lands,  and  how  soon  she  would  be 
unrivaled  mistress,  not  only  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  but  of  the 
whole  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  But  the  ways  of  men  are  not 
the  ways  of  God.  I  had  been  called,  by  the  Bishops  of  Rome, 
to  Illinois,  to  extend  the  power  of  that  church.  But  my  God  had 
called  me  there,  that  I  might  give,  to  that  church,  the  most  deadly 
blow  she  has  ever  received  on  this  Continent. 

My  task  is  now  to  tell  my  readers,  how  the  God  of  Truth, 
and  Light  and  Life,  broke,  one  after  another,  all  the  charmed 
bonds  by  which  I  was  kept  a  slave  at  the  feet  of  the  Pope;  and 
how  He  opened  mv  eyes,  and  those  of  my  people,  to  the  unsus- 
pected and  untold  abominations  of  Romanism. 


Chapter   LI. 

INTSianES,  IMPOSTUBES,  AND  OBIMINAL  tlPE  OP  THE  PRIEST 
IK  BOUBBONNAIS— INDIGNATION  OF  THE  BISHOP— THE 
PEOPLE  IGNOMINIOUSLY  TUB.N  OUT  THE  CKIMINAL  PRIEST 
PROU  THEIR  PARISH  -  FRIGHTFUL  SCANDAL  -  FAITH  IN 
THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME  SERIOUSLY  SHAKEN. 

44  T)LEASE  accompany  me  to  Bourbonnais;  I  have  to  confer 
X  with  you  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Courjeault,  on  important 
matters,"  said  the  bishop,  half  an  hour  before  leaving  St.  Anne, 
after  having  blessed  the  chapel. 

"  I  intended,  my  lord,  to  ask  your  lordship  to  grant  me  that 
honor,  before  you  offered  it,"  I  answered. 

Two  hours  of  good  driving  took  us  to  the  parsonage  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Courjeault,  who  had  prepared  a  sumptuous  dinner,  to 
which  several  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Bourbonnais  had  been 
invited. 

When  all  the  guests  had  departed,  and  the  bishop,  Mr.  Cour- 
jeault, and  I,  were  alone,  he  drew  from  his  trunk,  a  bundle  of 
w^eekly  papers  of  Montreal,  Canada,  in  which  several  letters, 
very  insulting  and  compromising  for  the  bishop,  vs^ere  published, 
signed  R.  L.  C.     Showing  them  to  me,  he  said: 

"Mr.  Chiniquy,  can  I  know^  the  reason  you  had  for  writing 
such  insulting  things  against  your  bishop.''  " 

"  My  lord,"  I  answered.  "  I  have  no  words  to  express  my 
surprise  and  indignation,  when  I  read  those  letters.  But,  thanks 
be  to  God,  I  am  not  the  author  of  those  infamous  writings,  I 
■would  rather  have  my  right  hand  cut  off,  than  to  allow  it  to  pen 
such  false  and  perfidious  things  against  you,  or  any  one  else." 

"Do  you  assure  me  that  you  are  not  the  writer  of  the  letters? 
Are  you  positive  in  that  denegation;  and  do  you  know  the  con- 
tents of  these  lying  communications?"'"'  replied  the  Bishop. 

54^ 


FRIGHTFUL  SCANDAL. 


543 


"  Yes,  my  lord,  I  know  the  contents  of  these  communications. 
I  have  read  them,  several  times,  with  supreme  disgust  and  indig- 
nation; and  I  positively  assert  that  I  never  wrote  a  single  line  of 
them." 

"Then,  can  you  tell  me  who  did  write  them?"  said  the 
bishop. 

I  answered:  "  Please,  my  lord,  put  that  question  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Courjeault;  he  is  more  able  than  any  one  to  satisfy  your 
lordship  on  that  matter." 

I  looked  at  Mr.  Courjeault  with  an  indignant  air,  which  told 
him,  that  he  could  not  any  longer  wear  the  mask,  behind  which 
he  had  concealed  himself,  for  the  last  three  or  four  months.  The 
eyes  of  the  bishop  were  also  turned,  and  firmly  fixed  on  the 
wretched  priest. 

No!  Never  had  I  seen  anythmg  so  strange,  as  the  counte- 
nance of  that  guilty  man.  His  face,  though  usually  ugly,  sud- 
denly took  a  cadaverous  appearance;  his  eyes  were  fixed  on  the 
floor,  as  if  unable  to  move. 

The  only  signs  of  life  left  in  him,  were  given  by  his  knees, 
which  were  shaking  convulsively ;  and  by  the  big  drops  of 
sweat  rolling  down  his  unwashed  face;  for,  I  must  say  here,  en 
passant^  that,  with  very  few  exceptions,  that  priest  was  the  dirt- 
iest man  I  ever  saw. 

The  bishop,  with  unutterable  expressions  of  indignation, 
exclaimed: 

"Mr.  Courjeault;  you  are  the  writer  of  those  infamous  and 
slanderous  letters!  Three  times,  you  have  written,  and  twice  you 
told  me,  verbally,  that  they  were  coming  from  Mr.  Chiniquy !  I 
do  not  ask  you  if  you  are  the  author  of  these  slanders  against  me. 

"  I  see  it  written  in  your  face.  You  malice  against  Mr. 
Chiniquy,  is  really  diabolical.  You  wanted  to  ruin  him  in  my 
estimation,  as  well  as  in  that  of  his  countrymen.  And  to  suc- 
ceed the  better  in  that  plot,  you  publish  the  most  egregious  false- 
hoods against  me  in  the  Canadian  press,  to  induce  me  to  de- 
nounce Mr.  Chiniquy  as  an  impostor. 

"How  is  it  possible  that  a  priest  can  so  completely  give  him- 
self to  the  Devil ''.  " 


544  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Addressing  me,  the  bishop  said:  "  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  beg  jour 
pardon  for  having  believed  and  repeated,  that  you  were  depraved 
enough  to  w^rite  those  calumnies  against  your  bishop,  I  was  de- 
ceived by  that  deceitful  man. 

"  I  w^ill  immediately  retract  what  I  have  written  and  said 
against  you." 

Then,  addressing  Mr.  Courjeault  he  again  said: 

"  The  least  punishment  I  can  give  you  is  to  turn  you  out  of 
my  diocese,  and  write  to  all  the  Bishops  of  America,  that  you  are 
the  vilest  priest  I  ever  saw,  that  they  may  never  give  you  any 
position  on  this  Continent." 

These  last  words  had  hardly  fallen  from  the  lips  of  the 
bishop,  when  Mr.  Courjeault  fell  on  his  knees,  before  me,  and 
bathing,  with  his  tears,  my  hands,  which  he  ^vas  convulsively 
pressing  in  his,  said: 

"Dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  see  the  greatness  of  my  iniquity 
against  you  and  against  our  common  bishop.  For  the  dear  Sa- 
viour Jesus'  sake,  forgive  me.  I  take  God  to  witness  that  you 
will  never  have  a  more  devoted  friend  than  I  will  be.  And  you, 
my  lord,  allow  me  to  tell  you,  that  I  thank  God  that  my  malice 
and  my  great  sin  against  both  you  and  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  known 
and  punished  at  once.  However,  in  the  name  of  our  crucified 
Saviour,  I  ask  you  to  forgive  me.  God  knows  that,  hereafter, 
you  will  not  have  a  more  obedient  and  devoted  priest  than  I." 

It  was  a  most  touching  spectacle  to  see  the  tears,  and  hear 
the  sobs  of  that  repentant  sinner.  I  could  not  contain  myself, 
nor  refrain  from  tears.  They  were  mingled  with  those  of  that 
returning  stray  sheep.     I  answered: 

"Yes,  Mr.  Courjeault,  I  forgive  you  with  all  my  heart,  as  I 
wish  my  merciful  God  to  forgive  me  my  sins.  May  the  God 
who  sees  your  repentance  forgive  you  also !  " 

Bishop  Vandeveld,  who  was  gifted  w'ith  a  most  sensitive 
and  kind  nature,  was  also  shedding  tears,  when  I  lifted  up 
Mr.  Courjeault  to  press  him  to  my  heart,  and  to  tell  him  again, 
with  my  voice  choked  w^ith  sobs :  "  I  forgive  you  most  sincerely, 
as  I  want  to  be  forgiven." 

He  asked  me:  "  What  do  you  advise  me  to  do?     Must  I  for- 


FKIGllTFUL    SCANDAL. 


545 


give  also?  and  can  I  continue  to  keep  him  at  the  head  of  this 
important  mission?" 

"  Yes,  my  lord.  Please  forgive  and  forget  the  errors  of  that 
dear  brother;  he  has  alread}'  done  so  much  good  to  my  country- 
men of  Bourbonnais.  I  pledge  myself  that  he  will,  hereafter, 
be  one  of  your  best  priests."' 

And  the  bishop  forgave  him,  after  some  very  appropriate 
and  paternal  advice,  admirably   mixed  w^ith  mercy  and  firmness. 

It  was  then  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  We  separ- 
ated, to  say  our  vespers  and  matins  (prayers  which  took  nearly 
an  iiour). 

I  had  just  finished  reciting  them  in  the  garden,  when  I  saw 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Courjeault  walking  from  the  church  towards  me, 
but  his  steps  were  uncertain,  as  one  distracted  or  half  drunk.  T 
was  puzzled  at  the  sight,  for  he  was  a  strong  teetotaler,  and  I 
knew  he  had  no  strong  drink  in  the  church.  He  advanced  three 
or  four  steps,  then  retreated.  At  last,  he  came  very  near,  but 
his  face  had  such  an  expression  of  terror  and  sadness  that  he  was 
hardly  recognizable.  He  muttered  something  that  I  could  not 
understand. 

"  Please  repeat  your  sentence,"  I  said  to  him,  "  I  did  not 
understand  you." 

He  then  put  his  hands  on  his  face,  and  again  muttered  some- 
thing. His  voice  was  drowned  in  his  tears  and  sobs.  Supposing 
that  he  was  coming  to  ask  me  again  to  pardon  his  past  malice 
and  calumnies  against  me,  I  felt  an  unspeakable  compassion  for 
him. 

As  there  were  a  couple  of  seats  near  by,  I  said  to  him: 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Courjeault,  come  and  sit  here  with  me;  and 
do  not  think  any  more  of  what  God  Almighty  has  blotted  out 
with  the  blood  of  His  Son.  I  will  never  think  any  more  of  yoiu' 
momentary  errors.  You  may  look  upon  me  as  your  most  de- 
voted friend." 

"  Dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  he  answered,  "  I  have  to  reveal  to  you 
another  dark  mystery  of  my  miserable  life.  Since  more  than  a 
year,  I  have  lived  with  the  beadle's  daughter  as  if  she  were  my 
wife! 


546  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  She  has  just  told  me  that  she  is  to  become  a  mother  in  a 
few  days,  and  that  I  have  to  see  to  that,  and  give  her  $500.  She 
threatens  to  denounce  me  pubHcly  to  the  bishop  and  people  if  I 
do  not  support  her  and  her  offspring.  Would  it  not  be  better 
for  me  to  flee  away,  this  night,  and  go  back  to  France  to  live  in 
my  own  family,  and  conceal  my  shame?  Sometimes,  I  am  even 
tempted  to  throw  myself  in  the  river,  to  put  an  end  to  my  miser- 
able and  dishonored  existence.  Do  you  think  that  the  bishop 
would  forgive  this  new  crime,  if  I  threw  myself  at  his  feet  and 
asked  pardon?  Would  he  give  me  some  other  place  in  his  vast 
diocese,  where  my  misfortunes  and  my  sins  are  not  known? 
Please  tell  me  what  to  do." 

I  remained  absolutely  stupefied,  and  did  not  know  what  to 
answer.  Though  T  had  compassion  for  the  unfortunate  man,  I 
must  confess  that  this  new  development  of  his  hypocrisy  and 
rascality  filled  me  with  an  unspeakable  horror  and  disgust.  He 
had,  till  then,  wrapped  himself  in  such  a  thick  mantle  of  decep- 
tion that  many  of  his  people  looked  upon  him  as  an  angel  of 
purity.  His  infamies  were  so  well  concealed  under  an  exterior 
of  extreme  moral  rigidity  that  several  of  his  parishioners  looked 
upon  him  as  a  saint,  whose  relics  could  perform  miracles.  Not 
long  before,  two  young  couples,  of  the  best  families  of  Bour- 
bonnais,  having  danced  in  a  respectable  social  gathering,  had 
been  condemned  by  him,  and  compelled  to  ask  pardon,  publicly,, 
in  the  church.  This  pharisaical  rigidity  caused  the  secret  vicea 
of  that  priest  to  be  still  more  conspicuous  and  scandalous.  I  felt 
that  the  scandal  which  would  follow  the  publication  of  thi& 
mystery  of  iniquity  would  be  awful;  that  it  would  even  cause 
many,  forever,  to  lose  faith  in  our  church.  So  many  sad  thoughts 
filled  my  mind  that  I  was  confused  and  unable  to  give  him  any 
advice.     I  answered: 

« Your  misfortune  is  really  great.  If  the  bishop  were  not 
here,  I  might,  perhaps,  tell  you  my  mind  about  the  best  thing  to 
do,  just  now.  But  the  bishop  is  here;  he  is  the  only  man  to 
whom  you  have  to  go  to  know  how  to  come  out  of  the  bottom 
less  aoyss  into  which  you  have  fallen.  He  is  your  proper  coun- 
sellor; go  and  tell  him,  frankly,  everything,  and  follow  his  advice.'* 


FRIGHTFUL    SCANDAL. 


547 


With  staggering  step,  and  in  such  deep  emotions  that  his  sobs 
and  cries  could  be  heard  for  quite  a  distance,  he  went  to  the 
bishop.     I  remained  alone,  half  petrified  at  what  I  had  heard. 

Half  an  hour  later,  the  bishop  came  to  me.  He  was  pale  and 
his  eyes  reddened  with  tears.     He  said  to  me: 

"Mr.  Chiniquy,  what  an  awful  scandal!  What  a  new  dis- 
grace for  our  holy  church!  That  Mr.  Courjeault,  whom  I 
thought,  till  to-day,  to  be  one  of  my  best  priests,  is  an  incarnate 
devil.  What  shall  I  do  with  him?  Please  help  me  by  your 
advice;  tell  me  what  you  consider  the  best  way  of  preventing 
the  scandal,  and  protecting  the  faith  of  the  good  people  against 
the  destructive  storm  which  is  coming  upon  them." 

"  My  dear  Bishop,"  I  answered,  "  the  more  I  consider  these 
scandals  here,  the  less  I  see  how  we  can  save  the  church  from 
becoming  a  dreadful  wreck.  I  feel  too  much  the  responsibility 
of  my  advice  to  give  it.  Let  your  lordship,  guided  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  do  what  you  consider  the  best  for  the  honor  of  the 
church  and  the  salvation  of  so  many  souls,  which  are  in  danger 
of  perishing  when  this  scandal  becomes  known.  For  me,  the 
only  thing  I  can  do  is  to  conceal  my  face  with  shame,  go  back  to 
my  young  colony  to  pray  and  weep  and  work." 

The  bishop  replied:  "Here  is  what  I  intend  to  do.  Mr. 
Courjeault  tells  me  that  there  is  not  the  least  suspicion  among 
the  people  of  his  sin,  and  that  it  is  an  easy  thing  to  send  that  girl 
to  the  house  provided  in  Canada  for  priests'  offenses,  without 
awakening  any  suspicion.  He  seems  so  penitent,  that  I  hope, 
hereafter,  we  have  nothing  to  fear  from  him.  He  will  now  live 
the  life  of  a  good  priest  here,  without  giving  any  scandal.  But 
if  I  remove  him,  then  there  will  be  some  suspicions  of  his  fall, 
and  the  awful  scandal  we  want  to  avoid  will  come.  Please  lend 
me  $Too,  which  I  will  give  to  Mr.  Courjeault,  to  send  that  girl 
to  Canada  as  soon  as  possible ;  and  he  will  continue  here,  to  work 
with  wisdom  after  this  terrible  trial.  What  do  you  think  of  that 
plan.?" 

"  If  your  lordship  is  sure  of  the  conversion  of  Mr.  Cour- 
jeault, and  that  there  is  no  danger  of  his  great  iniquity  being 
known  by  the  people,  evidently   the  wisest  thing   you  can  do  is 


54^  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME.  t 

to  send  that  girl  to  Canada,  and  keep  Mr.  Couijeault  here. 
Though  I  see  great  dangers  even  in  that  way  of  dealing  in  this 
sad  affair.  But,  unfortunately,  I  have  not  a  cent  in  hand  to-day, 
and  I  cannot  lend  you  the  $ioo  you  want." 

"  Then,"  said  the  bishop,  "  I  will  give  a  draft  on  a  bank  of 
Chicago,  but  you  must  endorse  it." 

"I  have  no  objection,  my  lord,  to  endorse  any  draft  signed  by 
your  lordship,"  1  replied. 

Though  it  was  late  in  the  day,  and  that  I  had,  at  first,  pro- 
posed to  spend  the  night,  I  came  back  to  my  dear  colony  of  St. 
Anne.  Bourbonnais  appeared  to  me  like  a  burning  house,  in  the 
cellar  of  which  there  was  a  barrel  of  powder,  from  which  one 
could  not  keep  himself  too  far  away. 

Five  days  later,  four  of  the  principal  citizens  of  that  interest- 
ing, but  sorely  tried,  place  knocked  at  my  door.  They  were  sent 
as  a  deputation  from  the  whole  village  to  ask  me  what  to  do 
about  their  curate,  Mr.  Couijeault.  They  told  me  that  several 
of  them  had,  long  since,  suspected  what  was  going  on  between 
that  priest  and  the  beadle's  daughter,  but  they  had  kept  that  secret. 
However,  yesterday,  they  said  the  eyes  of  the  parish  had  been 
opened  to  the  awful  scandal. 

The  disgusting  demonstrations  and  attention  of  the  curate, 
when  the  victim  of  his  lust  took  the  diligence,  left  no  doubt  in 
the  minds  of  any  one  that  she  is  to  have  a  child  in  Montreal. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  we  are  sent  here  to  ask  your  advice. 
Please  tell  us  what  to  do." 

"  My  dear  friends,"  I  answered,  "  it  is  not  from  me,  but  from 
our  common  bishop,  that  you  must  ask  what  is  to  be  done  in  such 
deplorable  affairs." 

But  they  replied:  "  Would  you  not  be  kind  enough  to  come 
to  Bourbonnais  with  us,  and  go  to  our  unfortunate  priest  to  tell 
him  that  his  criminal  conduct  is  known  by  the  whole  people,  and 
that  we  cannot  decently  keep  him  a  day  longer  as  our  Christian 
teacher.  He  has  rendered  us  great  services  in  the  past,  which 
we  will  never  forget.  We  do  not  want  to  abuse  or  insult  him, 
in  any  way.  Though  guilty,  he  is  still  a  priest.  The  only  favor 
we  ask  from  him  now  is  that  he  quits   the   place,  without   noise 


FRIGHTFUL    SCANDAL. 


549 


and  scandal,  in  the  night,  to  avoid  any  disagreeable  demonstra- 
tions which  might  come  from  his  personal  enemies,  whom  his 
Pharisaical  rigidity  has  made  pretty  numerous  and  bitter." 

"  I  do  not  see  any  reason  to  refuse  you  that  favor,"  I  ans- 
wered. 

Three  hours  later,  in  the  presence  of  those  four  gentlemen, 
I  was  delivering  my  sad  message  to  the  unfortunate  curate.  He 
received  it  as  his  death  warrant.  But  he  was  humble,  and  sub- 
mitted to  his  fate. 

After  spending  four  hours  with  us  in  settling  his  affairs,  he 
fell  on  his  knees,  with  torrents  of  tears,  he  asked  pardon  for  the 
scandal  he  had  given,  and  requested  us  to  ask  pardon  from  the 
whole  parish,  and  at  12  o'clock  at  night  he  left  for  Chicago. 
That  hour  was  a  sad  one,  indeed,  for  us  all.  But  my  God  had  a 
still  sadder  hour  in  store  for  me.  The  people  of  Bourbonnais 
had  requested  me  to  give  them  some  religious  evening  services 
the  next  week,  and  I  was  just  at  the  end  of  one  of  them,  the  7th 
of  May,  when,  suddenly,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Courjeault  entered  the 
church,  walked  through  the  crowd,  saluting  this  one,  smiling  on 
that  one,  and  pressing  the  hands  of  many.  His  face  bore  the 
marks  of  impudence  and  debauchery. 

From  one  end  of  the  church  to  the  other,  a  whisper  of  amaze- 
ment and  indignation  was  heard. 

*' Mr.  Courjeault!  Mr.  Courjeault!!  Great  God!  what  does 
this  mean?  " 

I  observed  that  he  was  advancing  towards  me,  probably  with 
the  intention  of  shaking  hands,  before  the  people,  but  I  did  not 
give  him  time  to  do  it.  I  left  by  the  back  door,  and  went  to  the 
parsonage,  which  was  only  a  few  steps  distant.  He,  then,  went 
back  to  the  door  to  have  a  talk  with  the  people,  but  very  few 
gave  him  that  chance.  Though  he  affected  to  be  exceedingly 
gay,  jocose  and  talkative,  he  could  not  get  many  people  to  stop 
and  hear  him.  Every  one,  particularly  the  women,  were  filled 
with  disgust,  at  his  impudence.  Seeing  himself  nearly  deserted, 
at  the  church  door,  he  turned  his  steps  towards  the  parsonage, 
which  he  entered,  whistling.  When  he  beheld  mc,  he  laughed 
and  said: 


550  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"Oh!  oh!  our  dear  little  Father  Chiniquy  here?  How  do 
you  do?" 

"  I  am  quite  unwell,"  I  answered,  "  since  I  see  that  you  are 
so  miserably  destroying  yourself." 

"  I  do  not  want  to  destroy  myself,"  he  answered ;  "  but  it  is 
you  who  wants  to  turn  me  out  of  my  beautiful  parish  of  Bour- 
bonnais,  to  take  my  place.  With  the  four  blockheads  who 
accompanied  you,  the  other  day,  you  have  frightened  and  per- 
suaded me  that  my  misfortune  with  Mary  was  known  by  all  the 
people;  but  our  good  bishop  has  understood  that  this  was  a  trick 
of  yours,  and  that  it  was  one  of  your  lying  stories.  I  came  back 
to  take  possession  of  my  parish,  and  turn  you  out." 

"  If  the  bishop  has  sent  you  back  here  to  turn  me  out,  that  I 
may  go  back  to  my  dear  colony,  he  has  jnst  done  what  I  asked 
him  to  do;  for  he  knows,  better  than  any  man,  for  what  great 
purpose  I  came  to  this  country,  and  that  I  cannot  do  my  work 
so  long  as  he  asks  me  to  take  care  of  Bourbonnais.  I  go,  at 
once,  and  leave  you  in  full  possession  of  your  parsonage.  But  I 
pity  you,  when  I  see  the  dark  cloud  which  is  on  your  horizon. 
Good-bye!" 

"  You  are  the  only  dark  cloud  on  my  horizon,"  he  answered. 
*'  When  you  are  gone,  I  will  be  in  as  perfect  peace  as  I  was 
before  you  set  your  feet  in  Illinois.  Good-bye;  and  please  never 
come  back  here,  except  I  invite  you." 

I  left,  and  ordered  my  servant-man  to  drive  me  back  to  St 
Anne.  But  when  crossing  the  village,  I  saw  that  there  was  a 
terrible  excitement  among  the  people.  Several  times  they 
stopped  me,  and  requested  me  to  remain  in  their  midst  to  advise 
them  what  to  do. 

But  I  refused,  saying  to  them :  "  It  would  be  an  insult  on  my 
part  to  advise  you  anything,  in  a  matter  where  your  duty  as  men 
and  Catholics  is  so  clear.  Consult  the  respect  you  owe  to  your- 
selves, to  your  families  and  to  your  church,  and  you  will  know 
what  to  do." 

It  took  me  all  night,  which  was  very  dark,  to  come  back  to 
St.  Anne,  where  I  arrived  at  dawn,  the  9th  of  May,  1852. 

The  next  Sabbath  day,  I  held  a  public  service  in  my  chapel, 


FRIGHTFUL     SCANDAL.  CCj 

which  was  crowded,  without  making  any  allusion  to  that  deplor- 
able affair.  On  the  Monday  following,  four  citizens  of  Bourbon- 
nais  were  deputed  to  tell  me  what  they  had  done,  and  asked  me 
not  to  desert  them  in  that  hour  of  trial,  but  to  remember  that  I 
was  their  countryman,  and  that  they  had  nobody  else  to  whom 
they  could  look  to  help  to  fulfill  their  religious  duties.  Here  is 
the  substance  of  their  message: 

"  As  soon  as  we  saw  that  you  had  left  our  village,  without 
telling  us  what  to  do,  we  called  a  public  meeting,  where  we 
passed  the  following  resolutions  " : 

ist.     No  personal  insult  shall  be  given  to  Mr.  Courjeault. 

and.     We  cannot  consent  to  keep  him  a  single  hour  as  our  pastor. 

3rd.  When,  next  Sabbath,  he  will  begin  his  sermon,  we  will  instantly 
le«Te  the  church,  and  go  to  the  door,  that  he  may  remain  absolutely  alone, 
and  understand  our  stern  determination  not  to  have  him  any  more  for  our 
spiritual  teacher. 

4th.  We  will  send  these  resolutions  to  the  bishop,  and  ask  him  to 
allow  Mr.  Chiniquy  to  divide  his  time  and  attention  between  his  new  colony 
and  us,  till  we  have  a  pastor  able  to  instruct  and  edify  us. 

Strange  to  say,  poor  Mr.  Courjeault,  shut  up  in  his  parson- 
age during  that  night,  knew  nothing  of  that  meeting.  He  had 
not  found  a  single  friend  to  warn  him  of  what  was  to  happen 
the  next  Sunday.  That  Sunday,  the  weather  was  magnificent, 
and  there  never  had  been  such  a  multitude  of  people  at  the 
church. 

The  miserable  priest,  thinking  by  that  unusual  crowd,  that 
everything  was  to  be  right  with  him,  that  day,  began  his  mass 
and  went  to  the  pulpit  to  deliver  his  sermon.  But  he  had 
hardly  pronounced  the  first  words,  when,  at  a  signal  given  by 
some  one,  the  whole  people,  without  a  single  exception,  ran 
out  of  the  church,  as  if  it  had  been  on  fire,  and  he  remained 
alone. 

Of  course,  this  fell  upon  him  as  a  thunderbolt,  and  he  came 
verv  near  fainting.  However,  recovering  himself,  he  went  to 
the  door,  and  having  with  his  tears  and  sobs,  as  with  his  words, 
persuaded  the  people  to  listen  to  what  he  had  to  tell  them,  he 
said: 

"  I  see  that  the  hand  of  God  is  upon  me,  and  I  deserve  it.      I 


552  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

have  sinned,  and  made  a  mistake  by  coming  back.  You  do  not 
want  me  any  more  to  be  your  pastor.  I  can  not  complain  of 
that;  tliis  is  your  right,  you  will  be  satisfied.  I  will  leave  the 
place  forever,  to-night.  I  only  ask  you  to  forgive  mv  past  errors 
and  pray  for  me." 

This  short  address  was  followed  by  the  most  deadly  silence; 
not  a  voice  was  heard  to  insult  him.  Many,  on  the  contrary, 
were  so  much  impressed  with  the  sad  solemnity  of  this  occur- 
rence that  they  could  not  refrain  their  tears.  The  whole  people- 
went  back  to  their  homes  with  broken  hearts.  Mr.  Courjeault 
left  Bourbonnais  that  very  night,  never  to  return  again. 
But  the  awful  scandal  he  had  given  did  not  disappear  with 
him. 

Our  Great  and  Merciful  God,  who,  many  times,  has  made 
the  very  sins  and  errors  of  his  people  to  work  for  good,  caused 
that  public  iniquity  of  the  priest  to  remove  the  scales  from  many 
eyes  and  prepare  them  to  receive  the  light,  which  was  already 
dawning  at  the  horizon.  A  voice  from  heaven  was  as  if  heard 
by  many  of  us : 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  in  your  Church  of  Rome,  you  do  not 
follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  the  lying  traditions  of  men?  Is  it 
not  evident  that  your  priest's  celibacy  is  a  snare  and  an  institu- 
tion of  Satan  ?  " 

Many  asked  me  to  show  them,  in  the  Gospel,  where  Christ 
had  established  the  law  of  celibacy. 

"  I  will  do  better,  I  added,  "I  will  put  the  Gospel  in  your 
hands,  and  you  will  look  for  yourselves  in  that  holy  book  what 
is  said  on  that  matter." 

The  very  same  day  I  urderetl  a  merchant,  from  Montreal,  to 
send  me  a  large  box  filled  with  New  Testaments,  printed  by  the 
order  of  the  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  and  on  the  25th  as  many 
from  New  York.  Very  soon  it  was  known  by  every  one  of 
my  emigrants  that  not  only  had  Jesus  never  forbidden  His 
apostles  and  priests  to  marry,  but  he  had  left  them  free  to  have 
their  wives,  and  live  with  them,  according  to  the  very  testimony 
of  Paul:  "  Have  we  not  the  power  to  lead  about  with  us  a  wife 
and  sister,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  tlie  apostles  and  brethren  of   the 


FRIGHTFUL    SCANDAL.  553 

Lord,  and  Cephas  "  (Cor.  ix:  55) ;  they  saw,  by  their  Gospel, 
that  the  doctrine  of  celibacy  of  the  priests  was  not  brought  from 
heaven  by  Christ,  but  had  been  forged  in  darkness,  to  add  to  the 
miseries  of  man.  They  read  and  read  over  again  these  words 
of  Christ: 

"  If  you  continue  in  my  wortl,  you  shall  be  my  disciples 
indeed. 

"  You  shall  know  the  truth,  and  it  shall  make  you  free. 
"  If,  therefore,  the  son  shall  make  you  free,  you  shall  be  free 
indeed"  (John  viii:  31,  32,  36). 

And  those  promises  of  liberty,  which  Christ  gave  to  those 
who  read  and  followed  His  Word,  made  their  hearts  leap  with 
joy.  They  fell  upon  their  minds  as  music  from  heaven.  They 
also  soon  found,  by  themselves,  that  every  time  the  disciples  of 
Christ  had  asked  Him  who  would  be  the  first  ruler,  or  the  pope, 
in  His  church,  he  had  always  solemnly  and  positively  said  that, 
in  His  church,  nobotlv  would  ever  become  the  first,  the  ruler  or 
the  pope.  . 

And  thev  began,  seriously,  to  suspect  that  the  great  powers 
of  the  pope  and  his  bishops  were  nothing  but  a  sacrilegious  usur- 
pation. I  was  not  long  without  seeing  that  the  reading  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  bv  mv  dear  countrymen  was  changing  them 
into  other  men. 

Their  minds  were  evidently  enlarged  and  raised  to  higher 
spheres  of  thought.  They  were  beginning  to  suspect  that  the 
heavy  chains  which  were  wounding  their  shoulders  were  pre- 
venting them  from  making  progress  in  wealth,  intelligence  and 
liberty,  as  their  more  fortunate  fellow-men,  called  Protestants. 

This  was  not  yet  the  bright  light  of  the  day,  but  it  w.is  the 
blessed  dawn. 


0 


Chapter  LII. 

N   the  20th  of  May,  1852,  I  received   the  following  letter 
from  Bishop  Vandeveld: 


Rkv.  Mr.  Chiniquy. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Chiniquy: — The  Rev.  Mr.  Courjeault  is  just  returned 
from  Bourbonnais,  where  he  ought  never  to  have  gone  back.  He  has  told 
me  of  his  complete  failure  and  ignominious  exit.  I  bitterly  regret  having 
allowed  him  to  go  there  again.  But  he  had  so  persuaded  me  that  his 
criminal  conduct  with  his  servant  girl  was  ignored  by  the  people,  that  I  had 
yielded  to  his  request. 

1  feel  that  this  new  attempt,  on  his  part,  to  impose  himself  on  that 
honest  people,  has  added  to  the  enormity  of  his  first  scandal.  I  advise  him 
now  to  go  back  to  France,  where  he  can  more  easily  conceal  his  shame  than 
in  America.  But  one  of  the  darkest  features  of  that  disgusting  affair  is  that 
I  am  obliged  to  pav  the  $500  which  the  girl  asked,  in  order  to  prevent  Mr 
Courjeault  from  being  dragged  before  the  civil  tribunal  and  sent  to  jail. 

The  malice  of  that  priest  against  you  has  received  its  just  reward.  But 
my  fear  is  that  you  have  another  implacable  enemy  here  in  Mr.  Lebel, 
whose  power  to  do  evil  is  greater  than  Mr.  Courjeault's. 

Before  you  began  your  great  work  of  directing  the  flood  of  Roman 
Catholic  emigration  towards  this  country,  to  secure  it  to  our  holy  churchi 
he  was  in  favor  of  that  glorious  scheme,  but  his  jealousy  against  you  has 
suddenly  changed  his  mind. 

He  has,  lately,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Canadian  press,  every  word  of 
which  is  an  unmitigated  falsehood.  Of  course,  the  Bishop  of  Montreal, 
who  is  more  than  ever  opposed  to  our  colonization  plan,  has  published  that 
lying  letter  in  his  journal ;  more  than  that,  he  has  reproduced  the  testimony 
of  a  perjured  man,  who  swears  that  many  of  the  people  of  Illinois  are  bitten 
and  killed  by  the  rattlesnakes,  and  those  who  escape  are  taxed  six  cents  for 
each  pane  of  glass  of  their  windows. 

Will  you  be  discouraged  by  this  opposition.''  I  hope  not.  This  oppo- 
sition is  the  greatest  evidence  we  could  have  that  our  scheme  is  from  God, 
and  that  He  will  support  you.  I  am  tempted  to  interdict  Mr.  Lebel,  and 
send  him  back  to  Canada,  for  writing  things  which  he  so  well  knows  to  be 
false.  The  want  of  a  French-speaking  priest  for  your  countrymen  of  Chi- 
cago is  the  only  thing  which  has  prevented  me  from  withdrawing  his  fac- 

554 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE    BISHOP.  555 

uitie«.     But  I  hare  warned  him  that  if  he  writes  any  more  against  the  truth, 
I  will  punish  him  as  he  deserves. 

For  you,  my  dear  sir,  I  will  address  to  you  the  very  words  which  God 
Himself  addressed  to  His  servant,  Joshua:  "  Be  strong,  and  of  good  courage; 
for  unto  this  people  shalt  thou  divide,  for  an  inheritance,  the  land  which  I 
swear  unto  their  fathers  to  give  them  "  (Joshua  i :  6). 

1  agree  with  what  you  wrote  me  in  your  last  letter,  that  the  charge  I 
have  given  you  of  Bourbonnais,  pro  tempore,  will  seriously  interfere  with 
your  other  numberless  duties  towards  your  dear  emigrants.  But  there  is  no 
help;  the  only  thing  I  can  promise,  is  to  relieve  you  as  soon  as  possible.  I 
have  no  other  priest  to  whom  I  can  trust  the  interesting  mission  of  Bour- 
bonnais. For  Father  Huick  is  too  old  and  infirm  for  such  a  work.  It  is 
evidently  the  will  of  God  that  you  should  extend  your  labors  over  the  first 
limits  you  had  fixed.  Be  faithful  to  the  end,  and  the  Lord  will  be  with  you, 
and  support  you  throughout  all  your  labors  and  tribulations. 

Truly  Yours, 

^  Oliv  Vandeveld, 

Bishop  of  Chicago. 

During  the  next  six  months,  more  than  500  families  from 
France,  Belgium  and  Canada  came  and  gave  to  our  colony  a 
life,  power  and  prosperity  impossible  for  me  to  depict.  The  joy 
I  felt  at  this  unforeseen  success  was  much  diminished,  however, 
by  the  sudden  news  that  Mr.  Courjeault  had  come  back  from 
France,  where  he  spent  only  one  month. 

Not  daring  to  visit  Bourbonnais  again,  he  was  lurking  on  the 
frontiers  of  Indiana,  only  a  few  miles  distant,  evidently  with 
some  sinister  intention. 

Driven  to  a  state  of  madness  by  his  jealousy  and  hatred,  that 
unfortunate  man  addressed  to  me,  on  the  23d  of  January,  1853, 
the  most  abusive  letter  I  ever  received,  and  ended  it  by  telling 
me  that  the  fine  (though  unfinished)  church  of  Bourbonnais, 
which  he  had  built,  was  to  be  burned,  and  that  my  life  would  be 
in  danger  if  I  remained  at  the  head  of  that  mission. 

I  immediately  sent  that  letter  to  the  bishop,  asking  his  advice. 
In  his  answer  he  told  me  that  he  thought  that  Mr.  Courjeault 
was  wicked  enough  to  fulfill  his  threats.  lie  added:  "  Though 
I  have  not  yet  clear  evidence  of  it,  it  is  my  fear  that  Mr.  Label 
is  united  with  Mr.  Courjeault  in  the  diabolical  plot  of  burning 
your  church  of   Bourbonnais.     .Several   people  have  reported  to 


556  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 

me  that  he  says  that  your  presence  there  will  be  the  ruin  of  that 
people,  and  the  destruction  of  their  church.  Oh!  to  what  ex- 
tremities bad  priests  can  go,  when  once  they  have  given  them- 
selves to  their  unbridled  passions!  The  first  thing  I  would  ad- 
vise you,  my  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  in  the  presence  of  such  a  ter- 
rible calamity,  is  to  insure  that  church  without  delay.  I  have 
tried  to  do  it  here,  but  they  have  i-efused,  under  the  pretext  that 
it  is  an  unfinished,  frame  building,  and  there  are  too  many 
dangers  of  fire  when  people  are  still  working  at  it. 

"  My  impression  is  that  Mr.  Lebel  is  on  intimate  terms  with 
some  insurance  gentlemen,  and  has  frightened  them  by  speaking 
of  that  rumor  of  danger,  of  which  he  is  probably  the  father, 
with  that  miserable  Courjeault.  Perhaps  you  may  have  a  better 
chance,  by  addressing  yourself  to  some  insurance  company  which 
you  might  find  at  Joliet  or  at  Springfield." 

After  vain  efforts  to  insure  the  church,  I  wrote  to  the  bishop: 
«  The  only  way  to  escape  the  impending  danger  is  to  finish  the 
church  at  once,  and  insure  it  after.  1  have  just  made  a  collection 
of  $400  among  the  people  of  Bourbonnais,  to  which  I  added 
$300  from  my  own  private  resources,  and  will  go  to  work  im- 
mediately if  your  lordship  has  no  objections." 

Having  got  the  approbation  of  my  superior,  on  the  1st  of 
March  1  began  to  put  the  last  hand  to  that  building. 

We  worked  almost  day  and  night,  till  the  ist  of  May,  when 
it  was  all  finished.  I  dare  affirm,  that  for  a  country  place,  that 
church  was  unsurpassed  in  beauty.  The  inside  frame-work  was 
all  made  of  the  splendid  black  oak  of  Bourbonnais,  polished  and 
varnished  by  most  skillful  men,  and  it  looked  like  a  mirror. 
Very  seldom  have  I  seen  anything  more  grand  and  beautiful  than 
the  altar,  made  also  of  that  precious  black  oak.  It  was  late  at 
night  when,  with  my  fellow-laborers,  covered  with  dust  and 
sweat,  we  could  say  with  joy  the  solemn  words,  "  It  is  finished! " 
Afterwards  we  sung  the  Te  Deum. 

Had  I  had  any  opportunity,  at  that  late  hour,  it  was  my 
thought  and  desire  to  insure  it.  But  I  was  forced  to  postpone 
this  till  the  next  Monday. 

The   next  day   (the   first   Sabbath  of   May,  1853J,  the  sua 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE    BISHOP. 


557 


seemed  to  come  out  from  the  horizon  and  rise  above  our  heads 
Mfith  more  than  usual  magnificence. 

The  air  was  calm  and  pure,  and  the  numberless  spring^ 
flowers  of  our  gardens  mingling  their  perfumes  with  the  fra- 
grant leaves  of  the  splendid  forest  at  the  front  of  the  village, 
the  balmy  atmosphere,  the  songs  of  the  birds,  seemed  to  tell 
us  that  this  Sabbath  day  was  to  be  the  most  happy  one  for  me 
and  my  dear  people  of  Bourbonnais.  The  church  had  never 
been  so  crowded.  The  hymns  we  sung  had  never  been  so 
melodious,  and  the  words  of  gratitude  which  I  addressed  to  my 
God,  when  I  thanked  him  for  the  church  he  had  given  us,  in 
which  to  adore  and  bless  him,  had  never  been  so  sincere  and 
earnest:  never  had  our  tears  of  joy  flowed  so  prof  usely  as  on  that 
splendid  and  never-to-be-forgotten  Sabbath. 

Alas!  who  would  suspect  that,  six  hours  later,  the  same 
people,  gathered  around  the  smoking  ruins  of  their  church, 
■would  rend  the  air  with  their  cries  of  desolation!  Such,  however, 
was  the  case. 

While  taking  my  dinner,  after  the  public  service,  two  little 
boys,  who  had  remained  in  the  church  to  wait  for  the  hour  of 
the  Catechism,  ran  to  the  parsonage,  crying:  "Fire!  Fire!! 
Fire!!  !" 

Bare-headed,  and  half-paralyzed  with  the  idea  that  my 
church  was  on  fire,  I  went  out  to  see  the  awful  reality.  A  girdle 
of  smoke  and  fire  was  already  issuing  from  almost  every  part, 
between  the  top  of  the  wooden  walls  and  the  roof. 

I  had  rushed  to  the  church  with  a  pail  of  water  in  my  hand. 
But  it  was  too  late  to  make  any  use  of  it;  the  flames  were 
already  running  and  leaping  with  a  fearful  rapidity  over  the 
fresh  varnish,  like  a  long  train  of  powder.  In  less  than  two 
hoairs  all  was  finished  again. 

No  doubt  could  remain  in  our  minds.  This  w^as  the  work  of 
an  incendiarv,  for  there  was  no  fire  in  the  church  after  the 
service.  Many  strangers  who  had  come  from  a  distance,  had 
gone  through  the  whole  nave  and  the  upper  galleries,  to  have  a 
better  sight  of  the  whole  building,  and  two  of  them  had  been 
seen  by  the  little  boys,  remaining  ten   or  fifteen   minutes  alone; 


558 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


they  had  gone  back  to  some  of  the  houses  of  the  village  with- 
out being  remarked  by  anybody,  for  it  was  dinner  time,  and 
there  was  nobody  to  watch  them. 

Though  stunned  by  that  awful  calamity,  the  noble-hearted 
people  of  Bourbonnais  did  not  lose  their  minds.  Seeing  that  they 
w^ere  all  gathered  around  the  smoking  ruins,  at  about  six  p.  m.,  I 
addressed  to  them  a  few  words  to  support  their  courage.  I  told 
them  that  it  was  only  in  the  midst  of  great  trials  and  difficulties 
that  men  could  show  their  noblest  qualities,  and  their  true  man- 
hood; that  if  we  were  true  men,  instead'  of  losing  our  time  in 
shedding  tears  and  rending  the  air  with  our  cries  of  desolation, 
we  would  immediately  put  our  hands  to  the  work,  and  begin 
the  very  next  day  to  raise  up,  not  a  frame  building,  which  the 
flames  could  turn  into  ashes  in  a  few  minutes,  and  which  the 
storm  could  blow  down  over  our  heads,  but  a  stone  church, 
w^hich  would  stand  before  God  and  man  as  an  imperishable 
monument  of  their  faith,  indomitable  courage  and  liberality. 
We  immediately  started  a  subscription,  to  erect,  without  delay, 
a  stone  church.  In  less  than  one  hour,  $4,000  in  money,  and 
more  than  $5,000  in  time,  timber  and  stone  and  other  material, 
were  subscribed,  every  cent  of  which  has  been  faithfully  given 
for  the  erection  of  that  fine  stone  church  of  Bourbonnais. 

The  next  Thursday,  Bishop  Vandcveld  came  from  Chicago 
to  confer  with  me  about  what  could  be  done  to  repair  that  terri- 
ble loss,  and  to  inquire  confidentially  of  me  as  to  the  author  of 
that  fire.  All  the  facts  we  gathered  pointed  to  the  same  direc- 
tion. It  was  evident  that  the  miserable  Courjeault,  with  Lebel, 
the  French  Canadian  priest  of  Chicago,  had  done  that  evil  work 
through  their  emissaries.  No  doubt  of  this  remained  in  my  mind 
when  I  learned  that  soon  after,  Mr.  Courjeault  had  thrown  him- 
self into  one  of  those  dark  dungeons  called  a  monastery  of  La 
Trappe,  which  Satan  has  built  on  earth  as  a  preparation  for  the 
dark  hereafter  of  the  wicked. 

The  unexpected  visit  of  the  bishop,  had,  at  first,  rejoiced  me, 
by  the  hope  that  he  would  bring  me  words  of  encouragement. 

But  what  w^as  my  disappointment,  when  he  said  to  me: 

"My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  must  reveal  to  you  a  thing  that  I 


CORFESPONDENCE    WITH    THE    BISHOP. 


559 


have  not  yet  made  known  to  anyone.  It  is  confidential,  and  I 
request  you  not  to  say  a  word  before  it  is  accomplished.  I  can 
not  remain  any  longer  Bishop  of  Illinois!  No!  I  cannot  any 
longer  assume  the  responsibilities  of  such  a  high  position,  because 
it  is  beyond  my  power  to  fulfill  my  duties  and  do  what  the  church 
requires  of  me.  The  conduct  of  the  priests  of  this  diocese  is 
such,  that,  should  I  follow  the  regulations  of  the  canon,  I  would 
be  forced  to  interdict  all  my  priests  with  the  exception  of  you 
and  tw^o  or  three  others. 

"  They  are  all  either  notorious  drunkards,  or  given  to  public 
or  secret  concubinage;  several  of  them  have  children  by  their 
own  nieces,  and  two  by  their  own  sisters.  I  do  not  think  that 
ten  of  them  believe  in  God.  Religion  is  nothing  to  them  but  a 
well-paying  comedy.  Where  can  I  find  a  remedy  for  such  a 
general  evil?  Can  I  punish  one  of  tliem  and  leave  the  others 
free  in  their  abominable  doings,  when  they  are  almost  all  equally 
guilty.'*  Would  not  the  general  interdiction  of  these  priests  be 
the  death  blow  to  our  church  in  Illinois?  Besides,  how  can  I 
punish  them,  when  I  know  that  many  of  them  are  ready  to 
poison  me  the  very  moment  I  raise  a  finger  against  them.  I 
suppose  that  you  do  not  ignore  the  fact  that  my  poor  predecessor 
was  poisoned  by  one  of  those  priests  who  had  seduced  several 
nuns,  when  he  was  in  the  very  act  of  investigating  the  matter. 

"  I  intend  to  go  to  Rome,  as  soon  as  I  receive  my  permit 
from  the  pope,  to  renounce  at  his  feet  the  Bishopric  of  Chicago 
which  I  will  not  keep  on  any  consideration. 

"  If  the  pope  does  not  give  me  another  diocese,  with  a  better 
set  of  priests,  I  prefer  to  spend  the  rest  of  my  life  at  the  head 
of  a  small  congregation,  where  I  shall  not  have,  on  my 
shoulders,  the  awful  responsibility  which  is  killing  me  here. 
The  last  horrible  deeds  of  Courjeault  and  Lebel,  of  which  you 
are  the  victim  to-day,  has  filled  the  bitter  cup  which  God  has 
put  to  my  lips  to  drink.  It  is  overflowing.  I  cannot  any  longer 
endure  it." 

When  speaking  so,  the  bishop's  face  was  bathed  with  tears. 
It  was  very  late — too  late,  indeed,  to  make  the  remonstrances 
which  came  to  my  mind,  in  order  to  change  his  resolutions. 


360  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

1  determined  to  wait  till  the  next  morning,  when  I  should 
have  plenty  of  time,  I  hoped,  to  expel  his  dark  thoughts,  and 
give  him  more  courage.  Besides,  I  w^as,  myself,  so  discouraged 
by  those  awful  disclosures,  that  I  was  in  need  of  mental  as  well 
as  bodily  rest.  But,  alas!  the  next  day  was  to  be  one  of  the 
darkest  of  my  priestly  life! 

When  the  hour  for  breakfast  came  the  next  morning,  I  went 
to  awaken  the  bishop.  What  was  my  dismay,  when  I  found 
him  drunk ! 

Before  going  to  bed,  he  had  secretly  asked  my  housekeeper 
to  give  him  the  bottle  of  wine  which  I  used  to  celebrate  mass. 
It  was  a  large  bottle,  containing  nearly  a  quart  of  wine,  which 
would  last  me  at  least  six  months.  The  whole  of  which  he  had 
drank  during  the  night! 

I  had  been  told  that  Bishop  Vandeveld  (as  well  as  the  greater 
number  of  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States)  was  a  drunkard, 
but  I  had  never  believed  it.  He  always  drank  very  moderately, 
before  me,  any  time  I  sat  at  his  table,  or  he  at  mine.  It  appears 
that  it  was  at  night,  when  nobody  could  see  him,  that  he  gave 
himself  up  to  that  detestable  habit.  His  room  was  filled  with 
the  odor  of  what  he  had  vomited,  after  drinking  such  an  enor- 
mous quantity  of  wine.  He  left  the  room,  only  at  noon,  after 
the  fumes  of  the  wine  had  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  re- 
quested the  housekeeper  to  cleanse  it  herself,  without  let- 
ting the  servants  know  anything  of  the  occurrence  of  the 
night. 

But  words  would  fail  to  express  my  consternation  and  the 
discouragement  I  felt.  I  had  formed  such  a  good  and  exalted 
opinion  of  that  man!  I  had  found  in  him  such  noble  qualities! 
His  intelligence  was  so  bright,  his  learning  so  extensive,  his  heart 
so  large,  his  plans  so  grand,  his  piety  so  sincere,  his  charity  so 
worthy  of  a  Bishop  of  Christ! 

It  was  so  pleasant  for  me  to  know,  till  then,  that  I  was 
honored  with  the  full  confidence  of  a  bishop  who,  it  seemed  to 
me,  had  not  a  superior  in  our  church! 

The  destruction  of  my  dear  church  by  the  hands  of  incendi- 
aries was   surel}-  a  great   calamity   for  me;  but   the   fall  of   my 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE    BISHOP.  561 

bishop,  from  the  high  position  he  had  in  my  heart  and  mind,  was 
still  greater, 

I  had  the  means,  in  hand,  to  rebuild  that  church;  but  my 
confidence  in  my  bishop  was  irremediably,  and  foiever  lost! 
Never  had  a  son  loved  his  father  more  sincerely,  than  I  had 
loved  him;  and  never  had  any  priest  felt  a  more  sincere  respect 
for  his  bishop,  than  I  for  him!  Oh!  what  a  terrible  wound  waa 
made  in  my  heart  that  day!  what  tortures  I  felt! 

But  how  many  times,  since,  I  have  blessed  my  God  for  these 
wounds!  Without  them,  I  should  never  have  known,  that 
instead  of  being  in  the  bosom  of  the  Immaculate  Church  of 
Christ,  I  was  the  slave  of  that  great  Babylon,  which  poisons  the 
nations  with  the  wine  of  her  abominations. 

My  love  and  respect  for  Bishop  Vandeveld,  were  very 
strong  chains,  by  which  I  was  bound  to  the  feet  of  the  idols  of 
Rome.  I  will  earnestly  bless  God  for  having  himself  broken 
these  chains,  on  that  day  of  supreme  desolation. 

The  remaining  part  of  the  day,  as  well  as  the  hour  of  the 
next  morning  which  the  bishop  spent  in  my  house,  I  remained 
almost  mute  in  his  presence.  He  was  not  less  embarrassed  when 
he  asked  me  my  view  about  his  project  of  leaving  the  diocese. 
I  answered  him,  in  a  few  words,  that  I  could  not  disapprove  the 
purpose;  for  I  would,  myself,  prefer  to  live  in  a  dark  forest,  in 
the  midst  of  wild  animals,  than  among  drunken,  atheist  priests 
and  bishops. 

Some  months  later,  I  learned,  without  regret,  that  the  Pope 
had  accepted  his  resignation  of  the  Bishopric  of  Chicago,  and 
appointed  him  Bishop  of  Natchez,  in  Louisiana.  His  successor 
to  the  Bishopric  of  Chicago,  was  Rev.  O'Regan. 

One  of  the  very  first  things  which  this  new  bishop  did,  was 
to  bring  Bishop  Vandeveld  before  the  criminal  tribunals,  as  a 
tliief,  accusing  him  of  having  stolen  $100,000  from  the  Bishopric 
of  Chicago,  and  carrying  them  away  with  him.  There  is  no 
need  to  say,  that  this  action  caused  a  terrible  scandal.  Not  only 
in  Illinois,  but  through  all  the  United  States,  both  priests  and  lay- 
men had  to  blush,  and  cast  down  their  eyes  before  the  world.  The 
two   bishops,  employing  the   best   lawyers   to  fight   each  other. 


562  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

came  very  near  proving  to  the  world  that  both  of  them  were 
equally  swindlers  and  thieves;  when  the  Pope  forced  them  both 
to  stop  their  contestation,  and  bring  the  affair  before  his  tribunal,. 
*t  Rome.  There, it  was  decided  that  the  $100,000,  which  had 
reaily  been  taken  from  Chicago  to  the  Natchez  diocese,  should 
be  equally  divided  between  the  two  bishops. 

How  many  times  did  I  feel  my  soul  brought  to  the  dust,  in 
the  midst  of  those  horrible  scandals!  How  many  sleepless  nights 
have  I  spent,  when  a  voice,  which  I  could  not  silence,  seemed 
crying  to  me,  louder  than  thunder: 

"What  are  you  doing  here,  extending  the  power  of  a  church,, 
which  is  a  den  of  thieves,  drunkards,  and  impure  atheists?  A 
church,  governed  by  men  whom  you  know  to  be  godless,  swin- 
dlers, and  vile  comedians?  Do  you  not  see  that  you  do  not  fol- 
low the  Word  of  God,  but  the  lying  traditions  of  men,  when  you 
consent  to  bow  your  knees  before  such  men  ?  Is  it  not  blasphemy 
to  call  such  men  the  ambassadors,  and  the  disciples  of  the  humble, 
pure,  holy, peaceful,  and  divine  Jesus?  Come  out  of  that  church! 
Break  the  fetters,  by  which  you  are  bound,  as  a  vile  slave,  to 
the  feet  of  such  men!  Take  the  Gospel  for  thine  only  guide,, 
and  Christ  for  thine  only  Ruler!" 

I  was  in  desolation,  at  finding  that  my  faith  in  my  church 
was,  in  spite  of  myself,  shaken  by  these  scandals.  With  burn- 
ing tears  rolling  down  my  cheeks,  and  with  a  broken,  and  hu- 
miliated heart,  I  fell,  one  night,  on  my  knees,  and  asked  my  God 
to  have  mercy  upon  me,  by  strengthening  my  faith  and  preserv- 
ing it  from  ruin.  But  it  seemed  that  neither  my  tears  nor  my 
cries  were  of  any  avail,  and  I  remained  the  whole  night,  as  a 
ship  struck  by  a  hurricane,  drifting  on  an  unknown  sea,  without 
a  compass  or  a  rudder. 

I  was  not  aware  of  it  then,  but  I  learned  it  after,  that  the 
divine  and  sure  Pilot  was  directing  my  course  towards  the  port 
of  salvation! 

The  next  day,  I  had  a  happy  diversion,  in  the  arrival  of  fifty- 
new  emigrants,  who  knocked  at  my  door,  asking  my  advice  about 
the  best  place  to  select  for  their  future  home. 

It  seemed  to  me,  though  pretty  long  after  that,  that  my  duty 


CORRESPONDENCE     WITH    THE    BISHOP.  565 

was  to  go  and  pay  my  respects  to  my  new  bishop,  and  open  to 
him  my  heart  as  to  my  best  friend,  and  the  guide  whom  God 
Himself  had  chosen  to  heal  the  wounds  of  my  soul,  by  pouring 
the  oii  and  wine  of  charity  into  them, 

I  will  never  forget  the  day  (the  i  ith  day  of  December,  1854) 
when  I  saw  Bishop  O'Ragan,  for  the  first  tttne,  nor  the  painful 
impressions  I  received  from  that  first  interview. 

He  was  of  medium  stature,  with  a  repugnant  face,  and  his 
head  always  in  motion:  all  its  motions  seemed  the  expression  of 
insolence,  contempt,  tyranny,  and  pride;  there  was  absolutely 
nothing  pleasant,  either  in  his  words,  or  in  his  manners.  I  fell 
on  my  knees  to  ask  his  benediction,  when  I  had  given  him  my 
name  and  kissed  his  hand,  which  seemed  as  cold  as  that  of  a 
corpse. 

"Ah!  ah!  you  are  Father  Chiniquy,"  he  said,  '"I  am  glad  to 
see  you,  though  you  have  deferred  your  visit  a  long  time;  please 
sit  down,  I  want  some  explanation  from  you  about  a  certain  very 
strange  document,  which  I  have  just  read  to-day;"  and  he 
went,  at  the  double  quick,  to  his  room  to  get  the  document. 
There  were  two  Irish  priests  in  the  room,  who  came  a  few  min- 
utes before  me.  When  we  were  alone,  one  of  them  said:  "  We 
had  hoped  that  we  would  gain  by  changing  Bishop  Vadeveld, 
for  this  one.  But  my  fear  is  that  we  have  only  passed  from 
Charybdis  to  Scylla,"  and  they  laughed  outright.  But  I  could 
not  laugh.  I  was  more  inclined  to  weep.  After  less  than  ten 
minutes  of  absence,  the  bishop  returned,  holding  in  his  hand  a 
paper,  which  I  understood,  at  once,  to  be  the  deed  of  the  eleven 
acres  of  land,  which  I  had  bought,  and  on  which  I  had  built  my 
chapel  of  St,  Anne. 

"Do  you  known  this  paper?"  he  asked  me  in  an  angry 
manner. 

"  Yes,  my  lord,  I  know  it,"  I  answered. 

*♦  But,  then,"  he  quickly  replied,  "  you  must  know  that  that 
title  is  a  nullity;  a  fraud,  which  you  ought  never  to  have  signed." 

"  Your  venerable  and  worthy  predecessor  has  accepted  it,"  I 
answered,  "  and  what  might  have  been  incorrect  has  been  made 
valid,  I   hope,  by  his  acceptation." 


564  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  I  do  not  care  a  straw  about  what  my  predecessor  has  done," 
he  abruptly  answered,  "he  is  not  here  to  defend  himself;  neither 
are  we  here  to  discuss  his  merits  or  demerits.  We  have  not  to 
deal  with  my  lord  Vandeveld,  but  with  a  document  which  is  a 
nullity,  a  deception,  which  must  be  thrown  into  the  fire;  you 
must  give  me  another  title  of  that  property ! " 

And  saying  this,  he  flung  my  deed  on  the  floor.  I  calmly 
picked  it  up,  and  said : 

"  I  exceedingly  regret,  my  lord,  that  my  first  interview  with 
your  lordship  should  be  the  occasion  of  such  an  unexpected  act. 
But  I  liope  this  will  not  destroy  the  paternal  sentiments  which 
God  must  have  put  into  the  heart  of  my  bisho]),  for  the  last 
and  least  of  his  priests.  I  see  that  your  lordship  is  very  busy; 
I  do  not  want  to  trespass  on  your  valuable  time;  I  take  this 
rejected  document  with  me,  to  make  another  one,  which  I 
liope  will  be  more  agreable  to  your  views;"  and  I  then  took  my 
departure. 

I  leave  the  reader  to  imagine  the  sentiments  which  filled  my 
mind  when  coming  back  to  my  colony. 

I  did  not  dare  to  say  a  word  to  my  people  about  our  bishop. 
When  questioned  by  them,  I  gave  the  most  evasive  answers  I 
could.  But  I  felt  as  the  mariner  feels  when  he  hears  the  rumb- 
ling thunder  approaching.  Though  the  sea  is  calm  as  the  oil  of 
a  lamp,  he  knows  the  storm  is  coming,  he  trims  his  sails,  and 
prepares  for  the  impending  hurricane. 

It  seemed  that  my  most  pressing  duty,  after  my  first  inter- 
view, was  to  bring  my  heart  nearer  to  my  God  than  ever;  to  read 
and  study  my  Bible  with  more  attention,  and  to  get  my  people 
to  take  more  than  ever  the  Word  of  God  as  their  daily  bread. 
I  began,  also,  to  speak  more  openly  of  our  Christian  rights,  as 
well  as  of  our  duties,  as  these  are  set  forth  in  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

Some  time,  before  this,  feeling  more  than  ever  that  I  could 
not  do  justice  to  my  colony,  by  keeping  any  longer  the  charge 
of  Bom-bonnais,  I  had  respectfully  sent  my  resignation  to  the 
bishop,  which  had  been  accepted.  A  priest  had  been  called  by 
him  to  take  my  place  there.      But  he  too  was,  ere  long,  guilty  of 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE     BISHOP.  5O3 

a  public  scandal  with  his  servant  girl.  The  principal  citizens  of 
Bourbonnais  protested  against  his  presence  in  their  midst,  and 
soon  forced  the  bishop  to  dismiss  him.  His  successor  was  the 
miserable  priest,  Lebel,who  had  been  turned  out  of  Chicago  for 
a  ciminal  offence  with  his  own  niece,  and  was  now  to  be  the 
curate  of  Bourbonnais.  But  his  drunkenness  and  other  public 
vices,  caused  him  to  be  interdicted,  and  expelled  from  that  place, 
in  the  month  of  September,  1S55.  About  the  same  time,  a  priest, 
who  had  been  expelled  from  Belgium,  for  a  great  scandal,  was 
sent  to  Kankakee,  as  the  curate  of  the  French  Canadians  of  that 
interesting  young  city.  After  his  expulsion  from  Belgium,  he 
had  come  to  Chicago,  where,  under  another  name,  he  hud  made 
a  fortune,  and  for  five  or  six  years  kept  a  house  of  prostitution. 
Becoming  tired  of  that  occupation,  he  offered  $5,000  to  the 
bishop,  if  he  would  accept  him  as  one  of  his  priests,  and  give 
him  a  parish.  Bishop  O'Ragan  being  in  need  of  money,  ac- 
cepted the  gift,  and  fulfilled  the  condition  by  sending  him  as 
missionary  to  Kankakee. 

As  soon  as  he  had  taken  possession  of  that  interesting  mission, 
he  came  with  Mr.  Lebel  to  pay  me  a  visit.  I  received  them  as 
politely  as  possible,  though  they  were  both  half  drunk  when 
they  arrived.  After  dinner,  they  went  to  shoot  prairie  chickens, 
and  got  so  drunk  that  one  of  them,  Mr.  Lebel,  lost  his  boots  in 
a  slough,  and  came  back  to  my  house  barefooted,  without  noticing 
his  loss.  I  had  to  help  them  get  their  carriage,  and  the  next  day  I 
wrote  them,  forbidding  them  to  ever  set  a  foot  in  my  house 
again. 

But  what  was  my  surprise  and  sadness,  not  long  before  thes»c 
two  infamous  priests  were  ignominiously  tui'ned  out  by  their 
people,  to  receive  a  letter  from  my  bishop,  which  ended  in  these 
words : 

"  I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  you  refuse  to  live  on  good  terms 
with  your  two  neighboring  brother  priests.  This  ought  not  to 
be,  and  I  hope  to  hear  soon,  that  you  have  reconciled  yourself 
with  them,  in  a  friendly  way,  as  you  ought  to  have  done  long^ 
ago." 

i  answered  him : 


566  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  It  is  my  interest,  as  well  as  my  duty,  to  obey  my  bishop 
I  know  it.  But  as  long  as  my  bishop  gives  me  for  neighbors, 
priests,  one  of  whom  has  lived  publicly  with  his  own  niece,  as  hia 
wife,  and  the  other  who  has  kept  a  house  of  prostitution  in  Chi- 
cago, I  respectfully  ask  my  bishop  to  be  excused  for  not  visiting 
them." 

The  bishop  felt  insulted  by  my  letter,  and  was  furious  against 
me.  It  came  to  be  a  public  fact  that  he  had  said  before  many 
people:  "  I  would  give  anything  to  the  one  who  would  help  me 
to  get  rid  of  that  unmanageable  Chiniquy." 

Among  those  who  heard  the  bishop,  was  a  land  speculator, 
a  real  land-shark,  against  whom  a  bill  for  perjury  had 
been  found  by  the  jury  of  Iroquois  county,  the  27th  of  April, 
1854.  That  man  was  very  angry  against  me  for  protecting  my 
poor  countrymen  against  his  too  sharp  speculations.  He  said  to 
the  bishop,  "  if  you  pay  the  expenses  of  the  suit,  I  pledge  myself 
to  have  Chiniquy  put  in  gaol."  The  bishop  had  publicly 
answered  him : 

"No  sum  of  money  will  be  too  great  to  be  delivered  from  a 
priest,  who  alone  gives  me  more  trouble  than  the  rest  of  my 
clergy." 

To  com.ply  with  the  desires  of  the  bishop,  this  speculator 
dragged  me  before  the  criminal  court  of  Kankakee,  on  the  i6th 
day  of  May,  1855,  but  he  lost  his  action,  and  was  condemned  to 
pay  the  cost. 

It  was  my  impression  that  the  bishop,  hav^ing  so  often  ex- 
pressed in  public  his  bad  feelings  against  me,  would  not  visit  my 
colony.  But,  I  was  mistaken,  on  the  nth  of  June,  taking  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Lebel  and  Carthuval  for  his  companions,  he  came  to 
St.  Anne  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  confirmation. 

As  the  infamous  conduct  of  those  two  priests  was  known  to 
every  one  of  my  people,  I  felt  a  supreme  disgust  at  their  arrival, 
and  came  very  near  forbidding  them  to  sit  at  my  table.  Having, 
however,  asked  the  bishop  to  give  me  half-an-hour  of  private 
interview,  I  respectfully,  but  energetically  protested  against  the 
presence  of  these  two  degraded  men  in  my  house. 

He  coldly  answered  me: 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    THE    BISHOP.  56'» 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  forget  that  I  am  the  Bishop  of  lUinos, 
and  that  you  are  a  simple  priest,  whom  I  can  interdict  and  remove 
from  here  when  I  like.  I  do  not  come  here  to  receive  your 
lessons,  but  to  intimate  to  you  my  orders.  You  seem  to  torget 
that  charity  is  above  all  others  the  virtue  which  must  adorn  the 
soul  of  a  good  priest.  Your  great  zeal  is  nothing  before  God, 
and  it  is  less  than  nothing  before  ine,  so  long  as  you  have  not 
charity.  It  is  my  business,  and  not  yours,  to  know  what  priests 
I  must  employ  or  reject.  Your  business  is  to  respect  them,  and 
forget  their  past  errors,  the  very  day  I  see  fit  to  receive  them 
among  my  priests." 

"  My  lord,"  I  answered,  "  allow  me  respectfully  to  tell  you, 
that  though  you  are  a  bishop,  and  I  am  a  simple  priest,  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ,  which  we  have  to  preach,  tells  us  to  avoid  the 
company  of  publicly  vicious  and  profligate  men.  My  conscience 
tells  me  that  through  respect  for  myself,  and  my  people,  and 
through  respect  for  the  Gospel  I  preach,  I  must  avoid  the  com- 
pany of  men,  one  of  whom  has  lived  with  his  niece  as  his  wife, 
and  the  other  has,  till  very  lately,  been  guilty  of  keeping  a  house 
of  prostitution  in  Chicago.  Your  lordship  may  ignore  these 
things,  and,  in  consequence  of  that,  may  give  his  confidence  to 
these  men;  but  nothing  is  more  apt  to  destroy  the  faith  of  our 
French  Canadian  people,  than  to  see  such  men  in  you  company 
when  you  come  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  confirmation. 
It  is  through  I'espect  for  your  lordship,  that  I  take  the  liberty  of 
sjjeaking  thus." 

He  angrily  answered  me: 

"  I  see,  now,  the  truthfulness  of  what  people  say  about  you. 
It  is  to  the  Gospel  you  constantly  appeal  on  everything.  The 
Gospel!  The  Gospel!  is  surely  a  holy  book;  but  remember 
that  it  is  the  c/iurc/i  which  must  guide  you.  Christ  has  said:' 
'Hear  my  church.'  I  am  here  the  interpreter,  ambassador — the 
representative  of  the  church — when  you  disobey  me,  it  is  the 
church  you  disobey." 

"  Now,  my  lord,  that  I  have  fiulfilled  what  I  consider  a  con- 
scientious duty,  I  promise,  that  through  respect  for  your  lord- 
ship, and  to  keep  myself  in  the  bonds  of   peace  with  my  bishop, 


568  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME 

I,  to-day,  will  deal  with  these  two  priests,  as  if  they  weie  Vrorthy 
of  the  honorable  position  you  give  them." 

"All  right!  all  right!"  replied  the  bishop.  "But  it  must  be 
near  the  hour  for  dinner." 

"  Yes,  my  lord,  I  have  just  heard  the  bell  calling  us  to  the 
dining-room." 

After  the  blessing  of  the  table  by  the  bishop  he  looked  at 
the    Rev.  Carthuval,  who  was  sitting  just  before  him,  and  said: 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you,  Mr.  Carthuval,  you  do  not 
look  well?" 

"  No,  my  lord,  "  he  answered,  "  I  am  not  well,  I  want  to  go 
to  bed." 

He  was  correct,  he  was  not  well,  for  he  was  drunk. 

During  the  public  services,  he  had  left  the  chapel  to  come 
down  to  ask  for  a  bottle  of  the  wine  I  kept  to  celebrate  mass. 
The  housekeeper,  thinking  he  wanted  the  wine  in  the  chapel, 
handed  him  the  bottle,  which  he  drank  in  her  presence,  in  less 
than  five  minutes.  After  which  he  went  up  the  chapel  to  help 
the  bishop  in  administering  the  confirmation  to  the  150  people 
whom  I  had  prepared  for  the  reception  of  that  rite. 

As  soon  as  dinner  was  finished,  the  bishop  requested  me  to 
go  and  take  a  walk  with  him.  After  giving  me  some  compli- 
ments, on  the  beauty  of  the  site  I  had  chosen  for  my  first  village 
and  chapel,  he  saw  at  a  short  distance,  a  stone  building,  which 
was  raised  only  a  little  above  the  windows,  and  directing  his 
steps  towards  it,  he  stopped  only  twenty  or  thirty  feet  distant 
and  asked  me: 

"  Whose  house  is  this.''  " 

"  It  is  mine,  my  lord." 

"It  is  yours!"  he  replied,  "and  to  whom  does  that  fine  gar- 
den belong  ?  " 

"  It  is  mine,  also,  my  lord." 

"  Well !  Well !  "  he  rejoined.  "  Where  did  you  get  the 
money  to  purchase  that  fine  piece  of  land,  and  build  that  house?  " 

"  I  got  the  money  where  every  honest  man  gets  what  he 
possesses,  in  my  hard  labor,  and  in  the  sweat  of  my  brow,"  I 
replied. 


CORRESPONDENCE     WITH     THE     BISHOP.  569 

"  I    want   that   house    and    that   piece   of  land  I "   rejoined    the 
bishop,  with  an  imperative  voice. 

*'  So  do  I,"  I   lepHed. 

"You  must  give  me  that  house,  with  the  land  on  which  it  is 
built,"  said  the  bishop. 

"I  can  not  j^ive  them  as  long  as  I  am  in  need  of  them,  niv 
lord,"  I  replied. 

"  I  see  that  you  are  a  bad  priest,  as  1  have  (jften  been  tok., 
since  you  disobey  your  bishop,"  he  rejoined  with  an  angry 
manner! 

I  replied:  "I  do  not  see  why  I  am  a  bad  priest,  l)ecausc  1 
keep  what  my  God  has  given  me." 

"  Are  you  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  you  have  no  right  to  pos- 
sess any  property,"  he  answered. 

"Yes!  my  lord,  I  am  ignorant  of  any  law  in  our  holy  church 
that  deprives  me  of  any  such  rigiits.  If,  however,  your  lord- 
ship can  show  me  any  such  law,  I  will  gi\  e  vou  the  title  of  that 
property  just  now." 

"If  there  is  not  such  a  law,"  he  replied,  stamping  on  the 
ground  with  his  feet,  "  I  will  get  one  passed." 

"My  lord,"  I  replied,  "You  are  a  great  bishop.  You  have 
great  power  in  the  church,  but  ailow  me  to  tell  vou  that  you 
are  not  great  enough  to  have  such  a  law  passed,  in  our  holy 
church!" 

"  You  are  an  insolent  priest,"  he  answered  with  an  accent  of 
terrible  anger,  "and  I  will  make  you  repent  for  your  inso- 
lence." 

He  then  turned  his  face  towards  the  chapel,  without  waiting 
for  my  answer,  and  ordered  the  horses  put  in  the  carriage,  that 
he  might  leave  in  the  shortest  possible  time. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  he  had    left   St.    Anne,  where   he 
was  never  to  come  again. 

The  visit  of  that  milred  thief,  with  his  two  protligale  priests, 
though  very  short,  did  much  by  the  mercy  of  God,  to  prepare 
our  minds  to  understand  that  Rome  is  the  great  harlot  of  the 
Bible,  which  seduces  and  intoxicates  the  nations  with  the  wine 
of  her  prostitution. 


Chapter  LIII. 

THE  IMMACUIiATE    CONCEPTION  OF    THE  VIBOIN   MAB7. 

THE  8th  December,  1854,  Pope  Pius  IX.  was  sitting  on  his 
tlirone;  a  triple  crown  of  gold  and  diamonds  was  on  his 
head ;  silk  and  damask — I'ed  and  white  vestments  on  his  should- 
ers; five  hundred  mitred  prelates  were  surrounding  him;  and 
more  than  fifty  thousand  people  were  at  his  feet,  in  the  incom- 
parable St.  Peter's  Church  of  Rome. 

After  a  few  minutes  of  most  solemn  silence,  a  Cardinal, 
dressed  with  his  purpled  robe,  left  his  seat,  and  gravely  walked 
towards  the  Pope,  kneeled  before  him,  and  humbly  prostrating 
himself,  at  his  feet  said : 

"Holy  Father:  tell  us  if  we  can  believe  and  teach  that  the 
Mother  of  God,  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary,  was  immaculate  in  her 
conception  ?  " 

The  Supreme  Pontiff  answered.  "I  do  not  know^;  let  us 
ask  the  light  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  Cardinal  withdrew;  the  Pope  and  the  numberless  mul- 
titude fell  on  their  knees;  and  the  harmonious  choir  sang  the 
"  Veni  Creator  Spiritus." 

The  last  note  of  the  sacred  hymn  had  hardly  rolled  under  the 
vaults  of  the  Temple,  when  the  same  Cardinal  left  his  place,  and 
again  advanced  towards  the  throne  of  the  Pontiff,  prostrated 
himself  at  his  feet,  and  said: 

"  Holy  Father,  tell  us  if  the  Holy  Mother  of  God,  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary,  was  immaculate  in  her  conception." 

The  Pope  again  answered:  "I  do  not  know;  let  us  ask  the 
Kght  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

And,  again,  the  "Veni  Creator  Spiritus"  was  sung. 

The  most  solemn  silence  had,  a  second  time,  succeeded  to  the 

57° 


IMMACULATE    CONCEPTION.  57  I 

melodious  sacred  song,  when  again  the  eyes  of  the  multitude 
were  following  the  grave  steps  of  the  purple-robed  Cardinal, 
advancing,  for  the  third  time,  to  the  throne  of  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  to  ask  again : 

"  Holy  Father,  tell  us  if  we  can  believe  that  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  the  Mother  of  God,  was  immaculate?" 

The  Pope,  as  if  he  had  just  received  a  direct  communication 
from  God,  answered  with  a  solemn  voice: 

"Yes!  we   must   believe   that   the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the 
Mother  of  God,  was  immaculate  in  her  conception.     #     *     ♦ 
There  is  no  salvation  to  those  who  do  not  believe  this  dogma!" 

And,  with  a  loud  voice,  the  Pope  intoned  the  Te  Deum ;  the 
bells  of  three  hundred  churches  of  Rome  rang;  the  cannons  of 
the  citadel  were  fired.  The  last  act  of  the  most  ridiculous  and 
sacrilegious  comedy  the  world  has  ever  seen,  was  over;  the 
doors  of  heaven  were,  for  ever,  shut  against  those  who  would 
refuse  to  believe  the  anti-scriptural  doctrine  that  there  is  a 
daughter  of  Eve  who  has  not  inherited  the  sinful  nature  of 
Adam,  to  whom  the  Lord  said  in  his  justice: 

"Dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou  return!"  and  of  the 
children  of  whom  the  God  of  truth  has  said: 

"'There  is  none  righteous;  no,  not  one;  they  have  all 
sinned!'  " 

We  look  in  vain  to  the  first  centuries  of  the  Church  to  find 
any  traces  of  that  human  aberration.  The  first  dark  clouds 
which  Satan  had  brought  to  mar  the  gospel  truth,  on  that  sub- 
ject, appeared  only  between  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries.  But, 
in  the  beginning,  that  error  made  very  slow  progress;  those 
who  propagated  it,  at  first,  were  a  few  ignorant  fanatics,  whose 
names  are  lost  in  the  night  of  the  dark  ages. 

It  is  only  in  the  twelfth  century  that  it  began  to  be  openly 
preached  by  some  brainless  monks.  But,  then,  it  was  opposed 
by  the  most  learned  men  of  the  time.  We  have  a  very  remark- 
able letter  of  St.  Bernard  to  refute  some  monks  of  Lyons  who 
were  preaching  this  new  doctrine. 

A  little  later,  Peter  Lombard  adopted  the  views  of  the  monks 
of  Lyons,  and  wrote  a  book  to  support  that  opinion;  but  he  was 


572  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

refuted  by  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  is  justly  considered,  by 
the  Church  of  Rome,  as  the  best  theologian  of  that  time. 

After  that,  the  celebrated  order  of  the  Franciscans  used  all 
their  influence  to  persuade  the  world  that  "  Mary  was  immacu- 
late in  her  cocception,"  but  they  were  vigorously  opposed  and 
refuted  by  the  not  less  celebrated  order  of  the  Dominicans. 
These  two  learned  and  powerful  bodies,  during  more  than  a 
century,  attacked  each  other  without  mercy  on  that  subject,  and 
filled  the  world  with  the  noise  of  their  angry  disputes,  both  par- 
ties calling  their  adversaries  heretics.  They  succeeded  in  driving 
the  Roman  Catholics  of  Europe  into  two  camps  of  fierce  ene- 
mies. The  "  Immaculate  Conception "  became  the  subject  of 
burning  discussions,  not  only  between  the  learned  universities, 
between  the  bishops  and  the  priests  and  the  nuns  of  those  days; 
but  it  divided  the  families  into  two  fiercely  contending  parties. 
It  was  discussed,  attacked  and  defended,  not  only  in  the  chairs  of 
universities,  and  the  pulpits  of  the  cathedrals,  but  also  in  the 
fields,  and  in  the  very  streets  of  the  cities.  And  when  the  two 
parties  had  exhausted  the  reasons  which  their  ingenuity,  their 
learning,  or  their  ignorant  fanaticism  could  suggest  to  prove  or 
deny  the  "  Immaculate  Conception,"  they  often  had  recourse  to 
the  stick  and  to  the  sword  to  sustain  their  arguments. 

It  will  appear  almost  incredible  to-day,  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  the 
greatest  number  of  the  large  cities  of  Europe,  particularly  in 
Spain,  were  then  reddened  with  the  blood  of  the  supporters  and 
opponents  of  that  doctrine.  In  order  to  put  an  end  to  these  con- 
tests, which  were  troubling  the  peace  of  their  subjects,  the  kings 
of  Europe  sent  deputation  after  deputation  to  the  Popes  to  know, 
from  their  infallible  authority,  what  to  believe  on  the  subject. 

Philip  III.  and  Philip  IV.  made  what  we  may  call  supreme 
efforts  to  force  the  Popes,  Paul  V.,  Gregory  XV.,  and  Alexander 
VII.,  to  stop  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  disarm  the  combatants, 
by  raising  the  opinion  in  favor  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  to 
the  dignity  of  a  Catholic  dogma.  But  they  failed.  The  only 
answer  they  could  get  from  the  infallible  head  of  the  Chuixh  of 
Rome  was,  that  "that  dogma  was  not  revealed  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  had  never  beer    taught  by  the  Apostles,  nor  by  the 


IMMACULATE    CONCEPTION'.  573 

Fathers,  and  had  never  been  believed  or  preached  by  the  Church 
of  Rome  as  an  article  of  faith!" 

The  only  thing  the  Popes  could   do  to  please  the  supplicant 

kings  and  bishops,  and  nations   of   Europe  in  those  days,  was  to 

J'orbid  hoth.  parties  to  call   each  other  heretics:  and  io  forbid  io 

say  that  it  was  an  article  of  faith  which  ought  to  be  believed  to 

be  saved. 

At  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  Franciscans,  and  all  the  parti- 
sans of  the  "  Immaculate  Conception,"  gathered  her  strength  to 
have  a  decree  in  favor  of  the  new  dogma;  but  the  majority  of 
the  bishops  were  visibly  against  that  sacrilegious  innovation,  and 
they  failed. 

It  was  reserved  to  the  unfortunate  Pius  IX.,  to  drag  the 
Church  of  Rome  to  that  last  limit  of  human  foil}-.  In  the  last 
century,  a  monk,  called  Father  Leonard,  had  a  dream,  in  which 
he  heard  the  Virgin  Mary  telling  him:  "There  would  be  an 
end  to  the  wars  in  the  world,  and  to  the  heresies  and  schism  in 
the  church,  only  after  a  Pope  should  have  obliged,  by  a  decree, 
all  the  faithful  to  believe  that  she  was  'immaculate  in  her  con- 
ception." 

That  dream,  under  the  name  of  a  "celestial  vision,''  had 
been  extensively  circulated,  by  means  of  little  tracts.  Many  be- 
lieved it  to  be  a  genuine  revelation  from  heaven;  and,  unfortun- 
ately, the  good  natured,  but  weak-minded  Pius  IX.,  was  among 
the  number. 

When  he  was  an  exile  in  Gaeta,  he  had,  himself,  a  dream, 
which  he  took  for  a  vision,  on  the  same  subject.  He  saw  the 
Virgin,  who  told  him  that  he  should  come  back  to  Rome, 
and  get  an  eternal  peace  for  the  church,  only  after  he  should 
have  promised  to  declare  that  the  "Immaculate  Conception" 
was  a  dogma,  w'hich  every  one  had  to  believe  to  be  saved.  He 
awoke  from  his  dream  much  impressed  by  it;  and  the  first  thing 
he  did  when  up,  was  to  make  a  vow  to  promulgate  the  new  dog- 
ma as  soon  as  he  should  be  back  to  Rome,  and  the  world  has 
seen  how  he  has  fulfilled  that  vow. 

But,  by  the  promulgation  of  this  new  dogma,  Pius  IX.,  far 
from  securing  an  eternal  peace  to  his  church,  far  from  destroying 


574  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

what  he  was  pleased  to  call  the  heresies  which  are  attacking  Rome 
on  every  side,  has  done  more  to  shake  the  faith  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  than  all  their  enemies. 

By  trying  to  force  this  new  article  of  faith  on  the  consciences 
of  his  people,  in  a  time  that  so  many  can  judge  for  themselves, 
and  read  the  i^ecords  of  past  generations,  he  has  pulled  down  the 
strongest  column  which  was  supporting  the  whole  fabric  of  his 
church;  he  forever  destroyed  the  best  arguments  wdiich  the 
priests  had  to  offer  to  the  ignorant,  deluded  multitudes  which 
they  kept  so  abjectly  tied  to  their  feet. 

No  words  can  sufficiently  express  the  dignified  and  supreme 
contempt  with  which,  before  that  epoch,  the  priests  of  Rome 
were  speaking  of  the  "  new  articles  of  faith,  the  novelties  of  the 
arch-heretics,  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox,  &c.,  «&c!"  How  eloquent 
were  the  priests  of  Rome,  before  the'  8th  of  December,  1S54, 
when  saying  to  their  poor  ignorant  dupes:  "In  our  holy  Church 
of  Rome  there  is  no  change,  no  innovations,  no  novelties, 
no  new  dogmas.  We  believe  to-day  just  what  our  fathers  be- 
lieved, and  what  they  have  taught  us;  we  belong  to  the  apostol- 
ical church;  which  means  we  believe  only  what  Apostles  have 
believed  and  preached."  And  the  ignorant  multitudes  were  say- 
ing: "  Amen!" 

But,  alas,  for  the  poor  priests  of  Rome  to-day ;  those  digni- 
fied nonsenses,  those  precious  and  dear  illusions,  are  impossible! 
They  have  to  confess  that  those  high-sounding  denunciations 
against  what  they  call  the  neiv  doctrines  of  the  heretics,  were 
nothing  but  big  guns  loaded  to  the  mouth  to  destroy  the  Protest- 
ants, which  are  discharging  their  deadly  missiles  against  the  crum- 
bling walls  of  their  Church  of  Rome.  They  have  to  confess 
that  their  pretensions  to  an  unchangeable  creed  is  all  mere  hum- 
bug, shameful  lies;  they  have  to  confess  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  forging  new  dogmas,  new  articles  of  faith; 
they  do  not  any  longer  dare  to  say  to  the  disciples  of  the  Gospel: 
"  Where  was  your  religion  before  the  days  of  Luther  and  Calvin  ?" 
for  the  secret  voice  of  their  conscience  says  to-day  to  the  Roman 
Catholics:  "Where  was  your  religion  before  the  Sth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1854?"  '^"*'*  *^'"'^y  cannot  answer. 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.  575 

There  is  an  inexorable  and  irresistible  logic  in  the  minds  even 
of  the  most  unlearned  men,  which  defies,  to-day,  all  the  soph- 
isms of  the  priests  of  Rome,  if  they  dare  to  speak  again  on  then- 
pet  subjects:  "the  novelties  and  new  dogmas  of  the  Protestants." 
There  is  a  silent,  but  crushing  voice,  going,  to-day,  from  the 
crowds  to  the  priest,  telling  him:  "  Now,  be  quiet  and  silent  on 
what  you  are  used  to  call  the  novelties  and  new  doctrines  of  the 
Protestants!  for,  are  you  not  preaching  to  us  an  awful  novelty? 
Are  you  not  damning  us  to-day  for  disbelieving  a  thing  which 
the  church,  during  eighteen  hundred  years  has,  a  hundred  times, 
solemnly  declared,  by  the  mouth  of  the  Popes,  had  never  been 
revealed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  had  never  been  taught  by  the 
Fathers,  had  never  been  heard  of  by  the  church  herself?" 

I  will  never  forget  the  sadness  which  overcame  me  when  I 
received  the  order  from  Bishop  O'Ragan  to  proclaim  that  new 
dogma  to  my  people,  (then  all  Roman  Catholics.)  It  was  as  if 
an  earthquake  had  shaken  and  destroyed  the  ground  on  which 
my  feet  were  resting.  My  most  cherished  illusions  about  the  im- 
mutability and  the  infallibility  of  my  church  were  crumbling 
down,  in  my  intelligence,  in  spite  of  my  efforts  to  keep  them  up.  I 
have  seen  old  priests,  to  whom  I  opened  my  mind  on  that  subject, 
shed  tears  of  sorrow  on  the  injury  this  new  dogma  would  do  to 
the  church. 

The  Archbishop  of  Paris,  at  the  head  of  the  most  learned 
members  of  the  clergy  of  France,  had  sent  his  protest  to  the 
Pof>e  against  this  dogma  before  it  was  decreed;  and  he  had  elo- 
quently foretold  the  deplorable  consequences  which  would  follow 
that  innovation;  but  their  warning  voice  failed  to  make  anv  im- 
pression on  the  mind  of  the  infatuated  Pope. 

And,  we  children  of  God,  must  we  not  acknowledge  the 
hand  of  the  Lord,  in  that  blindness  of  "the  man  of  sin!" 

The  days  are  not  far  away  that  a  cry  of  joy  will  be  heard 
from  one  end  of  the  world  to  the  other:  "  Fear  God,  and  give 
glory  to  him!  Babylon  is  fallen!  Babylon  is  fallen!  because  she 
made  all  nations-drink  of  the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornica- 
tions." 

^or,  when  we   see  that   "  wicked  one,  who  exalteth   himself 


576  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHVRCH    OF    ROME. 

above  all  that  is  called  God,'"  destroying  himself  by  the  excess 
of  his  own  folly  and  impurities,  we  must  bless  the  Lord. 

The  proclamation  of  this  new  dogma  is  one  of  those  great 
moral  iniquities  which  carry  their  punishment  and  their  remedy 
in  their  own  hands. 

When  the  Pope,  in  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  December, 
1854,  answered  twice:  "  I  do  not  know;"  to  the  question  put  to 
him:  "  Is  the  Virgin  Mary  Immaculate  in  her  Conception?"  and 
then,  a  minute  after,  to  the  same  question,  he  answered:  "Yes! 
I  know  it:  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary  was  Immaculate  in  her  Con- 
ception ; "  he  proved  to  his  most  credulous  dupes  that  he  was 
nothing  but  a  sacrilegious  comedian.  How  would  a  jury  of 
honest  men  deal  with  a  witness  who,  being  interrogated  about 
what  he  knows  of  a  certain  fact,  would  answer:  "I  know  noth- 
ing about  it;"  and  a  moment  after  would  acknowledge  that  "he 
knows  everything  about  it?  "  Would  not  such  a  witness  be  justly 
punished  as  a  perjurer? 

Such  is  the  sad  and  unenviable  position  which  the  Pope 
made  to  himself  and  to  his  church,  on  the  8th  of  December, 
1854.  Interrogated  by  the  nations  of  Europe  about  what  was 
to  be  believed  on  the  "  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary,"  the 
Church  of  Rome,  during  ten  centuries,  had  answered:  "  I  do 
not  know."  And  let  every  one  remember  that  she  wants  to  be 
believed  infallible  when  she  says  she  "  knows  nothing  about 
the  Immaculate  Conception." 

But,  to-day,  that  same  church  assures  us,  through  the  infallible 
decree  of  Pius  IX.,  that  she  knows,  and  that  she  has  always 
known  and  believed  that  the  Virgin  Mary  was  Immaculate! 

Has  the  world  ever  seen  such  a  want  of  self-respect,  such  an 
unblushing  impudence! 

What  verdict  will  the  Christian  world  give  against  that  great 
mother  of  lies?  What  punishment  will  the  God  of  truth  ad- 
minister to  that  great  culprit  who  swears  "  yes  "  and  "  no  "  on 
the  same  question? 

It  is  a  fact,  that  by  the  promulgation  of  this  decree,  Pius  IX. 
had  forever  destroyed  his  prestige  in  the  minds  of  millions  of  his 
followers. 


IMxMACULATK    CONCEPTION.  577 

A  few  days  aftei'  I  had  read  to  my  congregation  the  decree 
of  the  pope  proclaiming  the  new  dogma,  and  damning  all  those 
who  would  not  believe  it,  one  of  my  most  intelligent  and  respect- 
able farmers  came  to  visit  me,  and  put  to  me  the  following  ques- 
tions on  the  new  articles  of  faith: 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy,  please  tell  me,  have  I  correctly  understood 
the  letter  from  the  pope  you  read  us  last  Sabbath?  Does  the 
pope  tell  us  in  that  letter  that  we  can  find  this  new  dogma  of 
the  'Immaculate  Conception'  in  the  Holy  Scriptures;  that  it  has 
been  taught  by  the  Fathers,  and  that  the  church  has  constantly 
believed  it  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles?" 

I  answered :  "  Yes,  my  friend,  the  pope  tells  us  all  those 
things  in  his  letter  which  1  read  in  the  church  last  Sabbath." 

"But,  sir,  will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  read  me  the  verses  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  which  are  in  favor  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion of  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary?" 

"  My  dear  friend,"  I  answered,  "  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I 
have  never  found  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  a  single  word  to  tell 
us  that  Mary  is  immaculate;  but  I  have  found  many  words,  and 
very  clear  words,  which  say  the  very  contrary  thing.  For  in- 
stance, the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans, 
v.:  18,  '  By  the  offense  of  one^  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to 
condemnation.'  This  little,  but  inexorable  '  all,'  includes  the 
Virgin  Mary  in  the  condemnation  and  in  the  guilt.  In  the  same 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  Chapter  iii.:  22,  23,  the  Holy  Ghost, 
speaking  of  the  children  of  Adam — Israelites  and  Gentiles — 
says  there  is  no  difference,  they  have  all  sinned  and  come  short 
of  the  glory  of  God!  And  in  verse  10  of  the  same  chapter, 
the  Holy  Ghost,  speaking  of  the  Jews  and  Gentiles,  says: 
*  There  is  none  righteous — no,  not  one!'  And  the  Lord  has 
never  repealed  in  any  part  that  I  know  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
this  awful  '  no,  not  one! '" 

"  Now,  please  tell  me  the  names  of  the  Holy  Fathers 
who  have  preached  that  we  must  believe  in  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  or  be  forever  damned  if  we  do  not  believe  in 
it!" 

I  answered   my  parishioner:     "I  would  have  preferred,  my 


578  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

dear  friend,  that  you  should  have  never  come  to  put  to  me  these 
questions;  but  as  you  ask  me  the  truth,  I  must  tell  you  the  truth. 
I  have  studied  the  Fathers  with  a  pretty  good  attention,  but  I 
have  not  yet  found  a  single  one  of  them  v^^ho  was  of  that  opinion 
in  any  way." 

"  I  hope,"  added  the  good  farmer,  "  you  will  excuse  me  if  I 
put  to  you  another  question  on  this  subject.  Perhaps  you  do  not 
know  it,  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  feeling  and  talking  about 
this  new  article  of  faith  among  us  since  last  Sabbath ;  I  want  to 
know  a  little  more  about  it.  The  pope  says  in  his  letter  that  the 
Church  of  Rome  has  always  believed  and  taught  that  dogma  of 
Immaculate  Conception.     Is  that  correct? 

"  Yes,  iny  friend,  the  pope  says  that  in  his  Encyclical;  but 
these  last  nine  hundred  years  more  than  one  hundred  popes 
have  declared  that  the  church  had  never  believed  it.  Even 
several  popes  have  forbidden  to  say  '  that  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception was  an  article  of  faith ' — and  they  solemnly  permitted  us 
to  believe  and  say  what  we  please  on  that  matter." 

"  If  it  be  so  with  this  new  dogma,  how  can  we  know  it  is  not 
so  with  the  other  dogmas  of  our  church,  as  the  confession,  the 
purgatory,  etc. .'' "  added  the  farmer. 

"  My  dear  friend,  do  not  allow  the  devil  to  shake  your  faiths 
We  are  living  in  bad  days,  indeed.  Let  us  pray  God  to  enlighten 
us  and  save  us.  I  would  have  given  much  had  you  never  put  to 
me  these  questions! " 

My  honest  parishioner  had  left  me ;  but  his  awf ill  questions 
(they  were  really  awful,  as  they  are  still  awful  for  a  priest  of 
Rome),  and  the  answers  I  had  been  forced  to  give  were  sound- 
ing in  my  soul  as  thunder-claps.  There  was  in  my  poor  trem- 
bling heart,  as  the  awful  noise  of  an  irresistible  storm  which  was 
to  destroy  all  that  I  had  so  dearly  cherished  and  respected  in  my 
then  so  dear  and  venerated  Church  of  Rome.  My  head  was- 
aching.  I  fell  on  my  knees;  but  for  a  time  I  could  not  utter  a 
word  of  prayer;  big  tears  were  rolling  on  my  burning  cheeks;, 
new  light  was  coming  before  the  eyes  of  my  soul;  but  I  took  it 
for  the  deceitful  temptation  of  Satan;  a  voice  was  speaking  to- 
me— it  was  the  voice  of  my   God,  telling   me,  "  Come  out  from. 


IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.  579 

Babylon!"  But  I  took  that  voice  for  the  voice  of  Satan;  I  was 
trying  to  silence  it.  The  Lord  was  then  drawing  me  away  from 
ray  perishing  ways;  but  I  did  not  know  Him  then;  I  was  strug- 
gling against  Him  to  remain  in  the  dark  dungeons  of  error. 
But  God  was  to  be  the  stronger.  In  His  infinite  mercy  He  was 
to  overpower  His  unfaithful  servant;  He  was  to  conquer  me, 
and  with  rae  many  others. 


Chapter   LIV. 

THE  ABOltlNATIONS  OF  ATTBICULAR  OONFESSIOIT. 

THERE  are  two  women  who  ought  to  be  constant  objects  of 
the  compassion  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  and  for  whom 
daily  prayers  ought  to  be  offered  at  the  mercy-seat — the  Brahmin 
woman,  who,  deceived  by  her  priests,  burns  herself  on  the  corpse 
of  her  husband  to  appease  the  wrath  of  her  wooden  gods;  and 
the  Roman  Catholic  woman,  who,  not  less  deceived  by  her 
priests,  suffers  a  torture  far  more  cruel  and  ignominious  in  the 
confessional-box,  to  appease  the  wrath  of  her  wafer-god. 

For  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say,  that  for  many  noble- 
hearted,  well-educated,  high-minded  women  to  be  forced  to  un- 
veil their  hearts  before  the  eyes  of  a  man,  to  open  to  him  all  the 
most  secret  recesses  of  their  souls,  all  the  most  sacred  mysteries 
of  their  single  or  married  life,  to  allow  him  to  put  to  them  ques- 
tions which  the  most  depraved  woman  would  never  consent  to 
hear  from  her  vilest  seducer,  is  often  more  horrible  and  intoler- 
able than  to  be  tied  on  burning  coals. 

More  than  once, I  have  seen  women  fainting  in  the  confe«- 
sional-box,  who  told  me  afterwards  that  the  necessity  of  speak- 
ing to  an  unmarried  man  on  certain  things,  on  which  the  most 
common  laws  of  decency  ought  to  have  forever  sealed  their  lips, 
had  almost  killed  them!  Not  hundreds,  but  thousands  of  times,  I 
have  heard  from  the  lips  of  dying  girls,  as  well  as  married 
women,  the  awful  words:  "lam  forever  lost!  All  my  past 
confessions  and  communions  have  been  so  many  sacrileges!  I 
have  never  dared  to  answer  correctly  the  questions  of  my  con- 
fessors!    Shame  has  sealed  my  lips  and  damned  my  soul!" 

How  many  times  I  remained  as  one  petrified  by  the  side  orf 
a  corpse,  when  these  last  words  having  hardly  escaped  the  lips  of 

SSo 


AURICULAJt    CONFESSION.  3^5  1 

one  of  my  female  penitents  who  had  been  snatched  out  of  m^ 
reach  by  the  merciless  hand  of  death  before  I  could  give  her 
pardon  through  the  deceitful  sacramental  absolution.  I  then 
believed,  as  the  dead  sinner  herself  had  believed,  that  she  should 
not  be  forgiven  except  by  that  absolution. 

For  there  are  not  only  thousands,  but  millions,  of  Roman 
Catholic  girls  and  women  whose  keen  sense  of  modest  and 
womanly  dignity  are  above  all  the  sophisms  and  diabolical 
machinations  of  their  priests.  They  ne\  er  can  be  persuaded  to 
answer  "Yes"  to  certain  questions  of  their  confessors.  Thev 
would  prefer  to  be  thrown  into  the  flames  and  burnt  to  ashes  with 
the  Brahmin  widows,  rather  than  allow  the  eyes  of  a  man  to  pry 
into  the  sacred  sanctuary  of  their  souls.  Though  sometimes 
guilty  before  God,  and  under  the  impression  that  their  sins  will 
never  be  forgiven  if  not  confessed,  the  laws  of  decency  are 
stronger  in  their  hearts  than  the  laws  of  their  perfidious  cliurch. 
No  consideration,  not  even  the  fear  of  eternal  damnation,  can 
persuade  them  to  declare  to  a  sinful  man  sins  which  God  alone 
has  the  right  to  know,  for  He  alone  can  blot  tliem  out  with  the 
blood  of  His  Son,  shed  on  the  cross. 

But  what  a  wretched  life  must  that  be  of  those  exceptional 
noble  souls  which  Rome  keeps  in  the  dark  dungeons  of  her 
superstition!  They  read  in  all  their  books  and  hear  from  all 
their  pulpits  that  if  they  conceal  a  single  sin  from  their  coufes- 
sors,  they  are  forever  lost!  But  being  absolutely  unable  to 
trample  under  their  feet  the  laws  of  self-respect  and  decency, 
which  God  Himself  has  impressed  in  their  souls,  they  live  in 
constant  dread  of  eternal  damnation.  No  human  words  can  tell 
their  desolation  and  distress,  when  at  the  feet  of  their  confessors, 
they  find  themselves  under  the  horrible  necessity  of  speaking  of 
things  on  which  they  would  prefer  to  suffer  the  most  cruel  death 
rather  than  to  open  their  lips,  or  to  be  forever  damned  if  they  do 
not  degrade  themselves  forever  in  their  own  eyes  by  speaking  on 
matters  which  a  re:.pectable  woman  will  never  reveal  to  her  own 
mother,  much  less  to  a  man ! 

I  have  known  only  too  many  of  these  noble-hearted  women, 
who,  when  alone  with  God  in  a  real   agony   of    desolation   and 


582  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

with  burning  tears,  haa  asiced  Him  to  grant  them  what  they  con- 
sidered the  greatest  favor,  which  was  to  lose  so  much  of  their 
self-respect  as  to  be  enabled  to  speak  of  those  unmentionable 
things  just  as  their  confessors  wanted  them  to  speak;  and,  hoping 
that  their  petition  had  been  granted,  they  went  again  to  the  con- 
fessional-box, determined  to  unveil  their  shame  before  the  eyes 
of  that  inexorable  man.  But  when  the  moment  had  come  for 
the  self-immolation,  their  courage  failed,  their  knees  trembled, 
their  lips  became  pale  as  death,  cold  sweat  poured  from  all  their 
pores!  The  voice  of  modesty  and  womanly  self-respect  was 
speaking  louder  than  the  voice  of  their  false  religion.  They 
had  to  go  out  of  the  confessional-box  unpardoned — nay,  w^ith 
the  burden  of  a  new  sacrilege  on  their  conscience. 

Oh!  how  heavy  is  the  yoke  of  Rome — how  bitter  is  human 
life — how  cheerless  is  the  mystery  of  the  cross  to  those  deluded 
and  perishing  souls!  How  gladly  they  would  rush  ii.to  the 
blazing  piles  with  the  Brahmin  women,  if  they  could  hope  to 
see  the  end  of  their  unspeakable  miseries  through  the  momentary 
tortures  which  would  open  to  them  a  better  life! 

I  do  here  publicly  challenge  the  whole  Roman  Catholic 
priesthood  to  deny  that  the  greater  part  of  their  female  penitent^ 
remain  a  certain  period  of  time — some  longer,  some  shorter — 
under  that  most  distressing  state  of  mind. 

Yes,  by  far  the  greater  majority  of  women  at  first  find  it 
impossible  to  pull  down  the  sacred  barriers  of  self-respect,  whicU 
God  Himself  has  built  around  their  heaits,  intelligences  and  souU 
as  the  best  safeguard  against  the  snares  of  this  polluted  world. 
Those  laws  of  self-respect,  by  which  they  cannot  consent  to 
speak  an  impure  word  into  the  ears  of  a  man,  and  which  shut 
all  the  avenues  of  the  heart  against  his  unchaste  questions,  even 
■when  speaking  in  the  name  of  God — those  laws  of  self-respect 
are  so  clearly  written  on  their  conscience,  and  they  are  so  well 
understood  by  them  to  be  a  most  Divine  gift,  that,  as  I  have 
already  said,  many  prefer  to  run  the  risk  of  being  forever  lo64 
by  remaining  silent. 

It  takes  many  years  of  the  most  ingenious  (I  do  not  hesitat* 
to  call  it  diabolical)  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  priests  to  persuade 


AURICULAR    CONFESSION.  5S3 

the  majority  of  their  female  penitents  to  speak  on  questions 
which  even  pagan  savages  would  blush  to  mention  among  them- 
selves. Some  persist  in  remaining  silent  on  those  matters  during 
the  greater  part  of  their  lives,  and  many  of  them  prefer  to  throw 
themselves  into  the  hands  of  their  merciful  God,  and  die  w^ithout 
submitting  to  the  defiling  ordeal,  even  after  they  have  felt  the 
poisonous  stings  of  the  enemy,  rather  than  receive  their  pardon 
from  a  man  who,  as  they  feel,  would  surely  have  been  scandalized 
by  the  recital  of  their  human  frailties.  All  the  priests  of  Rome 
are  aware  of  this  natural  disposition  of  their  female  penitents. 
There  is  not  a  single  one — no,  not  a  single  one  of  their  moral 
theologians,  who  does  not  warn  the  confessors  against  that  stern 
and  general  determination  of  the  girls  and  married  women  never 
to  speak  in  the  confessional  on  matters  which  may  more  or  less 
deal  with  sins  against  the  seventh  commandment.  Dens,  Liguori, 
Debreyene,  Bailly,  etc., — in  a  word,  all  the  theologians  of  Rome, 
own  that  this  is  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  which  the  confes- 
sors have  to  contend  with  in  the  confessional-box. 

Not  a  single  Roman  Catholic  priest  will  dare  to  deny  what  I 
say  on  this  matter,  for  they  know  that  it  would  be  easy  for  me 
to  overwhelm  them  with  such  a  crowd  of  testimonials  that  their 
grand  imposture  would  forever  be  unmasked. 

1  intend,  at  some  future  day,  if  God  spares  me  and  gives  me 
time  for  it,  to  make  known  some  of  the  innumerable  things 
which  the  Roman  Catholic  theologians  and  moralists  have  written 
on  this  question.  It  will  form  one  of  the  most  curious  books 
ever  written,  and  it  will  give  unanswerable  evidence  of  the 
fact  that,  instinctively,  without  consulting  each  other,  and  with 
an  unanimity  which  is  almost  marvellous,  the  Roman  Catholic 
women,  guided  by  the  honest  instincts  which  God  has  given 
them,  shrink  from  the  snares  put  before  them  in  the  confessional- 
box,  and  that  everywhere  they  struggle  to  nerve  themselves  with 
a  superhuman  courage  against  the  torturer  who  is  sent  by  the 
pope  to  finish  their  ruin,  and  to  make  sliipwrecks  of  their  souls. 
Everywhere  woman  feels  that  there  are  things  which  ought 
never  to  be  told,  as  there  are  things  which  ought  never  to  be 
done,  in  the  presence  of  the  God  of  holiness.     She  understands 


584  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

that  to  recite  the  history  of  certain  sins,  even  of  thought,  is  not 
less  shameful  and  criminal  than  to  do  them.  She  hears  the  voice 
of  God  whispering  into  her  ears,  "  Is  it  not  enough  that  thou 
hast  been  guilty  once,  when  alone  in  My  presence,  without  add- 
ing to  thine  iniquity  by  allowing  that  man  to  know  what  should 
never  have  been  revealed  to  him  ?  Do  you  not  feel  that  you 
make  that  man  your  accomplice  the  very  moment  that  you  throw 
into  his  heart  and  soul  the  mire  of  your  iniquities?  He  is  as 
weak  as  you  are;  he  is  not  less  a  sinner  than  yourself;  what  has 
tempted  you  will  tempt  him;  what  has  made  you  weak  will 
make  him  weak;  what  has  polluted  you  will  pollute  him;  what 
has  thrown  you  down  into  the  dust  will  throw  him  into  the  dust. 
Is  it  not  enough  that  My  eyes  had  to  look  upon  your  iniquities  ? 
Must  My  ears,  to-day,  listen  to  your  impure  conversation  with 
that  man?  Were  that  man  as  holy  as  My  prophet  David,  may 
he  not  fall  before  the  unchaste  veiHng  of  the  new  Bathsheba? 
Were  he  as  strong  as  Samson,  may  he  not  find  in  you  his  tempt- 
ing Delilah?  Were  he  as  generous  as  Peter,  may  he  not  become 
a  traitor  at  the  maid-servant's  voice?" 

Perhaps  the  world  has  never  seen  a  more  terrible,  desperate, 
solemn  struggle  than  the  one  which  is  going  on  in  the  soul  of  a 
poor  trembling  young  woman,  who,  at  the  feet  of  that  man,  has 
to  decide  whether  or  not  she  will  open  her  lips  on  those  things 
which  the  infallible  voice  of  God,  united  to  the  no  less  infallible 
voice  of  her  womanly  honor  and  self-respect,  tell  her  never  to 
reveal  to  any  man! 

The  history  of  that  secret,  fierce,  desperate  struggle,  has 
never  yet,  so  far  as  I  know,  been  fully  given.  It  would  di'aw 
the  tears  of  admiration  and  compassion  of  the  whole  world,  if  it 
could  be  written  with  its  simple,  sublime,  and  terrible  realities. 

How  many  times  I  have  wept  as  a  child  when  some  noble- 
hearted  and  intelligent  young  girl,  or  some  respectable  married 
woman,  yielding  to  the  sophisms  with  which  I  or  some  other 
confessor,  had  persuaded  them  to  give  up  their  self-respect  and  '9 
their  womanly  dignity  to  speak  with  me  on  matters  on  which  a 
decent  woman  should  never  say  a  word  with  a  man.  They 
have  told  me  of  their  invincible  repugnance,  their  horroi'  of  such 


I 


AURICULAR    CONFESSION.  585 

questions  and  answers,  and  they  have  asked  me  to  have  pitv  on 
them.  Yes!  I  have  often  wept  bitterly  on  my  degradation, 
when  a  priest  of  Rome.  I  have  realized  all  the  strength,  the 
grandeur  and  the  holiness  of  their  motives  for  being  silent  on 
ihese  defiling  matters,  and  I  could  not  but  admire  them.  It 
seemed  at  times  that  they  were  speaking  the  language  of  angels 
of  light;  that  I  ought  to  fall  at  their  feet  and  ask  their  pardon 
for  having  spoken  to  them  of  questions  on  which  a  man  of 
honor  ought  never  to  converse  with  a  woman  whom  he  respects. 
But  alas!  I  had  soon  to  reproach  myself,  and  regret  those 
short  instances  of  my  wavering  faith  in  the  infallible  voice  of 
my  church.  I  had  soon  to  silence  the  voice  of  my  conscience, 
which  was  telling  me,  "  Is  it  not  a  shame  that  you,  an  unmarried 
man,  dare  to  speak  on  these  matters  with  a  woman?  Do  you 
not  blush  to  put  such  questions  to  a  young  girl?  Where  is  your 
self-respect — where  is  your  fear  of  God?  Do  you  not  promote 
the  ruin  of  that  girl  by  forcing  her  to  speak  on  these  matters?" 
How  many  times  my  God  has  spoken  to  me  as  He  speaks  to 
all  the  priests  of  Rome,  and  said  with  a  thundering  voice: 
'•  What  would  that  young  man  do,  could  he  hear  the  questions 
\  ou  put  to  his  wife?  Would  he  not  blow  out  your  brains?  And 
that  father,  would  he  not  pass  his  dagger  through  your  breast  if 
lie  could  know  what  3'ou  ask  from  his  poor  trembling  daughter? 
Would  not  the  brother  of  that  yoinig  girl  put  an  end  to  your 
miserable  life  if  he  could  hear  the  unmentionable  subjects  on 
which  you  speak  with  her  in  the  confessional  ? " 

I  was  compelled  by  all  the  popes,  the  moral  theologians,  and 
the  Councils  of  Rome  to  believe  that  this  warning  voice  of  my 
merciful  God  was  the  voice  of  Satan.  I  had  to  believe,  in  spite 
of  my  own  conscience  and  intelligence,  that  it  was  good,  nay, 
necessary,  to  put  those  polluting,  damning  questions.  My  in- 
fallible church  was  mercilessly  forcing  me  to  oblige  those  poor 
trembling,  weeping,  desolate  girls  and  women  to  swim  with  me 
and  all  their  priests  in  those  waters  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
under  the  pretext  that  their  self-will  would  be  broken  down, 
their  fear  of  sin  and  humility  increased,  and  that  they  would  be 
parifietl  by  our  absolutions. 


5S6  FIFTY    YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

With  what  supreme  distress,  disgust  and  surprise  we  see, 
to-day,  a  great  part  of  the  noble  Episcopal  Church  of  England 
struck  by  a  plague  which  seems  incurable,  under  the  name  of 
Puseyism,  or  Ritualism,  bringing  again — more  or  less  openly — 
in  many  places  the  diabolical  and  filthy  auricular  confession 
among  the  Protestants  of  England,  Australia  and  America. 
The  Episcopal  church  is  doomed  to  perish  in  that  dark  and  stink- 
ing pool  of  popery — auricular  confession — if  she  does  not  find  a 
prompt  remedy  to  stop  the  plague  brought  by  the  disguised 
Jesuits,  who  are  at  work  everywhere  to  poison  and  enslave  her 
too  unsuspectmg  daughters  and  sons. 

In  the  beginning  of  my  priesthood,  when  1  was  in  Quebec, 
I  was  not  a  little  surprised  and  embarrassed  to  see  a  very  accom- 
plished and  beautiful  young  lady,  whom  1  used  to  meet  almost 
every  week  at  her  father's  house,  entering  the  box  of  my  confes- 
sional. She  had  been  used  to  confess  to  another  young  priest  of 
my  acquaintance,  and  she  was  always  looked  upon  as  one  of  the 
most  pious  girls  of  the  city.  Though  she  had  disguised  herself 
as  much  as  possible,  in  order  that  I  might  not  know  her,  I  felt 
sure  that  I  was  not  mistaken — she  was  the  amiable  Mary  *     * 

Not  being  absolutely  certain  of  the  correctness  of  my  im- 
pressions, I  left  her  entirely  under  the  hope  that  she  was  a  perfect 
stranger  to  me.  .  At  the  beginning  she  could  hardly  speak ;  her 
voice  was  suffocated  by  her  sobs,  and  through  the  little  apertures 
of  the  thin  partition  between  her  and  me,  I  saw  two  streams  of 
big  tears  trickling  down  her  cheeks.  After  much  effort,  she 
said:  "Dear  Father,  I  hope  you  do  not  know  me,  and  that  you 
will  never  try  to  know  me — I  am  a  desperately  great  sinner. 
Oh!  I  fear  that  I  am  lost!  But  if  there  is  still  a  hope  for  me  to 
be  saved,  for  God's  sake,  do  not  rebuke  me !  Before  I  begin  my 
confession,  allow  me  to  ask  you  not  to  pollute  my  ears  by  ques- 
tions which  our  confessors  are  in  the  habit  of  putting  to  their 
female  penitents;  I  have  already  been  destro3'ed  by  those  ques- 
tions. Before  I  was  seventeen  years  old,  God  knows  that  His 
angels  are  not  more  pure  than  I  was;  but  the  chaplain  of  the 
nunnery  where  my  parents  had  sent  me  for  my  education,  though 
approaching  old   age,  put  to   me  in   the  confessional  a  question 


AURICULAR    CONFESSION.  ^S) 

which,  at  first,  I  did  not  understand,  but,  unfortunate\j,  he  had 
put  the  same  questions  to  one  of  my  young  class-mates,  who 
made  fun  of  them  in  my  presence,  and  explained  them  to  me; 
for  she  understood  them  too  well.  This  first  unchaste  conversa- 
tion of  my  life  plunged  my  thoughts  into  a  sea  of  iniquity,  till 
then  absolutely  unknown  to  me;  temptations  of  the  most  humilia- 
ting character  assailed  me  for  a  week,  day  and  night;  after 
which,  sins  which  I  wonld  blot  out  with  my  blood,  if  it  were 
possible,  overwhelmed  my  soul  as  with  a  deluge.  But  the  joys 
of  the  sinner  are  short.  Struck  with  terror  at  the  thought  of 
the  judgment  of  God,  after  a  few  weeks  of  the  most  deplorable 
life,  I  determined  to  give  up  my  sins  and  reconcile  myself  to 
God.  Covered  with  shame,  and  trembling  from  head  to  foot 
I  went  to  confess  to  my  old  confessor,  whom  I  respected  as  a 
sanit  and  cherished  as  a  father.  It  seems  to  me  that,  with  sin- 
cere tears  of  repentance,  I  confessed  to  him  the  greatest  part  of 
my  sins,  though  I  concealed  one  of  them,  through  shame  and 
respect  for  my  spiritual  guide.  But  I  did  not  conceal  from  him 
that  the  strange  questions  he  had  put  to  me  at  my  last  confession, 
were,  with  the  natural  corruption  of  my  heart,  the  principal 
cause  of  my  destruction. 

"  He  spoke  to  me  very  kindly,  encouraged  me  to  fight 
against  my  bad  inclinations,  and,  at  first,  gave  me  very  kind  and 
good  advice.  But  w^hen  I  thought  he  had  finished  speaking, 
and  as  I  was  preparing  to  leave  the  confessional-box,  he  put  to 
me  two  new  questions  of  such  a  polluting  character  that,  I  fear 
neither  the  blood  of  Christ,  nor  all  the  fires  of  hell  will  ever  be 
able  to  blot  them  out  of  my  memory.  Those  questions  have 
achieved  my  ruin ;  they  have  stuck  to  my  mind  like  two  deadly 
arrows;  they  are  day  and  night  before  my  imagination;  they 
fill  my  arteries  and  veins  with  deadly  poison. 

"  It  is  true,  that  at  first,  they  filled  me  with  horror  and  dis- 
gust; but  alas!  I  soon  got  so  accustomed  to  them  that  they 
seemed  to  be  incorporated  with  me,  and  as  if  becoming  a  second 
nature.  Those  thoughts  have  become  a  new  source  of  innumer- 
able criminal  thoughts,  desires  and  actions. 

"  A  month  later,  we  were  obliged  by  the  rules  of  our  con- 


588  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

vent  to  go  and  confess;  but  by  this  time,  1  was  so  confipletely 
lost,  that  I  no  longer  bluslied  at  the  idea  of  confessing  my  shame- 
ful sins  to  a  man;  it  was  tlie  very  contrary.  I  had  a  real,  dia- 
bolical pleasure  in  the  thought  that  I  should  have  a  long  conver- 
lation  with  my  confessor  on  those  matters,  and  that  he  would 
tsk  me  more  of  his  strange  questions.  In  fact,  wlien  I  had  told 
lim  everything  without  a  blush,  be  began  to  interrogate  me, 
ind  God  knows  what  corrupting  things  fell  from  his  lips  into 
Qiy  poor  criminal  heart!  Every  one  of  his  questions  was  thrill- 
ng  my  nerves  and  filling  me  with  the  most  shameful  sensations! 
A-fter  an  hour  of  this  criminal  tete-a-tete  with  my  old  confessor 
(for  it  was  nothing  else  but  a  criminal  tete-a-tete^^  I  perceived 
that  he  was  as  depraved  as  I  was  myself.  With  some  half- 
covered  words,  he  made  a  criminal  proposition,  which  I  accepted 
with  covered  words  also;  and  during  more  than  a  year,  we  have 
lived  together  on  the  most  sinful  intimacy.  Though  he  was 
much  older  than  I,  I  loved  him  in  the  most  foolish  way.  When 
tlie  coui'se  of  my  convent  instruction  was  finished,  my  parents 
called  me  back  to  their  home.  I  was  really  glad  of  that  change 
of  residence,  for  I  was  begiuing  to  be  tired  of  my  criminal  life. 
My  hope  was  that,  under  the  directions  of  a  better  confessor,  I 
should  reconcile  myself  to  God  and  begin  a  Christian  life. 

"Unfortunately  for  me,  my  new  confessor,  who  was  very 
young,  began  also  his  interrogation.  He  soon  fell  in  love  with 
me,  and  I  loved  him  in  a  most  criminal  way.  I  have  done  with 
him  things  which  I  hope  you  will  never  request  me  to  reveal  to 
you,  for  they  are  too  monstrous  to  be  repeated,  even  in  the  con- 
fessional, by  a  woman  to  a  man. 

"  I  do  not  say  these  things  to  take  away  the  responsibility  of 
my  iniquities  with  my  young  confessor,  from  m}^  shoulders,  for 
I  think  I  have  been  more  criminal  than  he  was.  It  is  my  firm 
conviction  that  he  was  a  good  and  holy  priest  before  he  knew 
me;  but  the  questions  he  put  to  me,  and  the  answers  I  had  to 
give  him,  melted  his  heart — I  know  it — just  as  boiling  lead 
would  melt  the  ice  on  which  it  flows. 

"  I  know  this  is  not  such  a  detailed  confession  as  our  holy 
Church  requires  me  to  make,  but  I  have  thought  it  necessary  for 


AURICULAR    CONFESSION.  5S9 

me  to  give  you  this  short  history  of  the  Hfe  of  the  greatest  and 
most  miserable  sinner  who  ever  asked  you  to  help  her  to  come 
out  from  the  tomb  of  her  iniquities.  This  is  the  way  I  have 
lived  these  last  few  years.  But  last  Sabbath,  God,  in  His  infinite 
mercy,  looked  down  upon  me.  He  inspired  you  to  give  us  the 
Prodigal  Son  as  a  model  of  true  conversion,  and  as  the  most 
marvellous  proof  of  the  infinite  compassion  of  the  dear  Saviour 
for  the  sinner.  I  have  wept  day  and  night  since  that  happy  day, 
when  I  threw  myself  into  the  arms  of  my  loving,  merciful 
Father.  Even  now,  I  can  hardly  speak,  because  my  regret  for 
my  past  iniquities,  and  my  joy  that  I  am  allowed  to  bathe  the 
feet  of  the  Saviour  with  tears,  are  so  great  that  my  voice  is  as 
choked. 

''  You  understand  that  I  have  foi"ever  given  up  my  last  con- 
fessor. I  come  to  ask  you  to  do  me  the  favor  to  receive  me 
among  your  penitents.  Oh !  do  not  reject  nor  rebuke  me,  for 
the  dear  Saviour's  sake!  Be  not  afraid  to  have  at  your  side 
such  a  monster  of  iniquity !  But  before  going  further,  I  have 
two  favors  to  ask  from  you.  The  first  is,  that  you  will  never 
do  ainthing  to  ascertain  my  name;  the  second  is,  that  you  will 
never  put  to  me  any  of  those  questions  by  which  so  many  penitents 
are  lost  and  so  many  priests  forever  destroyed.  Twice  I  have 
been  lost  by  those  questions.  We  come  to  our  confessors  that 
they  may  throw  upon  our  guilty  souls  the  pure  waters  which 
flow  from  heaven  to  purify  us;  but  instead  of  that,  with  their 
unmentionable  questions,  they  pour  oil  on  the  burning  fires 
which  are  already  raging  in  our  poor  sinful  hearts.  Oh !  dear 
father,  let  me  become  your  penitent,  that  you  may  help  me  to 
go  and  weep  with  Magdalene  at  the  Saviour's  feet!  Do  respect 
me,  as  He  respected  that  true  model  of  all  the  sinful,  but  repent- 
ing women!  Did  our  Saviour  put  to  her  any  question?  Did  He 
extort  from  her  the  history  of  things  which  a  sinful  woman  can 
not  say  without  forgetting  the  respect  she  owes  to  herself  and 
to  God?  No!  You  told  us  not  long  ago  that  the  only  thing 
our  Saviour  did  was  to  look  at  her  tears  and  her  love.  Well, 
plfiisL'  do  that,  and  vou  will  save  me!" 

i   wjis  then  a  very   young  priest,  and  never  had  any  words  so 


590  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

sublime  come  to  my  ears  in  the  confessional-box.  Her  tears  and 
her  sobs,  mingled  with  the  frank  declaration  of  the  most  humil- 
iating actions,  had  made  such  a  profound  impression  upon  me 
that  I  was,  for  some  time,  unable  to  speak.  It  had  come  to  ray 
mind  also  that  I  might  be  mistaken  about  her  identity,  and  that 
perhaps  she  was  not  the  young  lady  that  I  had  imagined.  I 
could,  then,  easily  grant  her  first  request,  which  was  to  do  noth- 
ing by  which  I  could  know  her.  The  second  part  of  her  prayer 
was  more  embarrassing;  for  the  theologians  are  very  positive  in 
ordering  the  confessors  to  question  their  penitents,  particularly 
those  of  the  female  sex,  in  many  circumstances. 

I  encouraged  her  in  the  best  way  I  could,  to  persevere  in  her 
good  resolutions,  by  invoking  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  and  St. 
Philomene,  who  was,  then,  Sainte  a  la  mode^  just  as  Marie 
Alacoque  is  to-day,  among  the  blind  slaves  of  Rome.  I  told  her 
that  I  would  pray  and  think  over  the  subject  of  her  second  re- 
quest; and  I  asked  her  to  come  back  in  a  week  for  my  answer. 

The  very  same  day,  I  went  to  my  own  confessor,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Baillargeon,  then  curate  of  Quebec,  and  afterwards  Arch- 
bishop of  Canada.  I  told  him  the  singular  and  unusual  request 
she  had  made,  that  I  should  never  put  to  her  any  of  those  ques- 
tions suggested  by  the  theologians,  to  insure  the  integrity  of  the 
confession.  I  did  not  conceal  from  him  that  I  was  much  inclined 
to  errant  her  that  favor;  for  I  repeated  what  I  had  already 
several  times  told  him,  that  I  was  supremely  disgusted  with  the 
infamous  and  jDolluting  questions  which  the  theologians  forced 
us  to  put  to  our  female  penitents.  I  told  him  frankly  that  several 
old  and  young  priests  had  already  come  to  confess  to  me;  and 
that  with  the  exception  of  two,  the}^  had  told  me  that  they 
could  not  put  those  questions  and  hear  the  answers  they  elicited 
without  falling  into  the  most  damnable  sins. 

Mv  confessor  seemed  to  be  much  perplexed  about  what  he 
should  answer.  He  asked  me  to  come  the  next  day,  that  he 
mio^ht  review  some  theological  books,  in  the  interval.  The  next 
day  I  took  down  in  writing  his  answer,  which  I  find  in  my  old 
manuscri'^ts,  and  I  give  it  here  in  all  its  sad  crudity:  — 

"  vSuch  cases  of  the  destruction  of  female  \irtue  by  the  ques- 


AURICULAR    CONFESSION.  59  I 

tions  of  the  confessors  is  an  unavoidable  evil.  It  cannot  be 
helped;  for  such  questions  are  absolutely  necessary  in  the  greater 
part  of  the  cases  with  which  we  have  to  deal.  Men  generally 
confess  their  sins  with  so  much  sincerity  that  there  is  seldom  any 
need  for  questioning  them,  except  when  they  are  very  ignorant. 
But  St.  Liguori,  as  well  as  our  personal  observation,  tells  us  that 
the  greatest  part  of  girls  and  women,  through  a  false  and  crimi- 
nal shame,  very  seldom  confess  the  sins  they  commit  against 
purity.  It  requires  the  utmost  charity  in  the  confessors  to  pre- 
vent these  unfortunate  slaves  of  their  secret  passions  from  mak- 
ing sacrilegious  confessions  and  communions.  With  the  great- 
est prudence  and  zeal  he  must  question  them  on  those  matters, 
beginning  with  the  smallest  sins,  and  going,  little  by  little,  as 
much  as  possible  by  imperceptible  degrees,  to  the  most  criminal 
actions.  As  it  seems  evident  that  the  penitent  referred  to  in  your 
(juestions  of  3'esterday  is  unwilling  to  make  a  full  and  detailed 
confession  of  all  her  iniquities,  you  cannot  promise  to  absolve 
her  without  assuring  yourself,  by  wise  and  prudent  questions, 
that  she  has  confessed  evei'ything. 

"  You  must  not  be  discouraged  when,  through  the  confes- 
sional or  any  other  way,  you  learn  the  fall  of  priests  into  the 
common  frailties  of  homan  nature  with  their  penitents.  Our 
Saviour  knew  very  well  that  the  occasions  and  the  temptations 
we  have  to  encounter,  in  the  confessions  of  girls  and  women, 
are  so  numerous,  and  sometimes  so  irresistible,  that  many  would 
fall.  But  He  has  given  them  the  Holy  Virgin  Jvlary,  who  con- 
stantly asks  and  obtains  their  pardon ;  He  has  given  them  the 
sacrament  of  penance,  where  they  can  receive  their  pardon  as 
often  as  they  ask  for  it.  The  vow  of  perfect  chastity  is  a  great 
honor  and  privilege ;  but  we  cannot  conceal  from  ourselves  that 
it  puts  on  our  shoulders  a  burden  which  many  cannot  carry  for- 
ever. St.  Liguori  says  that  we  must  not  rebuke  the  penitent 
priest  who  falls  only  once  a  month ;  and  some  other  trustworthy 
theologians  are  still  more  charitable." 

This  answer  was  far  from  satisfying  me.  It  seemed  to  me 
composed  of  soft  soap  principles.  I  went  back  with  a  heav}' 
heart  and  an  anxious  mind;  and  God  knows  that  I  made  man^ 


592  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OP     ROME. 

fervent  prayers  that  this  girl  should  never  corne  again  to  give 
me  her  sad  history.  I  was  then  hardly  twenty-six  years  old,  full 
of  youth  and  life.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  stings  of  a  thousand 
wasps  to  my  ears  could  not  do  me  so  much  harm  as  the  words  of 
that  dear,  beautiful,  accomplished,  but  lost  girl. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  revelations  which  she  made, 
had,  in  any  way,  diminished  my  esteem  and  my  respect  for  her. 
It  was  just  the  contrary.  Her  tears  and  her  sobs,  at  my  feet; 
her  agonizing  expressions  of  shame  and  regret ;  her  noble  words 
of  protest  against  the  disgusting  and  polluting  interrogations  of 
the  confessors,  had  raised  her  very  high  in  my  mind.  My  sin- 
cere hope  was  that  she  would  have  a  place  in  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  with  the  Samaritan  women,  Mary  Magdalene,  and  all  the 
sinners  who  have  washed  their  robes  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

At  the  appointed  day,  I  was  in  my  confessional,  listening  to 
the  confession  of  a  young  man,  when  I  saw  Miss  Mary  enter- 
ing the  vestry,  and  coming  directly  to  my  confessional-box, 
where  she  knelt  by  me.  Though  she  had,  still  more  than  at 
the  first  time,  disguised  herself  behind  a  long,  thick,  black  veil, 
I  could  not  be  mistaken ;  she  was  the  very  same  amiable  young 
lady  in  whose  father's  house  I  used  to  pass  such  pleasant  and 
happy  hours.  I  had  often  listened,  with  breathless  attention,  to 
her  melodious  voice,  when  she  was  giving  us,  accompanied  by 
her  piano,  some  of  our  beautiful  church  hymns.  Who  could 
then  see  and  hear  her,  without  almost  worshipping  her?  The 
dignity  of  her  steps,  and  her  whole  mien,  when  she  advanced 
towards  my  confessional,  entirely  betrayed  her  and  destroyed 
her  incognito. 

Oh!  I  would  have  given  every  drop  of  my  blood  in  that 
solemn  hour,  that  I  might  have  been  free  to  deal  with  her  just 
as  she  had  so  eloquently  requested  me  to  do — to  let  her  weep 
and  cry  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  to  her  heart's  content.  Oh!  if  I  had 
been  free  to  take  her  by  the  hand,  and  silently  show  her  the 
dying  Saviour,  that  she  might  have  bathed  His  feet  with  her 
tears,  and  spread  the  oil  of  her  love  on  His  head,  without  my 
saying  else  but  "  Go  in  peace :  thy  sins  are  forgiven." 

But,  there,  in  that  confessional-box,  I  was  not  the  servant  of 


ALRICULAK    CONFESSION.  593 

Christ,  to  follow  His  Divine,  saving  words,  and  obey  the  dictates 
of  my  honest  conscience.  I  was  the  slave  of  the  Pope!  I  had 
to  stifle  the  cry  of  my  conscience,  to  ignore  the  inspirations  of 
my  God!  There,  my  conscience  had  no  right  to  speak;  my 
intelligence  was  a  dead  thing!  The  theologians  of  the  Pope, 
alone,  had  a  right  to  be  heard  and  obeyed!  I  was  not  there  to 
save,  but  to  destroy;  for,  under  the  pretext  of  purifying,  the  rejil 
mission  of  the  confessor,  often,  if  not  always,  in  spite  of  him- 
self, is  to  scandalize  and  damn  their  souls. 

As  soon  as  the  young  man  who  was  making  his  confession 
at  mv  left  hand,  had  finished,  I,  without  noise,  turned  myself 
towards  her,  and  said,  through  the  little  aperture,  "Are  you 
ready  to  begin  your  confession?" 

But  she  did  not  answer  me.  All  that  I  could  hear  was:  "  Oh, 
niy  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  me!  I  come  to  wash  my  soul  in  Thy 
blood;  wilt  Thou  rebuke  me?" 

During  several  minutes  she  raised  her  hands  and  eyes  to 
heaven,  and  wept  and  prayed.  It  was  evident  that  she  had  not 
the  least  idea  that  I  was  observing  her;  she  thought  the  door  of 
the  little  partition  between  her  and  me  was  shut.  But  my  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  her;  my  tears  were  flowing  with  her  tears,  and 
my  ardent  prayers  were  going  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  her 
prayers.  I  would  not  have  interrupted  her  for  any  consideration, 
in  this,  her  sublime  communication  with  her  merciful  Savior. 

But  after  a  pretty  long  time,  I  made  a  little  noise  with  my 
hand,  and  putting  my  lips  near  the  opening  of  the  partition 
which  was  between  us,  I  said  in  a  low  voice,  "  Dear  sister,  are 
you  ready  to  begin  your  confession  ?  *' 

She  turned  her  face  a  little  towards  me,  and  said  with  trem- 
bling voice,  "  Yes,  dear  father,  I  am  ready." 

But  she  then  stopped  again  to  weep  and  pray,  though  I 
could  not  hear  what  she  said. 

After  some  time  in  silent  prayer,  I  said,  "  My  dear  sister,  if 
you  are  ready,  please  begin  your  confession."  She  then  said, 
"  My  dear  father,  do  you  remember  the  prayers  which  I  made  to 
you,  the  other  day  ?  Can  you  allow  me  to  confess  my  sins  with- 
out forcing  me  to  forget  the   respect  that  I  owe   to   myself,  to 


594 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


vou,  and  to  God,  who  hears  us?  And  can  you  promise  that  you 
will  not  put  to  me  any  of  those  questions  which  have  already 
done  me  such  irreparable  injury  ?  I  frankly  declare  to  you  that 
there  are  sins  in  me  that  I  cannot  reveal  to  anyone,  except  to 
Christ,  because  He  is  my  God,  and  that  he  already  knows  them 
all.  Let  me  weep  and  cry  at  His  feet :  can  you  not  forgive  me 
without  adding  to  my  iniquities  by  forcing  me  to  say  things  that 
the  tongue  of  a  Christian  woman  cannot  reveal  to  a  man  ? " 

"  My  dear  sister,"  I  answered,  "  were  1  free  to  follow  the 
voice  of  my  own  feelings  I  would  be  only  too  happy  to  grant 
your  request;  but  I  am  here  only  as  the  minister  of  our  holy 
church,  and  bound  to  obey  the  laws.  Through  her  most  holy 
Popes  and  theologians  she  tells  me  that  I  cannot  forgive  your 
sins,  if  you  do  not  confess  them  all,  just  as  you  have  committed 
them.  The  church  tells  me  also  that  you  must  give  the  details, 
which  may  add  to  the  malice  or  change  the  nature  of  your  sins. 
I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  our  most  holy  theologians  make  it  a 
duty  of  our  confessor  to  question  the  penitent  on  the  sins  which 
he  has  good  reason  to  suspect  have  been  voluntarily  omitted." 

With  a  piercing  cry  she  exclaimed, "  Then,  O  my  God,  I  am 
lost — forever  lost!" 

This  cry  fell  upon  me  like  a  thunderbolt;  but  I  was  still  more 
terror-stricken  when,  looking  through  the  aperture,  I  saw  she 
was  fainting;  I  heard  the  noise  of  her  body  falling  upon  the 
floor,  and  of  her  head  striking  against  the  sides  of  the  confes- 
sional box. 

Quick  as  lightning  I  ran  to  help  her,  took  her  in  my  arms, 
and  called  a  couple  of  men  who  were  at  a  little  distance,  to  assist 
me  in  laying  her  on  a  bench.  I  washed  her  face  with  some  cold 
water  and  vinegar.  She  was  as  pale  as  death,  but  her  lips  were 
moving,  and  she  was  saying  something  which  nobody  but  I 
could  understand — 

"I  am  lost — lost  forever!" 

We  took  her  home  to  her  disconsolate  family,  where,  during 
a  month  she  lingered  between  life  and  death.  Her  two  first 
confessors  came  to  visit  her;  but  having  asked  every  one  to  go 
out  of  the  room,  she  politely,  but  absolutely,  requested  them  to 


AURICULAR      CONFESSION.  593 

go  away,  and  never  come  again.  She  asked  me  to  visit  her 
every  day,  "  for,"  she  said,  "  I  have  only  a  few  more  days  to 
live.  Help  me  to  prepare  myself  for  the  solemn  hour  which 
will  open  to  me  the  gates  of  eternity!" 

Every  day  I  visited  her,  and  I  prayed  and  I  wept  with  her. 

Many  times,  when  alone,  with  tears  I  requested  her  to  finish 
her  confession ;  but,  with  a  firmness  which,  then,  seemed  to  be 
mysterious  and  inexplicable,  she  politely  rebuked  me. 

One  day,  w^hen  alone  with  her,  I  was  kneeling  by  the  side  of 
her  bed  to  pray,  I  was  unable  to  articulate  a  single  word,  because 
of  the  inexpressible  anguish  of  my  soul  on  her  account,  she 
asked  me,  "  Dear  father  why  do  you  weep?  " 

I  answered,  "How  can  you  put  such  a  question  to  your 
murderer  I     I  weep  because  I  have  killed  you,  dear  friend." 

This  answer  seemed  to  trouble  her  exceedingly.  She  was 
very  weak  that  day.  After  she  had  wept  and  prayed  in  silence, 
she  said,  "do  not  weep  for  me,  but  weep  for  so  many  priests  who 
destroy  their  penitents  in  the  confessional.  I  believe  in  tlie 
holiness  of  the  sacrament  of  penance,  since  our  lioly  church  has 
established  it.  But  there  is,  somewhere,  something  exceedingly 
wrong  in  the  confessional.  Twice  I  have  been  destroyed,  and  I 
know  many  girls  who  have  also  been  destroyed  by  the  confes- 
sional. This  is  a  secret,  but  will  that  secret  be  kept  forever?  I 
pity  the  poor  priests  the  day  that  our  fathers  will  know  what 
becomes  of  the  purity  of  their  daughters  in  the  hands  of  their 
confessors.  Father  would  surely  kill  my  two  last  confessors,  if 
he  could  only  know  they  have  destroyed  his  poor  child." 

I  conld  not  answer  except  by  weeping. 

We  remained  silent  for  a  long  time;  then  she  said,  "  It  is  true 
that  I  was  not  prepared  for  the  rebuke  you  have  given  me,  the 
other  day,  in  the  confessional;  but  you  acted  conscientiously  as  a 
good  and  honest  priest,  I  know  you  must  be  bound  by  certain 
laws." 

She  then  j^ressed  my  hand  with  her  cold  .  hand  and  snid, 
"Weep  not,  dear  father, because  that  sudden  storm  lias  wrecked 
my  too  fragile  bark.  This  storm  was  to  take  me  out  from  l!"!.- 
bottomless    sea  of    my  iniquities   to    the    sh-nc  u-hcrc  Jvi-ii  ■  ■'.'.-. 


596  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

waiting  to  receive  and  pardon  me.  The  night  after  you  brought 
me,  half  dead,  here,  to  father's  house,  I  had  a  dream.  Oh,  no!  it 
was  not  a  dream,  it  was  a  reaHty.  My  Jesus  came  to  me,  He 
was  bleeding;  His  crown  of  thorns  was  on  His  head,  the  heavy 
cross  was  bruising  His  shoulders.  He  said  to  me,  with  a  voice  so 
sweet  that  no  human  tongue  can  imitate  it, '  I  have  seen  thy 
tears,  T  have  heard  thy  cries,  and  I  know  thy  love  for  Me:  thy  sins 
are  forgiven ;  take  courage ;  in  a  few  days  thou  shalt  be  with  Me !' " 

She  had  hardly  finished  her  last  word  when  she  fainted,  and 
I  feared  lest  she  should  die  just  then,  when  I  was  alone  with  her. 

I  called  the  family,  who  rushed  into  the  room.  The  doctor  was 
sent  for.  He  found  her  so  weak  that  he  thought  proper  to 
allow  only  one  or  two  persons  to  remain  in  the  room  with  me. 
He  requested  us  not  to  speak  at  all :  "  For,"  said  he,  "  the  least 
emotion  might  kill  her  instantly;  her  disease  is,  in  all  probability, 
an  aneurism  of  the  aorta,  the  big  vein  which  brings  the  blood  to 
the  heart:  when  it  breaks,  she  will  go  as  quick  as  lightning." 

It  was  nearly  ten  at  night  when  I  left  the  house,  to  go  and 
take  some  rest.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  I  passed  a 
sleepless  night.  My  dear  Mary  was  there,  pale,  dying  from  the 
■deadly  blow  which  I  had  given  her  in  the  confessional.  She 
was  there,  on  her  bed  of  death,  her  heart  pierced  with  the 
dagger  which  my  church  had  put  into  my  hands!  and  instead  of 
rebuking,  and  cursing  me  for  my  savage,  merciless  fanaticism, 
she  was  blessing  me!  She  was  dying  from  a  broken  heart!  and 
I  was  not  allowed  by  my  church  to  give  her  a  single  word  of 
consolation  and  hope,  for  she  had  not  made  her  confession?  I 
had  mercilessly  bruised  that  tender  plant,  and  there  was  nothing 
in  my  hands  to  heal  the  wounds  I  had  made ! 

It  was  very  probable  that  she  would  die  the  next  day,  and  I 
was  forbidden  to  show  her  the  crown  of  glory  which  Jesus  has 
prepared  in  His  kingdom  for  the  repenting  sinner! 

My  desolation  was  really  unspeakable,  and  I  think  I  would 
have  been  suffocated  and  have  died  that  night,  if  the  stream  of 
tears  which  continually  flowed  from  my  eyes  had  not  been  as  a 
balm  to  my  distressed  heart. 

How  dark  and  long  the  hours  of  that  night  seemed  to  me! 


AURICULAR     CONFESSION.  597 

Before  the  dawn  of  day,  I  arose  to  read  ray  theologians 
again,  and  see  if  I  could  not  find  some  one  who  would  allow  me 
to  forgive  the  sins  of  that  dear  child,  without  forcing  her  to  tell 
me  anything  she  had  done.  But  they  seemed  to  me,  more  than 
ever,  unanimously  inexorable,  antl  I  put  them  back  on  the  shelves 
of  my  library  with  a  broken  heart. 

At  nine  A.  M.  the  next  day,  I  was  by  the  bed  of  our  dear 
sick  Mary.  I  cannot  sufficiently  tell  the  joy  I  felt,  when  the 
doctor  and  whole  family  said  to  me,  "  She  is  much  better;  the 
rest  of  last  night  has  wrought  a  marvelous  change,  indeed." 

With  a  really  angelic  smile  she  extended  her  hand  towards 
me,  that  I  might  press  it  in  mine,  and  she  said,  "  I  thought  last 
evening,  that  the  dear  Savior  would  take  me  to  Him,  but  He 
wants  me, dear  father,  to  give  you  a  little  more  trouble;  however, 
be  patietit,  it  cannot  be  long  before  the  solemn  hour  of  the  ap- 
peal will  ring.  Will  you  please  read  me  the  history  of  the  suf- 
fering and  death  of  the  beloved  Savior,  which  you  read  me  the 
other  dav?  It  does  me  so  much  good  to  see  how  He  has  loved 
me,  such  a  miserable  sinner." 

There  was  a  calm  and  solemnity  in  her  words  which  struck 
me  singularly,  as  well  as  all  those  who  were  there. 

After  1  had  finished  reading,  she  exclaimed,  "  He  has  loved 
me  so  much  that  He  died  for  my  sins! "  And  she  shut  her  eyes 
as  if  to  meditate  in  silence,  but  there  was  a  stream  of  big  tears 
rolling  down  her  cheeks. 

I  knelt  down  by  her  bed,  with  her  family,  to  pray;  but  I 
could  not  utter  a  single  word.  The  idea  that  this  dear  child  was 
there,  dying  from  the  cruel  fanaticism  of  my  theologians  and  my 
own  cowardice  in  obeying  them,  was  a  mill-stone  to  my  neck. 
It  was  killing  me. 

Oh!  if  by  dying  a  thousand  times,  I  could  have  added  a 
single  day  to  her  life,  with  what  pleasure  I  would  have  accepted 
those  thousand  deaths! 

After  we  had  silently  prayed  and  wept  by  her  bedside,  she 
requested  her  mother  to  leave  her  alone  with  me. 

When  I  saw  mvself  alone,  under  the  irresistible  impression 
that  this  was   her  last  day,  I   fell  on   my  knees   again,  and  with. 


598  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

tears  of  the  most  sincei-e  compassion  for  her  soul,  I  requested 
her  to  shake  off  her  shame  and  to  obey  our  holy  church,  which 
requires  every  one  to  confess  their  sins  if  they  want  to  be  for- 
given. 

She  calmly,  but  with  an  air  of  dignity  which  no  human 
words  can  express,  said,  "  Is  it  true  that,  after  the  sins  of  Adan\ 
and  Eve,  God  Himself  made  coats  and  skins,  and  clothed  them 
that  they  might  not  see  each  other's  nakedness?" 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  this  is  what  the  Holy  Scriptures  telL 
us." 

"  Well,  then,  how  is  it  possible  that  our  confessors  dare  to. 
take  away  from  us  that  holy,  divine  coat  of  modesty  and  self- 
respect."*  Has  not  Almighty  God  Himself  made,  with  His  own 
hands,  that  coat  of  womanly  modesty  and  self-respect,  that  we 
might  not  be  to  you  and  to  ourselves,  a  cause  of  shame  and 
sin?"   . 

I  was  really  stunned  by  the  beauty,  simplicity,  and  sublimity 
of  that  comparison.  I  remained  absolutely  mute  and  confound- 
ed. Though  it  was  demolishing  all  the  traditions  and  doctrines 
of  my  church,  and  pulverizing  all  my  holy  doctors  and  theolo- 
gians, that  noble  answer  found  such  an  echo  in  my  soul,  that  it 
seemed  to  me  a  sacrilege  to  try  to  touch  it  with  my  finger. 

After  a  short  time  of  silence,  she  continued,  "  Twice  I  have 
been  destroyed  by  priests  in  the  confessional.  They  took  away 
from  me  that  divine  coat  of  modesty  and  self-respect  which  God 
gives  to  ever  human  being  who  comes  into  this  world,  and 
twice,  I  have  become  for  those  very  priests  a  deep  pit  of  perdi- 
tion, into  which  they  have  fallen,  and  where,  I  fear,  they  are 
forever  lost!  My  merciful  heavenly  Father  has  given  me  back 
that  coat  of  skins,  that  nuptial  robe  of  modesty,  self-respect,  and 
holiness,  which  had  been  taken  away  from  me.  He  cannot 
allow  you  or  any  other  man,  to  tear  again  and  spoil  that  vest- 
ment which  is  the  work  of  His  hands." 

These  words  had  exhausted  her;  it  was  evident  to  me  that 
she  wanted  some  rest.  I  left  her  alone,  but  I  was  absolutely  be- 
side myself.  Filled  with  admiration  for  the  sublime  lessons 
•which  I  had  received  from  the  lips  of  that  regenerated  daughter 


AURICULAR      CONFESSION.  599 

of  Christ,  who,  it  was  evident,  was  soon  to  fly  away  from  ik,  I 
felt  a  supreme  disgust  for  myself,  my  theologians, — shall  I  say 
it?  yes,  I  felt  in  that  solemn  hour  a  supreme  disgust  for  my 
church,  which  was  cruelly  defiling  me,  and  all  her  priests,  in  the 
confessional-box.  I  felt,  in  that  hour,  a  supreme  horror  for  that 
auricular  confession,  which  is  so  often  a  pit  of  perdition  and 
supreme  misery  for  the  confessor  and  penitent.  I  went  out  and 
walked  two  hours  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  to  breathe  the 
pure  and  refreshing  air  of  the  mountains.  There,  alone,  I  sat 
on  a  stone,  on  the  very  spot  where  Wolf  and  Montcalm  fought 
and  died;  and  I  wept  to  my  heart's  content,  on  my  irreparable 
degradation,  and  the  degradation  of  so  many  priests  through  the 
confessional. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  I  went  back  again  to  the  house 
of  my  dear  dying  Mary.  The  mother  took  me  apart,  and  very 
politely  said,  "  My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  do  you  not  think  it  is 
time  that  our  dear  child  should  receive  the  last  sacraments.**  She 
seemed  to  be  much  better  this  morning,  and  we  were  full  of 
hope:  but  she  is  now  rapidly  sinking.  Please  lose  no  time  in 
giving  her  the  holy  viaticum  and  the  extreme  unction." 

I  said,  "  Yes,  madam:  let  me  pass  a  few  minutes  alone  with 
our  dear  child,  that  I  may  prepare  her  for  the  last  sacraments." 

When  alone  with  her,  I  again  fell  on  my  knees,  and,  amidst 
torrents  of  tears,  I  said,  "  Dear  sister,  it  is  my  desire  to  give  you 
the  holy  viaticum  amd  the  extreme  unction:  but  tell  me,  how  can 
I  dare  do  a  thing  so  solemn  against  all  the  prohibitions  of 
our  holy  church?  How  can  I  give  you  the  holy  communion 
without  first  giving  you  absolution?  and  how  can  I  give  you 
absolution  when  you  earnestly  persist  in  telling  me  that  you 
have  so  many  sins  which  you  will  never  declare  to  me  or  any 
other  confessor? 

"  You  know  that  I  cherish  and  respect  you  as  if  you  were  an 
angel  sent  to  me  from  heaven.  You  told  me,  the  other  day,  that 
you  blessed  the  day  that  you  first  saw  and  knew  me.  I  say 
the  same  thing.  I  bless  the  day  that  I  have  known  you;  I 
bless  every  hour  that  I  have  spent  by  your  bed  of  suffering; 
I  bless  every  tear  which  I  have  shed  with  you  on  your  sins  and 


600  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

on  my  own;  I  bless  every  hour  we  have  passed  together  in  look- 
ing to  the  wounds  of  our  beloved,  dying  Savior;  I  bless  you 
for  having  forgiven  me  your  death!  for  I  know  it,  and  I  confess 
it  in  the  presence  of  God,  I  have  killed  you,  dear  sister.  But 
now  I  prefer  a .  thousand  times  to  die  than  to  say  to  j'ou  a  word 
which  would  pain  you  in  any  way,  or  trouble  the  peace  of  your 
soul.  Please,  mvdear  sister,  tell  me  what  I  can  and  must  do  for 
you  in  this  solemn  hour?" 

Calmly,  and  with  a  smile  of  joy  such  as  I  had  never  seen 
before,  nor  seen  since,  she  said,  "  I  thank  and  bless  you,  dear 
father,  for  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  wSon,  on  which  you 
preached  a  month  ago.  You  have  brought  me  to  the  feet  of  the 
dear  Savior;  there  I  have  found  a  peace  and  a  joy  surpassing- 
anything  that  human  heart  can  feel;  I  have  thrown  myself  into 
the  arms  of  my  Heavenly  Father,  and  I  know  He  has  mer- 
cifully accepted  and  forgiven  His  poor  prodigal  child!  On,  I  see 
the  angels  with  their  golden  harps  around  the  throne  of  the 
Lamb!  Do  you  not  hear  the  celestial  harmony  of  their  songs r 
I  go — I  go  to  join  them  in  my  Father's  house.  I  SHALL  NOT 
BE  LOST!" 

While  she  was  thus  speaking  to  me  my  eyes  were  really 
turned  into  two  fountains  of  tears;  I  was  unable,  as  well  as  un- 
willing, to  see  anything,  so  entirely  overcome  was  I  by  the  sub- 
lime words  which  were  flowing  from  the  (l\-ing  lips  of  that  dear 
child,  who  was  no  more  a  sinner,  but  a  real  angel  of  Heaven  to 
me.  I  was  listening  to  her  words;  there  was  a  celestial  music  in- 
every  one  of  them.  But  she  had  raised  her  voice  in  such  a 
strange  way,  when  she  had  begun  to  say,  "  I  go  to  my  Father's 
house,"  and  she  had  made  such  a  cry  of  joy  when  she  had  to  let 
the  last  words,  "  not  be  lost,"  escape  her  lips,  that  I  raised  my 
head  and  opened  my  eyes  to  look  at  her.  I  suspected  that  some- 
thing strange  had  occurred. 

I  got  upon  my  feet,  passed  my  handkerchief  over  my  face 
to  wipe  away  the  tears  which  were  preventing  me  from  seeing 
with  accuracy,  and  looked  at  her. 

Her  hands  were  crossed  on  her  breast,  and  there  was  on  her 
face  the  expression  of   a   really  superhuman   joy;  her   beautiful 


AURICULAR      CONFESSION.  6oi 

eyes  were  fixed  as  if  they  were  looking  on  some  grand  and 
sublime  spectacle;  it  seemed  to  me,  at  first,  that  she  was  pray- 
ing. 

In  that  very  instant  the  mother  rnshed  into  the  room,  cry- 
ing, "  My  God!  my  God!  what  does  that  cry  ••  losf  mean?" — 
For  her  last  words,  "  not  to  be  lost,"  particularly  the  last  one,  had 
been  pronounced  with  such  a  powerful  voice,  that  they  had  been 
heard  almost  everywhere  in  the  house. 

I  made  a  sign  with  my  hand  to  prevent  the  distressed  mother 
from  making  any  noise  and  troubling  her  dying  child  in  her 
prayer,  for  I  ideally  thought  that  she  had  stopped  speaking,  as  she 
used  so  often  to  do,  when  alone  with  me,  in  order  to  pray.  But 
I  was  mistaken.  The  redeemed  soul  had  gone,  on  the  golden 
wings  of  love,  to  join  the  multitude  of  those  who  have  washed 
their  robes  in  the  blood  of  tlie  Lamb,  to  sing  the  eternal 
Alleluia. 

The  revelation  of  the  unmentionable  corruptions  directly  and 
unavoidably  engendered  by  auricular  confession,  had  come  to  me 
from  the  lips  of  that  young  lady,  as  the  first  rays  of  the  sun 
which  were  to  hurl  back  the  dark  clouds  of  night  by  which 
Rome  had  wrapped  my  intelligence  on  that  subject. 

So  miserable  by  her  fall  and  her  sins,  but  so  admirable  by 
her  conversion,  that  young  lady  was  standing  before  me,  for  the 
rest  of  my  priestly  life,  as  the  bright  beacon  raised  on  the  solitary 
rocks  stands  before  the  sailor  whose  ship  is  drifting  through  the 
shoals,  in  a  dark  and  stormy  night. 

She  was  brought  there,  by  the  merciful  hand  of  God,  to  right 
my  course. 

Lost  and  degraded  by  auricular  confession,  only  after  having 
given  it  up,  that  precious  soul  was  to  find  peace  and  life,  when 
washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  as  the  only  hope  and  refuge 
of  sinners. 

Her  words,  filled  with  a  superhuman  wisdom,  and  her  burn- 
ing tears,  came  to  me,  by  the  marvelous  Providence  of  God,  as 
the  first  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  to  teach  me  that 
auricular  confession  was  a  Satanic  invention. 

Had  this  young  person  been  the  only  one  to  tell  me  that,  I  might 


(X)2  FIFTY    YEARS     IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Still  have  held  some  doubt  about  the  diabolical  origin  of  that  in- 
stitution. But  thousands  and  thousands,  before  and  after  her, 
have  been  sent  by  my  merciful  God  to  tell  me  the  same  tale,  till 
after  twenty-five  years  of  experience  it  became  a  certitude  to  me 
that  that  modern  invention  of  Rome  must,  sooner  or  later,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  drag  both  the  confessor  and  his  female  pen- 
itents into  a  common  and  irreparable  ruin.  * 


♦  Those  who  would  like  to  kaow  all  about  the  abominations  of  aoricnlar  confeMioa 
<)fao«Ud  have  my  volume  "The  Priest,  The  Woman  and  The  Confessional."  It  is  probeWy 
the  onljr  book  ever  written  on  that  subject  which  completely  unveils  the  mask  of  Rome,  bf  , 
t.'lliog^  the  whole  truth. 


Chapter    LV. 

THE  ECCIiESIASTICAIi  BETREAT-CONDUCT  OP  THE  PBIESTS— 
THE  BISHOP  FOBBIDS  MB  TO  DISTIBUTE  THE  BIBLE. 

ON  the  first  of  Aug.,  1855,  I  received  the  following  letter: 
The  College — Chibago,  July  24th,  i8$s- 
Rev.  Mr.  Chiniquy. 

You  will  have  the  goodness  to  attend  a  spiritual  retreat  to  be  given 
next  month  at  the  college,  in  Chicago,  for  the  clergj  of  the  diocese  of 
Chicago  and  Quincy. 

The  spiritual  exercises,  which  will  be  conducted  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  the 
Bishop  of  Louisville,  are  to  commence  on  Tuesday,  the  2Sth  of  Aug.,  and 
will  terminate  on  the  following  Sunday.  This  arrangement  will  necessitate 
your  absence  from  your  church  on  Sunday,  the  14th,  after  Pentecost,  which 
you  will  make  known  to  your  congregation.  No  clergyman  is  allowed  to  be 
absent  from  this  retreat  without  the  previous  written  consent  of  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese,  which  consent  will  not  be  given  except  in  cases  which  he  will 
judge  to  be  of  urgent  necessity. 

By  order  of  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop, 

Matthew  Dillon, 

Pro  Secretary. 

Wishing  to  study  the  personnel  of  that  Irish  clergy  of  which 
Bishop  Vandeveld  had  told  such  frightful  things,  I  went  to  St. 
Mary's  University,  two  hours  ahead  of  time. 

Never  did  I  see  such  a  band  of  jolly  fellows.  Their  dissipa- 
tion and  laughter,  their  exchange  of  witty,  and  too  often,  unbe- 
coming expressions,  the  tremendous  noise  they  made  in  address- 
ing each  other,  at  a  distance:  Their  "Hallo,  Patrick!"  "  hallo, 
Murphy!"  "hallo,  O'Brien!  how  do  you  do  ?  How  is  Bridget? 
Is  Marguerite  stiil  with  you?"  The  answers:  "Yes  !  yes  !  She 
will  never  leave  me;"  or  "  no!  no  !  the  crazy  girl  is  gone,"  were 
invariably  followed  by  outbursts  of  laughter. 

Though  nine-tenths  of  them  were  evidently  under  the  injQu- 

603 


6o4  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

ence  of  intoxicating  drinks,  not  one  could  be  said  to  be  drunk. 
But  the  strong  odor  of  alcohol,  mixed  with  the  smoke  of  cigars, 
soon  poisoned  the  air  and  made  it  suffocating. 

I  had  withdrawn  in  a  corner,  alone,  in  order  to  observe  every- 
thing. 

What  stranger,  in  entering  that  large  hall,  would  have  sus- 
pected that  those  men  were  about  to  begin  one  of  the  most  sol- 
emn and  sacred  actions  of  a  priest  of  Jesus  Christ!  With  the 
exception  of  five  or  six,  they  looked  more  like  a  band  of  carous- 
ing raftsmen,  than  priests. 

x\bout  an  hour  before  the  opening  of  the  exercises,  I  saw 
one  of  the  priests  with  hat  in  hand  accompanied  by  two  ot 
the  fattest  and  most  florid  of  the  band,  going  to  every  one,  col- 
lecting money  and  with  the  most  hilarity  and  pleasure,  each 
one  threw  his  bank  bills  into  the  hat.  I  supposed  that  this  col- 
lection was  intended  to  pay  for  our  board,  during  the  retreat, 
and  I  prepared  the  $15  I  wanted  to  give.  When  they  came  near 
me — the  big  hat  was  literally  filled  with  five  and  ten  dollar  bills. 
Before  handing  my  money  to  them,  I  asked:  "What  is  the  ob- 
ject of  that  collection  ?  " 

"Ah!  ahl"  they  answered  with  a  hearty  laugh,  "Dear 
Father  Chiniquy,  is  it  possible  that  you  do  not  know  it  yet! 
Don't  you  know  that,  when  we  are  so  crowded  as  we  will  be 
here,  this  week,  the  rooms  are  apt  to  become  too  warm,  and  we 
get  thirsty?  Then  a  little  drop  to  cool  the  throat  and  quench  tiie. 
thirst,  is  needed  ? "  and  the  collectors  laughed  outright. 

I  answered  politely,  but  seriously:  "Gentlemen,  I  came  here 
to  meditate  and  pray;  and  when  I  am  thirsty, the  fresh  and  pure 
water  of  Lake  Michigan  will  quench  my  thirst.  I  have  given 
up,  long  ago,  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks.  Please  excuse  me, 
I  am  a  teetotaler." 

"So  we  are!"  they  answered  with  a  laugh;  "We  have  all 
taken  the  pledge  from  Father  Mathew;  but  this  does  not  pre- 
vent us  from  taking  a  little  drop  to  quench  our  thirst  and  keep 
up  our  health.  Father  Mathew  is  not  so  merciless  as  you 
ate." 

"I    know    Father    Mathew   well;"     I    answered,  "I    have 


THE    ECCLESIASTICAL     RETKKAr.  CoS 

written  to  him  and  seen  him  many  times.  Allow  me  to  tell  you 
that  we  are  of  the  same  "mind  about  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drink." 

'••  Is  it  possible!  you  know  Father  Mathew!  and  you  are  ex- 
changing letters  with  him!  What  a  holy  man  he  is,  and  what 
good  he  has  done  in  Ireland,  and   everywhere!"  they  answered. 

"  But  the  good  he  has  done  will  not  last  long,"  I  said,  "  if 
all  his  disciples  keep  their  pledges  as  you  do." 

As  we  were  talking,  a  good  number  of  priests  came  around 
to  hear  what  was  said;  for  it  was  evident  to  all,  that  the  bark 
of  their  collectors,  not  only  had  come  to  shallow  waters,  but 
had  struck  on  a  rock. 

One  of  the  priests  said :  "  I  thought  we  were  to  be  preached 
by  Bishop  Spaulding;  I  had  no  idea  that  it  was  Father  Chin- 
iquy  who  had  that  charge." 

"  Gentlemen,"  I  answered,  "  I  have  as  much  right  to  preach 
to  you  in  favor  of  temperance  as  you  have  to  preach  to  me  in 
favor  of  intemperance.  You  may  do  as  you  please  about  the 
use  of  strong  drink,  during  the  retreat;  but  1  hope  I  also  may 
have  the  right  to  think  and  do  as  I  please,  in  that  matter." 

"Of  course,"  they  all  answered,  "  But  you  are  the  only  one 
who  will  not  give  us  a  cent  to  get  a  little  drop." 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  you  all,  gentlemen,  if  I  am  the  only 
one.  But  please  excuse  me,  I  cannot  give  vou  a  cent  for  that 
object." 

They  then  left  me,  saying  something  which  I  could  not  un- 
derstand, but  they  were  evidently  disgusted,  with  what  they  con- 
sidered my  stubbornness  and  want  of  good  manners. 

I  must,  however,  say  here,  that  two  of  them,  Mr.  Dunn, 
pastor  of  one  of  the  best  congregations  in  Chicago,  and  the  other 
unknown  to  me,  came  to  congratulate  me  on  the  stern  rebuke  I 
had  given  the  collectors. 

"  I  regret,"  said  Mr  Dunn,  "  the  five  dollars  I  have  thrown 
into  that  hat.  If  I  had  spoken  to  you  before,  and  had  known 
that  you  would  be  brave  enough  to  rebuke  them,  I  would  have 
stood  by  you,  and  kept  my  money  for  better  use.  It  is  really  a 
shame  that  we  should  be  preparing  ourselves  for  a  retreat  by 


6o6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

wasting  $500  for  such  a  shameful  object.  They  have  just  told 
me  that  they  have  raised  that  sum  for  the  champagne,  brandy, 
whisky  and  beer  they  will  drink,  this  week.  Ah!  what  dis- 
grace! What  a  cry  of  indignation  would  be  raised  against  us,  if 
such  a  shameful  thing  should  be  known!  I  am  sorry  about  the 
unkind  words  those  priests  have  spoken  to  you;  but  you  must 
excuse  them,  they  are  already  full  of  bad  whisky. 

"  Do  not  think,  however,  that  you  are  friendless,  here,  in 
our  midst.  You  have  more  friends  than  you  think  among  the 
Irish  priests;  and  I  am  one  of  them,  though  you  do  not  know 
me.  Bishop  Vandeveld  has  often  spoken  to  me  of  your  grand 
colonization  work,  among  the  French." 

Mr.  Dunn,  then,  pressed  my  hand  in  his,  and  taking  me  ;i 
short  distance  from  the  others,  said: 

"  Consider  me,  hereafter,  as  your  friend :  you  have  won  my 
confidence  by  the  fearless  way  in  which  you  have  just  spoken, 
and  the  common  sense  of  vour  arguments. 

"  You  have  lost  a  true  friend  in  Bishop  Vandevelde.  I  fear 
that  our  present  bishop  will  not  do  you  justice.  Lebel  and 
Carthyvel  have  prejudiced  him  against  you.  But  I  will  stand 
by  you,  if  you  are  ever  unjustly  dealt  with,  as  I  fear  you  will, 
by  the  present  administration  of  the  diocese.  I  fear  we  are  on 
the  eve  of  great  evils.  The  scandalous  suit  w^hich  Bishop 
O'Regan  has  brought  upon  his  predecessor  is  a  disgrace.  If 
he  has  gained  $50,000  by  it,  he  has  forever  lost  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  all  his  priests  and  diocesans. 

"  After  the  mild  and  paternal  ruling  of  Bishop  Vandevelde, 
neither  the  priests,  nor  the  people  of  Illinois  will  long  bear  the 
iron  chains  which  the  present  bishop  has  in  store  for  us  all." 

I  thanked  Mr.  Dunn  for  his  kind  words,  and  told  him  that  I 
had  already  tasted  the  paternal  love  of  my  bishop  by  being 
twice  dragged  by  Spink  before  the  criminal  court  for  having 
refused  to  live  on  good  terms  with  the  two  most  demoralized 
priests  I  have  ever  known. 

He,  then,  speaking  with  a  more  subdued  voice,  said: 

"I  must  tell  you,  confidentiallv,  that  one  of  those  priests, 
Lebel,  will  be  turned  out  ignoininiously  from  the  diocese,  during 


THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    RETREAT.  607  * 

the  retreat.  Last  week,  a  new  fact,  which  surpasses  all  his 
other  abominations,  has  been  revealed  and  proved  to  the  bishop, 
for  which  he  will  be  interdicted." 

At  that  moment,  the  bell. called  us  to  the  chapel  to  hear  the 
regulations  of  the  bishop  In  reference  to  the  retreat,  after  which 
we  sang  the  matins. 

At  8  P.  M.,  we  had  our  first  sermon  by  Bishop  Spaukling, 
from  Kentucky.  He  was  a  fine-looking  man,  a  giant  in  stature, 
and  a  good  speaker.  But  the  way  in  which  he  treated  his  sub- 
ject, though  very  clever,  left,  in  my  mind,  the  impression  that  he 
did  not  believe  a  word  of  what  he  said.  At  certain  times, 
there  was  much  fire  in  his  elocution,  but  it  was  a  fire  of  straw. 
He  delivered  two  sermons,  each  day;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Vanhu- 
lest,  a  Jesuit,  gave  us  two  meditations,  each  of  them  lasting  from 
forty  to  fifty  minutes.  The  rest  of  the  time  was  spent  in  read- 
ing aloud  the  life  of  a  saint,  reciting  the  breviarum,  examination 
of  conscience  and  going  to  confession. 

We  had  half  an  hour  for  meals,  followed  by  one  hour  of  re- 
creation. Thus  were  the  days  spent.  But  the  nights  I  the 
nights!  what  shall  I  say  of  them!  What  pen  can  describe  the 
orgies  I  witnessed  during  those  dark  nights!  and  who  can 
believe  what  I  shall  have  to  say  about  them!  though  I  will  not 
and  cannot  say  the  half  of  what  I  have  seen  and  heard! 

I  got  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dunn,  then  one  of  the  bishop's 
counselors,  and  soon  after.  Vicar  General,  the  statement  that  the 
sum  of  $500  was  expended  in  intoxicating  drinks  during  the  six 
days  of  the  retreat.  I  ought  to  say  during  the  five  nights.  My 
pen  refuses  to  write  what  my  eyes  saw  and  my  ears  heard  dur- 
ing: the  lonsT  hours  of  those  nisfhts,  which  I  cannot  forget  though 
I  should  live  a  thousand  years. 

The  drinking  used  to  begin  about  9  o'clock,  as  soon  as  the 
lights  were  put  out.  Some  were  handing  the  bottles  from  bed 
to  bed,  while  others  were  carrying  them  to  those  at  a  distance, 
at  first,  with  the  least  noise  possible;  but  half  an  hour  had  not 
elapsed  before  the  alcohol  was  beginning  to  unloose  the  tongues, 
and  upset  the  brain.  Then  the  bons  mots,  the  witty  stories, 
at  first,  were  soon   followed   by  the   most  indecent  and  shameful 


6o8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

recitals.  Then  the  songs,  followed  by  the  barking  of  dogs,  the 
croaking  of  frogs,  the  howling  of  wolves.  In  a  word,  the  cries 
of  all  kinds  of  beasts,  often  mixed  with  the  most  lascivious 
songs,  the  most  infamous  anecdotes  flying  from  bed  to  bed,  from 
room  to  room,  till  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

One  night  three  priests  were  taken  with  delirium  tremens, 
almost  at  the  same  time.  One  cried  out  that  he  had  a  dozen 
rattle-snakes  at  his  shirt;  the  second  was  fighting  against  thous- 
ands of  bats  which  were  trying  to  tear  his  eyes  from  their 
sockets:  and  the  third,  with  a  stick,  was  repulsing  millions  of 
spiders  which,  he  said,  were  as  big  as  wild  turkeys,  all  at  work 
to  devour  him.  The  cries  and  lamentations  of  those  three  priests 
were  really  pitiful!  To  those  cries,  add  the  lamentations  of 
some  dozen  of  them  whose  overloaded  stomachs  were  ejecting 
in  the  beds  and  all  around,  the  enormous  quantity  of  drink  they 
had  swallowed! 

The  third  day,  I  was  so  disgusted  and  indignant,  that  I  deter- 
mined to  leave,  without  noise,  under  the  pretext  that  I  was  sick. 
It  was  not  a  false  pretext;  for  I  was  really  sick.  There  was  no 
possibility  of  sleeping  before  two  or  three  o'clock.  Besides,  the 
stench  in  the  dormitories  was  horrible. 

There  was,  however,  another  thing  which  was  still  more 
overwhelming  me.  It  was  the  terrible  moral  struggle  in  my 
soul  from  morning  till  night,  and  from  night  till  morning, 
when  the  voice  of  conscience,  which  I  had  to  take  for  the 
voice  of  Satan,  was  crying  m  my  ears:  "Do  you  not  clearly  see 
that  your  church  is  the  devil's  church — that  those  priests,  instead 
of  being  the  Lamb's  priests,  are  the  successors  of  the  old 
Bacchus'  priests.^  Read  your  Bible  a  little  more  attentively,  and 
see  if  this  is  not  the  reign  of  the  great  harlot,  which  is  defiling 
the  world  with  her  abominations?  How  can  you  remain  in 
such  a  church!  how  long  will  you  remain  in  this  sea  of  Sodom? 
come  out!  come  out  of  Babylon,  if  you  do  not  want  to  perish  with 
her!  Can  the  tree  which  bears  such  fruits,  be  the  tree  of  life.' 
Can  the  priests  who  surround  you,  be  the  priests,  the  ambassa- 
dors of  the  Saviour  of  the  world?  Can  the  Son  of  God,  come 
down  every  morning  in  body,  in  soul,  and  divinity  into  the  hands 


THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    RETREAT.  609 

and  stomach  of  such  men?'  Can  the  nations  be  led  into  the 
ways  of  God  by  them  ?  are  you  not  guilty  of  an  unpardonable 
crime  when  you  are  planting,  with  your  own  hands,  over  this 
magnificent  country,  a  tree  bearing  such  fruits?  How  dare  you 
meet  your  God,  after  you  have  so  deceived  yourself  and  the  peo- 
ple as  to  believe  and  say  that  these  are  the  representatives,  the 
leaders,  the  priests  of  the  church  out  of  which  there  is  no  salva- 
tion ! " 

Oh!  what  an  awful  thing  it  is  to  resist  the  voice  of  God!  To 
take  him  for  the  evil  one,  when,  by  his  warnings,  he  seeks  to 
save  your  soul!  Although  the  horrible  scandal  I  had  seen  dis- 
tressed me  more  than  human  words  can  tell,  those  mental  conflicts 
were  still  more  distressing.  Fearing  lest  I  should  entirely  lose 
my  faith  in  my  religion,  and  become  an  absolute  infidel,  by  re- 
maining any  longer  in  the  midst  of  such  profligacy,  I  determined 
to  leave;  but  before  doing  so,  I  waated  to  consult  the  new 
friend  whom  the  Providence  of  God  had  given  me  in  Mr, 
Dunn.  It  seemed  the  unbearable  burden  which  was  on  my 
shoulders  would  become  lighter,  by  sharing  it  with  such  a  sym- 
pathetic brother  priest. 

I  went  to  him,  after  dinner,  and  taking  him  apart,  L  t<\jd  him 
all  about  the  orgies  of  last  night,  and  asked  his  advice  on  my 
determination  not  to  continue  that  retreat,  which  was  evi- 
dently nothing  else  than  a  blind,  and  a  sacrilegious  comedy,  to 
deceive  the  world. 

He  answered:  "  You  teach  me  nothing,  for  I  spent  last  night 
in  the  same  dormitory  where  you  were.  One  of  the  priests  told 
me  all  about  those  orgies,  yesterday ;  I  could  hardly  believe  what 
he  said,  and  I  determined  to  see  and  hear  for  myself  what  was 
going  on.  You  do  not  exaggerate,  you  do  not  even  mention  half 
of  the  horrors  of  last  night.  It  baffles  any  description.  It  is  sim- 
ply incredible  for  any  one  who  has  not  himself  witnessed  them. 
Howeve-,  I  do  not  advise  you  to  leave.  It  would  forever  ruin 
you  in  the  mind  of  the  bishop,  who  is  not  already  too  well  dis- 
posed in  your  favor.  The  best  thiug  you  can  do  is  to  go  and 
tell  everything  to  Bishop  Spaulding.  I  have  done  it  this  morn- 
ing; but  I  felt  that  he  did  not  believe    the   half  of   what    I    told 


6lO  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

him.  When  the  same  testimony  comes  from  you,  then  he  will 
believe  it,  and  will  probably  take  some  measures,  with  our  own 
bishop,  to  put  an  end  to  those  horrors.  I  have  something  to  tell 
you,  confidentially,  which  surpasses,  in  a  measure,  anything  you 
know  of  the  abominations  of  these  last  three  nights. 

"  A  respectable  policeman,  who  belongs  to  my  congregation, 
came  to  me  this  morning,  to  tell  me  that  the  first  night,  six  pros- 
titutes, dressed  as  gentlemen ;  and  last  night,  twelve  came  to  the 
University,  after  dark,  entered  the  dormitory,  and  went,  directed 
by  signals,  to  those  who  had  invited  them,  each  being  provided 
with  the  necessary  key.  I  have  just  reported  the  thing  to  Bishop 
O'Regan;  but  instead  of  paying  any  attention  to  w^hat  I  said, 
he  became  furious  against  me,  and  nearly  turned  me  out  of  his 
room,  saying:  '  Do  you  think  that  I  am  going  to  come  down 
from  my  dignity  of  bishop  to  hear  the  reports  of  degraded 
policemen  or  of  vile  spies!  Shall  I  become  the  spies  of  my 
priests?  If  they  w^ant  to  damn  themselves,  there  is  no  help,  let 
them  go  to  hell!  I  am  not  more  obliged  or  able  than  God  him- 
self to  stop  them !  Does  God  stop  them  ?  Does  He  punish 
them?  No!  Well!  you' cannot  expect  from  me,  more  zeal  and 
power  than  in  our  common  God!"      ' 

"With  these  fine  words  ringing  in  my  ears,"  said  good  Mr. 
Dunn,  "  I  had  to  leave  his  room  at  the  double  quick.  It  is  of 
no  use  for  us  to  speak  to  Bishop  O'Regan,  on  that  matter.  It 
will  do  no  good.  He  wants  to  get  a  large  subscription  from 
those  priests,  at  the  end  of  the  retreat,  and  he  is  rather  inclined 
to  pet  than  punish  them,  till  he  obtains  the  $100,000  he  wants 
to  build  his  white  marble  palace  on  the  lake  shore." 

I  replied :  "  Though  you  add  to  my  desolation,  instead  of 
diminishing  it,  by  what  you  say  of  the  strange  principles  of  our 
bishop,  I  will  speak  to  my  lord  Spauldi ng  as  you  advise   me." 

Without  a  moment's  delay,  I  went  to  his  room.  He  received 
me  very  kindly,  and  did  not  at  all  seem  surprised  at  what  I  said. 
It  was  as  if  he  had  been  accustomed  to  see  the  same,  or  still 
worse  abominations.  However,  when  I  told  him  the  enormous 
quantity  of  liquor  drank,  and  that  retreat  would  be  only  a 
ridiculous  comedy,  if  no  attempt  at  reform  was   tried,  he  agreed 


THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    RETREAT.  6ll 

with  me;  "but  it  would  be  advisable  to  try  it,"  he  said. 
"  Though  this  is  not  in  our  programme,  we  might  give  one  or 
two  sermons  on  the  necessity  of  priests  giving  an  example  of 
temperance  to  their  people.  Will  you  please  come  with  me  to 
the  room  of  my  lord  O'Regan,  that  we  may  confer  on  the  mat- 
ter, after  you  have  told  him  what  is  going  on.'  " 

Although  the  Bishop  of  Chicago  seemed  puzzled  at  seeing 
me  entering  the  room  with  my  lord  Spaulding,  he  was  as  polite 
as  possible.  He  listened  with  more  attention  than  I  expected  to 
the  narrative  I  gave  of  what  is  going  on  among  the  priests. 
After  telling  him  my  sad  story.  Bishop  Spaulding  said:  "  My 
lord  of  Chicago:  These  facts  are  very  grave,  and  there  cannot, 
be  any  doubt  abo«t  the  truth  of  what  we  have  just  heard.  Two 
other  gentlemen  gave  me  the  same  testimony  this  morning." 

"  Yes!"  said  Bishop  O'Regan,  "  it  is  very  sad  to  see  that  our 
priests  have  so  little  self-respect,  even  during  such  solemn  days 
as  those  of  a  public  retreat.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dunn  has  just  told 
me  the  same  sad  story  as  Father  Chiniquy.  But  what  remedy 
can  we  find  for  such  a  state  of  things?  Perhaps  it  might  do  well 
to  give  them  a  good  sermon  on  temperance.  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I 
am  told  that  you  are  called  '  the  temperance  apostle  of  Canada.' 
and  that  you  are  a  powerful  speaker  on  that  subject;  would  you 
not  like  to  give  them  one  or  two  addresses  on  the  injury 
they  are  doing  to  themselves  and  to  our  holy  church,  by  their 
drunkenness.'' " 

"  If  those  priests  could  understand  mc  in  French,"  I  replied, 
"I  would  accept  the  honor  you  offer  me,  with  pleasure;  but  to 
be  understood  by  them,  I  would  have  to  speak  in  English;  and 
I  am  not  sufficiently  free  in  that  language  to  attempt  it.  My 
broken  English  would  only  bring  ridicule  upon  the  holv  cause 
of  temperance. 

"  But  my  lord  Spaulding  has  already  preached  on  that  sub- 
ject in  Kentucky,  and  an  address  from  his  lordship  would  be 
listened  to  with  more  attention  and  benefit  from  him  than  from 
me." 

It  was,  then,  agreed  that  he  should  change  his  programme, 
and    give  two   addresses   on    temperance,  which   he    did.       But 


6l2  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

though  these   addresses  were    really    eloquent,  they  were  pearls 
thrown  before  swine. 

The  drunken  priests  slept  as  usual;  and  even  snored,  almost 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  delivery.  It  is  true  that  we 
could  notice  a  little  improvement  and  less  noise  the  following 
nights;  the  change,  however,  was  very  little. 

The  fourth  day  of  the  retreat,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lebel  came  to 
me  with  his  bag  in  his  hand.     He  looked  furious.     He  said : 

"  Now,  you  must  be  satisfied,  I  am  interdicted  and  turned 
out  ignominiously  from  this  diocese.  It  is  your  work!  But 
mind  what  I  tell  you ;  you  will,  also,  soon,  be  turned  out  from 
_}'Our  colony  by  the  mitred  tyrant  who  has  just  struck  me  down. 
He  told  me,  several  times,  that  he  would,  at  any  cost,  break  your 
plans  of  Fi"ench  colonization,  by  sending  you  to  the  south-west 
A  Illinois,  along  the  Mississippi,  to  an  old  French  settlement, 
opposite  St.  Louis. 

"  He  is  enraged  against  you  for  your  refusing  to  give  him 
your  fine  property  at  St.  Anne." 

I  answered  him :  "  You  are  mistaken  when  you  think  that  I 
am  the  author  of  your  misfortunes.  You  have  disgraced  your- 
self, by  your  own  acts.  God  has  given  you  talents  and  quali- 
ties, which,  if  cultivated,  would  have  exalted  you  in  the  church, 
but  you  have  preferred  to  destroy  those  great  gifts,  in  order  to 
follow  the  evil  inclinations  of  your  poor  degraded  human  nature; 
you  reap  to-day  what  you  have  sown.  Nobody  is  more  sorry 
than  I  am,  for  your  misfortune,  and  my  most  sincere  wish  is  that 
the  past  may  be  a  lesson  to  guide  your  steps  in  the  future.  The 
desire  of  my  bishop  to  turn  me  out  of  my  colony  does  not 
trouble  me.  If  it  is  the  will  of  God  to  keep  me  at  the  head  of 
that  great  work,  the  Bishop  of  Chicago  will  go  down  from  his 
episcopal  throne  before  I  go  down  the  beautiful  hill  of  St, 
Anne.     Adieu ! " 

He  soon  disappeared.  But  how  the  fall  of  this  priest,  whom 
I  had  so  sincerely  loved,  saddened  me ! 

The  next  Sabbath  was  the  last  day  of  the  retreat.  All  the 
priests  went  in  procession  to  the  cathedral,  to  receive  the  holy 
communion,  and  every  one  of  them  ate,  what  we  Itad  t<i  believe 


i 


THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    RETREAT.  613 

the  true  body,  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  thirteen  of  them  from  spending  the  greater 
part  of  the  next  night  in  the  calaboose,  to  which  they  had  been 
taken  by  the  police,  from  houses  of  ill-fame,  where  they  were 
rioting  and  fighting.  The  next  morning,  they  were  discharged 
from  the  hands  of  the  police  by  paying  pretty  round  sums  of 
money  for  the  trouble  of  the  night! 

The  next  day,  I  went  to  Mr.  Dunn's  parsonage  to  ask  him 
if  he  could  give  me  any  explanation  of  the  rumor  which  was 
afloat,  and  to  which  Mr.  Lebel  had  made  allusion,  that  it  was 
the  Intention  of  the  bishop  to  remove  me  from  my  colony  to 
some  distant  part  of  his  diocese. 

"  It  is  unfortunatelv  too  true,"  said  he.  "  Bishop  O'Regan 
thinks  that  he  has  a  mission  from  heaven  to  undo  all  his  prede- 
cessor has  done,  and  as  one  of  the  best  and  grandest  schemes  of 
Bishop  \''andevelde  was  to  secure  the  possession  of  this  magnifi- 
cent State  of  Illinois  to  our  church,  by  inducing  all  the  Roman 
Catholic  emigrants  from  France,  Belgium  and  Canada,  to  settle 
here,  our  present  bishop  does  not  conceal  that  he  will  oppose  that 
plan  by  removing  you  to  such  a  distance,  that  vour  colonization 
plans  will  be  at  an  end.  He  says  that  the  French  are,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  rebels  and  disobedient  to  their  bishops.  He  prefers 
seeing  the  Irish  coming,  on  account  of  their  proverbial  docility 
to  their  ecclesiastical  superiors. 

"I  have,  in  vain,  tried  to  change  his  mind.  I  told  you,  before, 
that  he  often  asks  my  opinion  on  what  I  think  the  best  thing  to 
be  done  for  the  good  of  the  diocese.  But  I  do  not  think  that  he 
intends  to  follow  my  advice!  it  Is  just  the  contrary.  My  im- 
pression now  is,  that  he  wants  to  know  our  views,  only  for  the 
pleasure  of  acting  diametrically  in  opposition  to  what  we  advise." 

I  must  not  omit  to  say,  that  we  had  been  requested  to  spend 
the  forenoon  of  Monday,  in  the  University,  for  an  important  af- 
fair which  the  Bishop  had  to  propose  to  his  clergy.  We  were 
all  there,  in  the  great  hall,  at  the  appointed  hour.  Even  the 
thirteen  priests  who  had  spent  the  best  part  of  the  night  at  the 
police  station,  heard  the  voice  of  their  bishop,  and  they  were 
there,  as  docile  lambs. 


6l4  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

We  knew  beforehand,  the  proposition  which  was  to  be  put 
before  us.  It  was  to  build  a  palace  for  our  bishop,  worthy  of  the 
great  Illinois  State,  the  cost  of  which  would  be  about  $100,000. 

Though  every  one  of  us  felt  that  this  was  most  extravagant 
in  such  a  young  and  poor  diocese,  nobody  dared  to  raise  his 
voice  against  that  act  of  pride  and  supreme  folly.  Every  one 
promised  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  raise  that  sum,  and  to  show  our 
good  will,  we  raised  among  ourselves,  at  once,  $7,000,  which  we 
gave  in  cash  or  in  promissory  notes. 

After  this  act  of  liberality,  we  were  blessed  and  dismissed  by 
our  bishop. 

I  was  but  a  few  steps  from  the  University,  when  an  Irish 
priest,  unknown  to  me,  ran  after  me  to  say:  "My  lord  O'Regan 
wants  to  see  you  immediately."  And,  five  minutes  later,  I  w^as 
alone  with  my  bishop,  who,  without  any  preface,  told  me: 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  hear  very  strange  and  damaging  things 
about  you,  from  every  quarter.  But  the  worst  of  all  is,  that  you 
are  a  secret  Protestant  emissary;  that,  instead  of  preaching  the 
true  doctrines  of  our  holy  church,  about  the  immaculate  concep- 
tion, purgatory,  the  respect  and  obedience  due  to  their  superiors 
by  the  people,  auricular  confession,  etc.,  etc.,  you  spend  a  part 
of  your  time  in  distributing  Bibles  and  New  Testaments  among 
vour  emigrants;  I  want  to  know  from  your  own  lips,  if  this  be 
true  or  not." 

I  answered :  "  A  part  of  what  the  people  told  you  about  the 
matter  is  not  true ;  the  other  is  true.  It  is  not  true  that  I  neglect 
the  preaching  of  the  doctrines  of  our  holy  church,  about  purga- 
tory, immaculate  conception  of  Mary,  auricular  confession,  or 
the  respect  due  to  our  superiors.  But  it  is  true  that  I  do  dis- 
tribute the  Holy  Bible  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  among  my 
people." 

"  And  instead  of  blushing  at  such  unpriestly  conduct,  you 
seem  to  be  proud  of  it,"  angrily  replied  the  bishop. 

"  I  do  not  understand,  my  lord,  why  a  priest  of  Christ  could 
blush  for  distributing  the  Word  of  God  among  his  people;  as  I 
am  bound  to  preach  that  Holy  Word,  it  is  not  only  my  righf, 
"but  my  duty  to  give  it  to  them.     I  am  fully  persuaded  that  ther* 


THE    ECCLESIASTICAL    RETREAT.  615 

is  no  preaching  so  efficacious  and  powerful  as  the  preaching  of 
God  Himself,  when  speaking  to  us  in  His  Holy  Book." 

"  This  is  sheer  Protestantism,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  this  is  sheer 
Protestantism,"  he  answered  me,  angrily. 

"  My  dear  bishop,"  I  answered  culml)',  "if  to  give  the  Bible 
to  the  people  and  invite  them  to  read  and  meditate  on  it,  is  Pro- 
testantism, our  holy  Pope  Pius  VI.  was  a  good  Protestant,  for 
in  his  letter  to  Martini,  which  is  probably  in  the  first  pages  of 
the  beautiful  Bible  I  see  on  your  lordship's  table,  he  not  only 
blesses  him  for  having  translated  that  Holy  book  into  Italian, 
but  invites  the  people  to  read  it." 

The  bishop,  assuming  an  air  of  supreme  contempt,  replied: 

"  Your  answer  shows  your  complete  ignorance  on  the  sub- 
ject on  which  you  speak  so  boldly.  If  you  were  a  little  better 
informed  on  that  grave  subject,  you  would  know  that  the  trans- 
lation by  Martini,  which  the  Pope  advised  the  Italian  people  to 
read,  formed  a  work  of  twenty-three  big  volumes  in  folio, 
which,  of  course,  nobody  except  very  rich  and  idle  people  could 
read.  Not  one  in  ten  thousand  Italians  have  the  means  of  pur- 
chasing such  a  voluminous  work;  and  not  one  one  in  fifty  thous- 
and have  the  time  or  the  will  to  peruse  such  a  mass  of  endless 
commentaries.  The  Pope  would  never  have  given  such  an  ad- 
vice to  read  a  Bible,  as  the  one  you  distribute  so  imprudently. " 

"  Then,  my  lord,  do  you  positively  tell  me  that  the  Pope 
gave  permission  to  read  Martini's  translation  because  he  knew 
that  the  people  could  never  get  it  on  account  of  its  enormous 
size  and  price,  and  do  you  assure  me  that  he  would  never  have 
given  such  an  advice  had  the  same  people  been  able  to  purchase 
and  read  that  holy  work  ?  " 

'•  Yes,  sir!  It  is  what  I  mean,"  answered  the  bishop,  with  an 
air  of  triumph,  "  for  I  know,  positively,  that  this  is  the  fact." 

I  replied,  calmly :  "  I  hope  your  lordship  is  unwillingly  mis- 
taken ;  for  if  you  were  correct,  the  stern  and  unflinching  princi- 
ples of  logic  would  force  me  to  think  and  say  that  that  Pope, 
and  all  his  followers  were  deceivers,  and  that  encyclical,  a  public 
fraud  in  his  own  hands;  for  we.  Catholic  priests,  make  use  of  it, 
all  over  the  world,  and  reprint  it  at  the  head  of  our  own  Bibles, 


6l6  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

to  make  the  people,  both  Protestants  and  Catholics,  believe  that 
"we  approve  of  their  reading  our  own  versions  of  that  Holy 
Book." 

Had  I  thrown  a  spark  of  fire  in  a  keg  of  powder,  the  explos- 
ion would  not  have  been  more  prompt  and  terrible  than  the  rage 
of  that  prelate.     Pointing  his  finger  to  my  face,  he  said : 

"  Now,  I  see  the  truth  of  what  I  have  been  told,  that  you  are 
a  disguised  Protestant,  since  the  very  day  you  were  ordained  a 
priest. 

"The  Bible!  the  Bible!  is  your  motto!  For  you,  the  Bible 
is  everything,  and  the  holy  church,  with  her  Popes  and  bishops, 
nothing!  what  an  insolent,  I  dare  say,  what  a  blasphemous  word 
I  have  just  heard  from  you !  You  dare  call  an  encyclical  letter 
of  one  of  our  most  holy  Popes,  a  fraud!'''' 

In  vain,  I  tried  to  explain ;  he  would  not  listen,  and  he  silenced 
me  by  saying: 

"  If  our  holy  church  has,  in  an  unfortunate  day,  appointed 
you  one  of  her  priests  in  my  diocese,  it  was  to  preach  her  doc- 
trines, and  not  to  distribute  the  Bible!  If  you  forget  that,  I  will 
make  you  remember  it!" 

And  with  that  threat  on  my  head,  as  a  Damocles'  sword,  I 
had  to  take  to  the  door,  which  he  had  opened,  without  any  au 
revoir.  Thanks  be  to  God,  this  first  persecution  and  these  out- 
rages I  received  for  my  dear  Bible's  sake,  did  not  diminish  my 
respect  for  God's  Holy  Word  nor  my  confidence  in  it.  On  the 
contrary,  on  reaching  home,  I  took  it,  fell  on  my  knees,  and 
pressing  it  to  my  heart,  I  asked  my  Heavenly  Father  to  grant 
me  the  favor  to  love  it  more  sincerely,  and  follow  its  divine 
teachings  with  more  fidelity,  till  the  end  of  my  life. 


Chapter  LVI. 

PUBLIC  ACTS  OF  SIMONY-THEFTS  AND  BRIGANDAGE  OF 
BISHOP  O'REGAN  GENERAL,  CRY  OF  INDIGNATION-I  DE- 
TERMINE TO  RESIST  HIM  TO  HIS  FACE-  HE  EMPLOYS  MB. 
SPINK  AGAIN  TO  SEND  ME  TO  GAOL,  AND  HE  FAILS-DRAGS 
ME  AS  A  PRISONER  TO  URBAN  A  IN  THE  SPRING  OF  1856 
AND  FAILS  AGAIN-ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  DEFENDS  ME- MY 
DEAR  BIBLE  BECOMES  MORE  THAN  EVER  MY  LIGHT  AND 
MY  COUNSELOR. 

A  MONTH  had  hardlv  elapsed  since  the  ecclesiastical  retreat, 
when  all  the  cities  of  Illinois,  were  filled  bv  the  most 
strange  and  humiliating  clamors  against  our  bishop.  From 
Chicago  to  Cairo,  it  would  ha\e  been  difficult  to  go  to  a  single 
town,  without  having,  from  the  most  respectable  people,  or 
reading  in  big  letters,  in  some  of  the  most  influential  papers,  that 
Bishop  O'Regan  was  a  thief  or  a  simoniac,  a  perjurer,  or  even 
something  worse.  The  bitterest  complaints  were  crossing  each 
other  over  the  breadth  and  length  of  Illinois,  from  almost  every 
congregation: 

"  He  has  stolen  the  beautiful  and  costly  vestments  we  bought 
for  our  church,"  cried  the  French  Canadians  of  Chicago.  "  He 
has  swindled  us  out  of  a  fine  lot  given  us  to  build  our  church, 
sold  it  for  $40,000,  and  pocketed  the  money,  for  his  own  private 
use,  without  giving  us  any  notice,"  said  the  Germans, 

"•His  thirst  for  money  is  so  great,"  sah  the  whole  Catholic 
people  of  Illinois,  "that  he  is  selling  evcu  the  bones  of  the  dead 
to  fill  his  treasures!" 

I  had  not  forgotten  the  bold  attempt  of  the  bishop  to  \vrench 
ray  little  property  from  my  hands,  at  his  first  visit  to  my  colony. 

The  highway  thief  who  puts  his  dagger  at  the  breast  of  the 
traveler,   threatening   to   take   away  his  life,  if  he  does  not  give 

617 


6l8  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

him  his  purse,  does  not  appear  more  infamous  to  his  victim  than 
that  bishop  appeared  to  me,  that  day.  But  my  hope,  then,  was, 
that  this  was  an  isolated  and  exceptional  case  in  the  Lie  of 
my  superior;  and  I  did  not  whisper  a  word  of  it  to  anybody. 
I  began  to  think  differently,  however,  when  I  saw  the  numerous 
articles  in  the  principal  papers  of  the  State,  signed  by  the  most 
respectable  names,  accusing  him  of  theft,  simony  and  lies.  My 
hope,  at  first,  was  that  there  were  many  exaggerations  in  those 
reports.  But  they  came  thicker,  day  after  day,  I  thought  my 
duty  was  to  go  to  Chicago,  and  see  for  myself,  to  what  extent 
those  rumors  were  true.  I  went  directly  to  the  French  Cana- 
dian church ;  and  to  my  unspeakable  dismay,  I  found  that  it  was 
too  true  that  the  bishop  had  stolen  the  fine  church  vestments, 
which  my  countrymen  had  bought  for  their  own  pi^iest,  for 
grand  festivals ;  and  he  had  transferred  them  to  the  cathredal  of 
St.  Mary  for  his  own  personal  use.  The  indignation  of  my 
poor  countrymen  knew  no  bounds.  It  was  really  deplorable  to 
hear  with  what  supi'eme  disgust,  and  vs^ant  of  respect,  they  were 
speaking  of  their  bishop.  Unfortunately,  the  Germans  and  Irish 
people  were  still  ahead  of  them  in  their  unguarded,  disrespect- 
ful denunciations.  Several  spoke  of  prosecuting  him  before  the 
civil  courts,  to  force  him  to  disgorge  what  he  had  stolen ;  and  it 
w^as  w^ith  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  succeeded  in  preventing 
some  of  them  from  mobbing  and  insulting  him  publicly  in  the 
streets,  or  even  in  his  own  palace.  The  only  way  I  could  find 
to  appease  them  was  to  promise  that  I  would  speak  to  his  lord- 
ship, and  tell  him  that  it  was  the  desire  of  my  countrymen  to 
have  those  vestments  restored  to  them. 

The  second  thing  I  did  was  to  go  to  the  cemetery,  and  see 
for  myself,  to  what  extent  it  was  true  or  not  that  our  bishop 
was  selling  the  very  bones  of  his  diocesans,  in  order  to  make 
money. 

On  my  way  to  the  Roman  Catholic  graveyai'd,  I  met  a  great 
many  cart-loads  of  sand,  which,  I  was  told  by  the  carters,  had 
been  taken  from  the  cemetery ;  but  I  did  not  like  to  stop  them 
till  I  was  at  the  very  door  of  the  consecrated  spot.  There,  I 
found  three  carters,  who  were  just  leaving  the  grounds.     I  asked 


PUBLIC    ACTS    OF    SIMONY.  619 

and  obtained  from  them,  the  permission  to  search  the  sand  which 
they  carried,  to  see  if  there  were  not  some  bones.  I  could  not 
find  any  in  the  first  cart;  and  my  hope  was  that  it  would  be  the 
same  in  the  two  others.  But,  to  my  horror  and  shame,  I  found 
the  inferior  jaw  of  a  child,  in  the  second;  and  part  of  the  bones 
of  an  arm,  and  almost  the  whole  foot  of  a  human  being,  in  the 
third  cart!  I  politely  requested  the  carters  to  show  me  the  very 
place  where  they  had  dug  that  sand,  and  they  complied  with  my 
prayer.  To  my  unspeakable  regret  and  shame,  I  found  that  the 
bishop  had  told  an  unmitigated  falsehood  when,  to  appease  the 
public  indignation  against  his  sacrilegious  trade,  he  had  published 
that  he  was  selling  only  the  sand  which  was  outside  of  the  fence, 
on  the  very  border  of  the  lake. 

It  is  true  that,  to  make  his  case  good,  he  had  ordered  the  old 
fence  to  be  taken  away,  in  order  to  make  a  new  one,  many  feet 
inside  the  old  one.  But  this  miserable  and  shameful  subterfuge 
rendered  his  crime  still  greater  than  it  had  at  first  appeared. 
What  added  to  the  gravity  of  that  public  iniquity,  is  that  the 
Bishop  of  Chicago  had  received  that  piece  of  land  from  the  city, 
for  a  burial  ground,  only  after  they  had  taken  a  solemn  oath  to 
use  it  only  for  burying  the  dead.  Every  load  of  that  ground 
sold  then,  was  not  only  an  act  of  simony,  but  the  bi-eaking  of  a 
solemn  oath!  No  words  can  express  the  shame  I  felt,  after  con- 
vincing myself  of  the  correctness  of  what  the  press  of  Chicago, 
and  of  the  whole  State  of  Illinois,  had  published  against  our 
bishop,  about  this  sacrilegious  traffic. 

Slowly  retracing  my  steps  to  the  city  from  the  cemetery,  I 
went  directly  to  the  bishop,  to  fulfil  the  promise  I  had  made  to 
the  French  Canadians,  to  try  to  obtain  the  restoration  of  their 
fine  vestments.  But  I  was  not  long  with  him  without  seeing 
that  I  would  gain  nothing  but  his  implacable  enmity  in  pleading 
the  cause  of  my  poor  countrymen.  However,  I  thought  that 
my  duty  was  to  do  all  in  my  power  to  open  the  eyes  of  my 
bishop  to  the  pit  he  was  digging  for  himself  and  for  us  all 
Catholics,  by  his  conduct. 

"  My  lord,"  I  said,  "  I  will  not  surprise  your  lordship,  when 
I    tell    you    that    all   the  true   Catholics    of    Illinois,   are    filled 


630 


FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


with  sorrow  by  the  articles  they  find,  every  day,  in  the  press, 
against  their  bishop." 

"Yes!  yes  I"  he  abruptly  replied,  "the  good  Catholics  must 
be  sad  indeed  to  read  such  disgusting  diatribes  against  their  su- 
Derior;  and  I  presume  that  you  are  one  of  those  that  are  sorry. 
But,  then,  why  do  you  not  prevent  your  insolent  and  infidel 
countrymen  from  writing  those  things!  I  see  that  a  gieat  part 
of  those  libels  are  signed  by  the  French  Canadians." 

I  answered:  "It  is  to  try,  as  much  as  it  is  in  my  power,  to 
put  an  end  to  those  scandals  that  I  am  in  Chicago,  to-day,  my 
lord." 

"  Very  well,  very  well,"  he  replied,  "  as  you  have  the  repu- 
tation of  having  great  influence  over  your  countrymen,  make  use 
of  it  to  stop  them  in  their  rebellious  conduct  against  me,  and  I 
will,  then,  believe  that  you  are  a  good  priest." 

I  answered:  "I  hope  that  I  will  succeed  in  what  your  lord- 
ship wants  me  to  do.  But  there  are  two  things  to  be  done,  in 
order  to  secure  my  success." 

"What  are  they.-*"  quickly  asked  the  bishop. 

"  The  Jirst  is,  that  your  lordship  give  back  the  fine  church 
vestments  which  you  have  taken  from  the  French  Canadian 
congregation  of  Chicago. 

"The  seco?id  \?>,  that  your  lordship  abstain,  absolutely,  from 
this  day,  to  sell  the  sand  of  the  burying  ground,  which  covers 
the  tombs  of  the  dead." 

Without  answering  a  \vord,  the  bishop  struck  his  fist  violently 
upon  the  table,  and  crossed  the  room  at  a  quick  step,  two  or 
three  times;  then  turning  towards  me,  and  pointing  his  fin- 
ger to  my  face,  he  exclaimed  in  an  indescribable  accent  of 
rage: 

"Now,  I  see  the  truth  of  what  Mr.  Spink  told  me  I  you  are 
not  only  my  bitterest  enemy,  but  you  are  at  the  head  of  my  en- 
emies. You  take  sides  with  them  against  me.  You  approve  of 
their  libellous  writings  against  me !  I  will  never  give  back  those 
church  vestments.  They  are  mine,  as  the  French  Canadian 
church  is  mine!  Do  you  not  know,  that  the  ground  on  which 
the  churches  are  built,  as  well  as   the  churches  themselves,  and 


PUBLIC    ACTS    OF    SIMON' Y.  62 1 

all  that  belongs  to  the  church,  belongs  to  the  bishop?  Was  it 
not  a  burning  shame  to  use  those  fine  vestments  in  a  poor  miser- 
able church  of  Chicago,  when  the  bishop  of  that  important  city 
was  covered  with  rags?  It  was  in  the  interest  of  the  episcopal 
dignity,  that  I  ordered  those  rich  and  splendid  vestments,  which 
were  mine  by  law,  to  be  transferred  from  that  small  and  insig- 
nificant congregation,  to  my  cathedral  of  St.  Mary,  and  if  you 
had  an  ounce  of  respect  for  your  bishop,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  you 
would  immediately  go  to  your  countrymen  and  put  a  stop  to  their 
murmurs  and  slanders  against  me;  by  simply  telling  them  that  I 
have  taken  what  was  mine  from  that  church,  which  is  mine  also, 
to  the  cathedral,  which  is  altogether  mine. 

"  Tell  vour  countrymen  to  hold  their  tongues,  and  respect 
their  bishop,  when  he  is  in  the  right,  as  I  am  to-day." 

I  had,  many  times,  considered  the  infamy  and  injustice  of  the. 
law  which  the  bishops  have  had  passed  all  over  the  United 
States,  making  every  one  of  them  a  corporation,  with  the  right 
of  possessing  personally  all  the  church  properties  of  the  Roman 
Catholics.  But  I  had  never  understood  the  infamy  and  tyranny 
of  that  law  so  clearly  as  in  that  hour. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  with  ink  and  paper  the  air  of 
pride  and  contempt  with  which  the  bishop  really  in  substance,  if 
not  in  words,  told  me: 

"  All  those  things  are  mine.  I  do  what  I  please  with  them, 
you  must  be  mute  and  silent  when  I  take  them  away  from  you. 
It  is  against  God  Himself  that  you  rebel  when  you  refuse  me 
the  right  of  dispossessing  you  of  all  those  properties  which  you 
have  purchased  with  your  own  money,  and  which  have  not  cost 
me  a  cent!" 

In  that  moment  I  felt  that  the  law  which  makes  every  bishop 
the  only  master  and  proprietor  of  all  the  religious  goods,  houses, 
churches,  lands  and  money  of  their  people  as  Catholics,  is  sim- 
ply diabolical:  and  that  the  church  which  sanctions  such  a  law, 
is  antichristian.  Though  it  was,  at  the  risk  and  peril  of  every 
thing  dear  to  me,  that  I  should  openly  protest  against  that  unjust 
law,  there  was  no  help;  I  felt  constrained  to  do  so  with  all  the 
energy  I  possessed. 


622  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMB. 

I  answered:  "  My  lord,  I  confess  that  this  is  the  law,  in  the 
United  States;  but  this  is  a  human  law,  directly  opposed  to  the 
Gospel.  I  do  not  find  a  single  word  in  the  Gospel  which  gives 
this  power  to  the  bishop.  Such  a  power  is  an  abusive,  not  a  di- 
vine power,  which  will  sooner  or  later  destroy  our  holy  church, 
in  the  United  States,  as  it  has  already  mortally  wounded  her  in 
Great  Britain,  in  France  and  in  many  other  places.  When 
Christ  said,  in  the  Holy  Gospel,  that  He  had  not  enough  of 
ground  whereon  to  lay  His  head.  He  condemned,  in  advance,  the 
pretensions  of  the  bishops  who  lay  their  hands  on  our  church 
properties  as  their  own.  Such  a  claim  is  an  usurpation  and  not 
a  right,  my  lord.  Our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  protested  against 
that  usurpation,  when  asked  by  a  young  man  to  meddle  in  his 
temporal  affairs  with  his  brothers ;  He  answered  that  "  He  had 
not  received  such  power."  The  Gospel  is  a  long  protest  against 
that  usurpation;  in  every  page,  it  tells  us  that  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  is  not  of  this  world.  I  have  myself  given  $50  to  help  my 
countrymen  to  buy  those  church  vestments.  They  belong  to 
them,  and  not  to  you!" 

My  words,  uttered  with  an  expression  of  firmness  \vhich  the 
bishop  had  never  yet  seen  in  any  of  his  priests,  fell  upon  him,  at 
first,  as  a  thunderbolt.  They  so  puzzled  him,  that  he  looked  at 
me,  a  moment,  as  if  he  wanted  to  see  if  it  was  a  dream  or  a  re- 
ality, that  one  of  his  pi'iests  had  the  audacity  to  use  such  language, 
in  his  presence. 

But,  soon,  recovering  from  his  stupor,  he  Interrupted  me  by 
striking  his  fist  again  on  the  table,  and  saying  in  anger: 

"You  are  half  a  Protestant!  Your  words  smell  Protestant- 
ism! The  Gospel!  the  Gospel!!  that  is  your  great  tower  of 
strength  against  the  laws  and  regulations  of  our  holy  church! 
If  you  think,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  that  you  will  frighten  me  with  your 
big  words  of  the  Gospel,  you  will  soon  see  your  mistake,  at  your 
own  expense.  I  will  make  you  remember  that  it  is  the  Church 
you  must  obey,  and  it  is  through  your  bishop  that  the  church 
rules  you!" 

"My  lord,"  I  answered,  "I  want  to  obey  the  church.     YesL 


PUBLIC    ACTS    OF    SIMONY.  ()2^ 

but  it  is  a  church  founded  on  the  Gospel ;  a  church  that  respects 
and  follows  the  Gospel,  that  I  want  to  obey!" 

These  words  threw  him  into  a  fit  of  rage,  and  he  answered: 
"  I  am  too  busy  to  hear  your  Impertinent  babblings  any  longer. 
Please  let  me  alone,  and  remember  that  you  will,  soon,  hear  from 
me  again,  if  you  cannot  teach  your  people  to  respect  and  obey 
their  superiors! " 

The  bishop  kept  his  promise.  I  heard  of  him  very  soon  after, 
when  his  agent,  Peter  Spink,  dragged  me,  again,  a  prisoner,  be- 
fore the  Criminal  Court  of  Kankakee,  accusing  me  falsely  of 
crimes  which  his  malice  alone  could  have  invented. 

My  lord  O'Regan  had  determined  to  interdict  me;  but  not 
being  able  to  find  any  cause  in  my  private  or  public  life  as  a 
priest,  to  found  such  a  sentence,  he  had  pressed  that  land  specu- 
lator, Spink,  to  prosecute  me  again;  promising  to  base  his  inter- 
dict on  the  condemnation  which,  he  had  been  told,  would  be 
passed  against  me  by  the  Criminal  Court  of  Kankakee. 

But  the  bishop  and  Peter  Spink  were  again  to  be  disappoint- 
ed;  for  the  verdict  of  the  court,  given  on  the  13th  of  November, 
18=^5,  was  again  in  my  favor. 

My  heart  filled  with  joy  at  this  new  and  great  victory  my  God 
had  given  me  against  my  merciless  persecutors.  I  was  blessing 
him,  when  my  two  lawyers,  Messrs.  Osgood  and  Padcock,  came 
to  me  and  said:  "Our  victory,  though  great,  is  not  so  decisive 
as  was  expected;  for  Mr,  Spink  has  just  taken  an  oath  that  he 
has  no  confidence  in  this  Kankakee  Court,  and  he  has  appealed, 
by  a  change  of  venue,  to  the  Court  of  Urbana,  in  Champaign 
County.  We  are  sorry  to  have  to  tell  you  that  you  must  remain 
a  prisoner,  under  bail,  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  who  is  bound  to 
deliver  you  to  the  sheriff  of  Urbana,  the  19th  of  May,  next  spring." 

I  nearly  fainted  when  I  heard  this.  The  ignominy  of  being 
again  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  for  so  long  a  time;  the  enor- 
mous expenses,  far  beyond  my  means,  to  bring  my  fifteen  to 
twenty  witnesses  such  a  long  distance  of  nearly  one  hundred 
miles;  the  new  ocean  of  insults,  false  accusations  and  perjuries, 
with  which  my  enemies  were  to  overwhelm  me  again;  and  the 
new  risk  of  being  condemned,  though   innocent,  at   that  distant 


624  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

court;  all  those  things  crowded  themselves  in  my  mind,  to  crush 
me.  For  a  few  minutes,  I  was  obliged  to  sit  down;  for  I  would 
have,  surely,  fallen  down,  had  I  continued  to  stand  on  my  feet. 
A  kind  friend  had  to  bring  me  some  cold  water,  and  bathe  my 
forehead,  to  prevent  me  from  fainting.  It  seemed  fhat  God  had 
forsaken  me,  for  the  time  being,  and  that  He  was  to  let  me  fall 
powerless  into  the  hand  of  my  foes.  But  I  was  mistaken.  That 
merciful  God  was  near  me,  in  that  dark  hour,  to  give  me  one  of 
the  marvellous  proofs  of  his  paternal  and  loving  care. 

The  very  moment  I  was  leaving  the  court  with  a  heavy 
heart,  a  gentleman,  a  stranger,  came  to  me  and  said :  "  I  have 
followed  your  suit  from  the  beginning.  It  is  more  formidable 
than  you  suspect.  Your  prosecutor,  Spink,  is  only  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  the  bishop.  The  real  prosecutor  is  the  land  shark 
who  is  at  the  head  of  the  diocese,  and  who  is  destroying  our  holy 
religion  by  his  private  and  public  scandals.  As  you  are  the  only 
one  among  his  priests  who  dares  to  resist  him,  he  is  determined 
to  get  rid  of  you:  he  will  spend  all  his  treasures,  and  use  the  al- 
most irresistible  influence  of  his  position  to  crush  you.  The  mis- 
fortune for  you  is  that,  when  you  fight  a  bishop,  you  fight  all  the 
bishops  of  the  world.  They  will  unite  all  their  wealth  and  in- 
fluence to  Bishop  O'Regan's,  to  silence  you,  though  they  hate 
and  despise  him.  There  was  no  danger  of  any  verdict  against 
you,  in  this  part  of  Illinois,  where  you  are  too  well  known  for 
the  perjured  witnesses  they  have  brought  to  influence  your 
judges.  But,  when  you  are  among  strangers,  mind  what  I  tell 
you :  the  false  oaths  of  your  enemies  my  be  accepted  as  gospel 
truths  by  the  jury,  and  then,  though  innocent,  you  are  lost. 
Though  your  two  lawyers  are  expert  rnen,  you  will  want  some- 
thing better,  at  Urbana.  Try  to  secure  the  services  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  at  Springfield.  If  that  man  defends  you,  you  will 
surely  come  out  victorious  from  the  deadly  conflict!" 

I  answeied:  "1  am  mucn  obhgea  to  you  for  your  sympa- 
thetic words;  but  would  you  please  allow  me  to  ask  your  name?  " 

"Be  kind  enough  to  let  me  keep  my  incognito  here,"  he  an- 
swered. "  The  only  thing  I  can  say  is,  that  I  am  a  Catholic 
like  you,   and   one   who,   like   you,  cannot  bear  any  longer  the 


PUBLIC    ACTS    OF    SIMONY.  625 

tyranny  of  our  American  bishops.  With  many  others,  I  look  to 
von  as  our  deliverer,  and  for  that  reason  I  advise  you  to  engage 
the  services  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

"But,"  I  replied,  "who  is  that  Abraham  Lincoln?  1  never 
heard  of  that  man  before." 

He  replied:  "Abraham  Lincoln  is  the  best  lawyer  and  the 
tnost  honest  man  we  have  in  Illinois." 

I  Avent,  immediately,  with  that  stranger,  to  my  two  lawyers, 
who  were  in  consultation  only  a  few  steps  from  us,  and  asked 
them  if  they  would  have  any  objections  that  I  should  ask  t he- 
services  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  help  them  to  defend  me  at 
Urban  a. 

They  both  answereil .  "Oh!  If  \ou  can  secure  the  services 
of  Abraham  Lincoln;  by  all  means  do  it.  We  know  him  well; 
he  is  one  of  the  best  lawyers,  and  one  of  the  most  honest  men 
we  have  in  our  State." 

Without  losing  a  minute,  I  went  to  the  telegraph  office  with 
tlia!  sti'anger,  and  telegraphed  to  Abraham  Lincoln  to  ask  him 
if  lie  would  defend  my  honor  and  my  life  (though  I  was  a 
stranger  to  him  )  at  the  next  May  term  of  the  court  at  Urbana. 

About  twentv  minutes  later,  I  received  the  answer: 

"  Yes,  I  will  defend  your  honor  and  jour  life  at  the  next  May  term  at 
Urbana.  Abraham  Lincoln." 

My  imknown  friend  then  paid  the  operator,  pressed  my  hand, 
and  said :  "  May  God  bless  and  help  you.  Father  Chiniquy. 
Continue  to  fight  fearlessly  for  truth  and  righteousness,  against 
our  miti-ed  tyrant;  and  God  will  help  you  to  the  end."  He 
then  took  a  train  for  the  north,  and  soon  disapeared,  as  a  vision 
from  heaven.  I  have  not  seen  him  since,  though  I  have  not  let 
A  day  pass  without  asking  my  God  to  bless  him.  A  few  minutes 
later,  Spink  came  to  the  office,  to  telegraph  to  Lincoln,  asking 
his  services  at  the  next  May  term  of  the  Court,  at  L^rbana.  But 
it  was  too  late. 

Before  being  dragged  to  Urbana,  I  had  to  renew,  at  Easter, 
1856,  the  oil  which  is  used  for  the  sick,  in  the  ceremony  which 
the  Church  of  Rome  calls  the  sacrament  of  Extreme  Unction, 
and  in  the  Baptism  of  Children.     I  sent  my  little  silver  box  to 


626  FIFTY    YKARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  bishop  by  a  respectable  young  merchant  of  my  colony,  called 
Dorion.  But  he  brought  it  back  without  a  drop  of  oil,  with  a 
most  abusive  letter  from  the  bishop,  because  I  had  not  sent  five 
dollars  to  pay  for  the  oil.  It  was  just  what  I  expected.  I  knew 
that  it  was  his  habit  to  make  his  priests  pay  five  dollars  for  that 
oil,  which  was  not  worth  more  than  two  or  three  cents. 

This  act  of  my  bishop  was  one  of  the  many  evident  cases  of 
simony  of  which  he  was  guilty  every  day.  I  took  his  letter, 
with  my  small  silver  box  to  the  Archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  my 
Lord  Kenrick,  before  whom  I  brought  my  complaints  against 
the  Bishop  of  Chicago,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1856.  That  high 
dignitary  told  me  that  many  priests  of  the  diocese  of  Chicago  had', 
already  brought  the  same  complaints  before  him,  and  exposed 
the  infamous  conduct  of  their  bishop.  He  agreed  with  me  that 
the  rapacity  of  Bishop  O'Regan,  his  thefts,  his  lies,  his  acts  of 
simony,  were  public  and  intolerable,  but  that  he  had  no  remedy 
for  them,  and  said:  "The  only  thing  I  advise  you  to  do  is  to- 
w^rite  to  the  pope  directly.  Prove  your  charges  against  that 
guilty  bishop  as  clearly  as  possible.  I  will  myself  write  to  cor- 
roborate all  you  have  told  me,  for  I  know  it  is  true.  My  hope 
is  that  your  complaints  will  attract  the  attention  of  the  pope.. 
He  will  probably  send  some  one  from  Rome  to  make  an  inquiry,, 
and  then  that  wicked  man  will  be  forced  to  offer  his  resignation.. 
If  you  succeed,  as  I  hope,  in  your  praiseworthy  efforts  to  put  an 
end  to  such  scandals,  you  will  have  well  deserved  the  gratitude 
of  the  whole  church.  For  that  unprincipled  dignitary  is  the 
cause  that  our  holy  religion  is  not  only  losing  her  prestige  in 
the  United  States,  but  is  becoming  an  object  of  contempt  where- 
ever  those  public  crimes  are  known." 

I  was,  however,  forced  to  postpone  my  writing  to  the  pope. 
For,  a  few  days  after  my  return  from  St.  Louis  to  my  colony,  IJ 
had  to  deliver  myself  again  into  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  of 
Kankakee  county,  who  was  obliged  by  Spink  to  take  me 
prisoner,  and  deliver  me  as  a  criminal  in  to  the  hands  of  the 
sheriff  of  Champaign  county,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1856. 

It  was  then  that  I  met  Abraham  Lincoln  for  the  first 
time.     He  was  a  giant  in  stature;  but  I  found   him  still    more  a. 


^rii 


PUBLIC    ACTS    OF    SIMON"  V.  OJ7 

giant  in  the  noble  qualities  of  his  mind  and  heart.  It  was  im- 
possible to  converse  five  minutes  with  him  without  loving  him. 
There  was  such  an  expression  of  kindness  and  honesty  in  that 
face,  and  such  an  attractive  magnetism  in  the  man;  that,  after  a 
few  moments'  conversation,  one  felt  as  tied  to  him  by  all  the 
noblest  affections  of  the  heart. 

When  pressing  my  hand,  he  told  me:  "  You  were  mistaken 
when  you  telegraphed  that  you  were  unknown  to  me.  I  know 
you,  by  reputation,  as  the  stern  opponent  of  tyranny  of  your 
bishop,  and  the  fearless  protector  of  your  countrymen  in  Illinois. 
I  have  heard  much  of  you  from  two  priests;  and,  last  night, 
your  lawyers,  Messrs.  Osgood  &  Paddock,  acquainted  me  with 
the  fact  that  your  bishop  employs  some  of  his  tools  to  get  rid  of 
you.  I  hope  it  will  be  an  easy  thing  to  defeat  his  projects  and 
protect  you  against  his  machinations." 

He  then  asked  me  how  I  had  been  induced  to  desire  hi^ 
services.  I  answered  by  giving  him  the  story  of  that  unknow  u 
friend  who  had  advised  me  to  have  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln  fur 
one  of  my  lawyers,  for  the  reason  that  "  he  was  the  best  lawyer 
and  the  most  honest  man  in  Illinois."  He  smiled  at  my  answer, 
with  that  inimitable  and  unique  smile,  which  we  may  call  the 
"  Lincoln  smile,"  and  replied:  "That  unknown  friend  would 
surely  have  been  more  correct  had  he  told  you  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  the  ugliest  lawyer  of  the  country  I  "  And  he  laughed 
outright. 

1  spent  six  long  days  at  Urbana  as  a  criminal,  in  the  hands  of 
the  sheriff,  at  the  feet  of  my  judges.  During  the  greatest  part 
of  that  time,  all  that  human  language  can  express  of  abuse  and 
insult  was  heaped  on  my  poor  head.  God  only  knows  what  I 
suffered  in  those  days;  but  I  was  providentially  surrounded,  as 
by  a  strong  wall,  when  I  had  Abraham  Lincoln  for  my  defence. 
"  The  best  lawyer  and  the  most  honest  man  of  Illinois," 
and  the  learned  and  upright  David  Davis  for  my  judge. 
The  latter  became  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  in 
1882,  and  the  former  its  most  honored  President  from  1861  to 
1865. 

I  never  heard  anything  like  the  eloquence  of  Abraham  Lin- 


628  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

coin,  when  he  demolished  the  testimonies  of  the  two  perjured 
priests,  Lebel  and  Carthevel,  who,  with  ten  or  twelve  other 
false  w^itnesses,  had  sworn  against  me.  I  would  have  surely 
been  declared  innocent,  after  that  eloquent  address,  and  the 
charge  of  the  learned  Judge  Davis,  had  not  my  lawyers,  by  a 
sad  blunder,  left  a  Roman  Catholic  on  the  jury.  Of  course, 
that  Irish  Roman  Catholic  wanted  to  condemn  me,  while  the 
eleven  honest  and  intelligent  Protestants  were  unanimous  in 
voting  "  Not  guilty." ,  The  court,  having  at  last  found  that  it 
was  impossible  to  persuade  the  jury  to  give  a  unanimous  verdict, 
discharged  them.  But  Spink  again  forced  the  sheiuff  to  keep 
me  prisoner,  by  obtaining  from  the  court  the  permission  to  begin 
the  prosecution  de  novo  at  the  term  of  the  fall,  the  19th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1856. 

Humanly  speaking,  I  would  have  been  one  of  the  most 
miserable  of  men  had  I  not  had  my  dear  Bible,  w"hich  I  was 
meditating  and  studying  day  and  night,  in  those  dark  days  of 
trial. 

But,  though  I  was  then  still  in  the  desolate  wilderness,  far 
away  yet  from  the  Promised  Land,  my  Heavenly  Father  never 
forsook  me.  He  many  times  let  the  sweet  manna  fall  from 
heaven  to  feed  my  desponding  soul,  and  cheer  my  fainting  heart. 
More  than  once,  when  I  was  panting  with  spiritual  thirst.  He 
brought  me  near  the  Rock,  from  the  side  of  which  the  living 
waters  were  gushing  to  refresh  and  renew  my  strength  and 
courage. 

Though  the  world  did  not  suspect  it,  I  knew  from  the  be- 
ginning, that  all  my  tribulations  were  coming  from  my  uncon- 
querable attachment  and  my  unfaltering  love  and  respect  for 
the  Bible,  as  the  root  and  souice  of  every  truth  given  by  God  to 
man ;  and  I  felt  assured  that  my  God  knew  it  also.  That  assur- 
ance supported  my  courage  in  the  conflict.  Every  day,  my 
Bible  was  becoming  dearer  to  me.  I  was  then  constantly  trying 
to  walk  in  its  marvellous  light  and  divine  teaching.  I  wanted 
to  learn  my  duties  and  rights.  I  like  to  acknowledge  that  it 
was  the  Bible  which  gave  me  the  power  and  wisdom  I  then  so 
much  needed,  to  fearlessly  face  so  many  foes.      That  power  and 


PUBLIC    ACTS    OF    SIMON  V.  629 

wisdom  I  felt  were  not  mine.  On  this  very  account,  m^•  dear 
Bible  enabled  me  to  remain  calm  in  the  very  lion's  den;  and  it 
gave  me,  from  the  very  beginning  of  that  terrible  conflict,  the 
assurance  of  a  final  victory ;  for  every  time  I  bathed  my  soul  in 
its  divine  light,  I  heard  my  merciful  heavenly  Father's  voice 
saying,  "  Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee." 


Chapter   LVII. 

BISHOP  O'REQAN  SELLS  THE  PABSONAGB  OF  THE  FRENCH 
CANADIANS  OF  CHICAGO,  POCKETS  THE  MONEY,  AND 
TURNS  THEM  OUT  WHEN  THEY  COME  TO  COMPLAIN-HE 
DETERMINES  TO  TURN  ME  OUT  OF  MY  COLONY  AND  SEND 
ME  TO  KAHOKIA— HE  FORGETS  IT  THE  NEXT  DAY,  AND 
PUBLISHES  THAT  HE  HAS  INTERDICTED  ME-MY  PEOx>LE 
SEND  A  DEPUTATION  TO  THE  BISHOP- HIS  ANSWERS- THE 
SHAM  EXCOMMRNICATION  BY  THREE  DRUNKEN  PRIESTS. 

THE  Holy  Scriptures  say  that  an  abyss  calls  for  another  abyss 
{^abyssus  abyssum  invocat).  That  axiom  had  it  accom- 
plishment in  the  conduct  of  Bishop  O'Regan.  When  once  on 
the  declivity  of  iniquity,  he  descended  to  its  lowest  depths,  with 
more  rapidity  than  a  stone  thrown  into  the  sea.  Not  satisfied 
with  the  shameful  theft  of  the  rich  vestments  of  the  Frencli 
Canadian  Church  of  Chicago,  he  planned  iniquity,  which  was  tc 
bring  upon  him,  more  than  ever,  the  execration  of  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Illinois.  It  was  nothing  less  than  the  complete  de- 
struction  of  the  thriving  congregations  of  my  French  Canadian 
countrymen  of  Chicago  and  St.  Anne.  The  removal  of  the 
French-speaking  priest  of  Chicago  from  his  people,  as  well  as 
my  removal  from  my  colony,  were  determined. 

Our  churches  w^ere,  at  first,  to  be  closed,  and  after  some  time 
sold  to  the  Irish  people,  or  to  the  highest  bidder,  for  their  ow^n 
use.     It  was  in  Chicago  that  this  great  iniquity  was  to  begin. 

Not  long  after  Easter,  1856,  the  Rev.  Mons.  Lemaire  was 
turned  out,  interdicted  and  ignominiously  driven  from  the  diocese 
of  Chicago  without  even  giving  the  shadow  of  a  reason,  and 
the  French  Canadians  suddenly  found  themselves  without  a 
pastor. 

A  few   days   after,  the  parsonage  they   had  built   for   their 

630 


BISHOP    o'rEGAN.  631 

priest  in  Clark  street,  was  sold  for  $1,200  to  an  American.  The 
beautiful  little  church  which  they  had  built  on  the  lot  next 
to  the  parsonage,  at  the  cost  of  so  many  sacrifices,  was  removed 
five  or  six  blocks  southwest,  and  rented  by  the  bishop  to  the 
Irish  Catholics  for  about  $2,000  per  annum,  and  the  whole  mone\ 
was  pocketed,  without  even  a  word  of  notice  to  my  country- 
men. 

Though  accustomed  to  his  acts  of  perfidy,  I  could  not  believe 
at  first  the  rumors  which  reached  me  of  those  transactions. 
They  seemed  to  be  beyond  the  limits  of  infamy,  and  to  be  im- 
possible. I  went  to  Chicago,  hoping  to  find  that  the  public 
rumor  had  exaggerated  the  evil.  But  alas!  nothing  had  been 
exaggerated! 

The  wolf  had  dispersed  the  sheep  and  destroyed  the  flock. 
The  once  thriving  French  congregation  of  Chicago  was  no 
more!  Wherever  I  went,  I  saw  tears  of  distress  among  my 
dear  countrymen,  and  heard  cries  of  indignation  against  the 
destroyer.  Young  and  old,  rich  and  poor  among  them,  with  one 
voice,  denounced  and  cursed  the  heartless  mitred  brigand  who 
had  dared  to  commit  publicly  such  a  series  of  iniquities,  to  satisfy 
his  thirst  for  gold  and  his  hatred  of  the  French  Canadians. 

They  asked  me  what  they  should  do;  but  what  could  I 
answer.''  They  requested  me  to  go  again  to  him  and  remonstrate. 
But  I  showed  them  that  after  my  complete  failure,  when  I  had 
tried  to  get  back  the  sacerdotal  vestments,  there  was  no  hope 
that  he  would  disgorge  the  house  and  the  church.  The  only 
thing  I  could  advise  them  was  to  select  five  or  six  of  the  most 
influential  members  of  their  congregation  to  go  and  respectfully 
;isk  him  by  what  right  he  had  taken  away,  not  only  their  priest, 
but  the  parsonage  and  the  church  they  had  built  and  transferred 
them  to  another  people.  They  followed  my  advice.  Messrs. 
Franchere  and  Roffinot  (who  are  still  living)  and  six  other  re- 
spectable French  Canadians  were  sent  by  the  whole  people  to 
put  those  questions  to  their  bishop.     He  answered  them : 

"French  Canadians:  You  do  not  know  your  religion! 
Were  you  a  little  better  acquainted  with  it,  you  would  know  that 
I   have  the  right  to  sell  your  churches  and   church   properties, 


632  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

pocket   the   money,   and    go  eat   and   drink   it  where   I  please." 

After  that  answer  tney  were  ignominiously  turned  out  from 
his  presence  into  the  street.  Posterity  will  scarcely  helieve  those 
things,  though  they  are  true. 

The  very  next  day,  August  19th,  1S56,  the  bishop  having 
heard  that  I  was  in  Chicago,  sent  for  me.  I  met  him  after  his 
dinner.  Though  not  absolutely  drunk,  I  found  him  full  of  wine 
and  terribly  excited. 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  he  said,  "  you  had  promised  me  to  make 
use  of  your  influence  to  jDut  an  end  to  the  rebellious  conduct  of 
your  countrymen  against  me.  But  I  find  that  they  are  more  in- 
solent and  unmanageable  than  ever;  and  my  firm  belief  is  that  it 
is  your  fault.  Vou,  and  the  handful  of  French  Canadians  of 
Chicago,  giye  me  more  trouble  than  all  of  my  priests  and  un- 
people of  Illinois.  Vou  are  too  near  Chicago,  sir;  your  influ- 
ence is  too  much  felt  on  )our  people  here.  I  must  remove  you  to  a 
distant  place,  where  you  will  have  enough  to  do  without  meddl- 
ing in  my  administration.  I  want  }'^ur  service  to  Kahokia,  in 
my  diocese  of  Quincv ;  and  if  you  are  not  there  by  the  15th  of 
September  next,  I  will  interdict  and  excommunicate  you,  and  for- 
ever put  an  end  to  your  intrigues." 

These  words  fell  upon  me  as  a  thunderbolt.  The  tyranny  of 
the  bishop  of  my  church-  and  the  absolute  degradation  of  the 
priest  whose  honor,  position  and  life  are  entirely  in  his  hands, 
had  never  been  revealed  to  me  so  vividly  as  in  that  hour.  What 
could  I  say  or  do  to  appease  that  mitred  despot?  After  some 
moments  of  silence,  I  tried  to  make  some  respectful  reuKjns- 
trances,  by  telling  him  that  my  position  was  an  exceptional  one ; 
that  I  had  not  come  to  Illinois  as  his  other  priests,  to  be  at  the 
head  of  any  existing  congregation;  but  that  I  had  been  invited 
by  his  jDredecessor  to  direct  the  tide  of  emigration  of  the  French- 
speaking  people  of  Europe  and  America.  That  I  had  come 
to  a  wilderness  which,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  I  had  changed 
into  a  thriving  country,  covered  with  an  industrious  and  religious 
people.  I  further  told  him  that  I  had  left  the  the  most  honor- 
able position  which  a  priest  had  ever  held  in  Canada,  with 
the  promise  from   his  predecessor  that,  as  long  as  I  lived  the  life 


BISHOP  o'rega^;.  633 

of  a  good  priest,  I  should  not  be  disturbed  in  my  work.  As  I 
soon  perceived  that  he  was  too  much  under  the  influence  of 
liquor  to  understand  me,  and  speak  with  intelligence,  I  only 
added : 

"My  lord,  you  speak  of  interdict  and  excommunication! 
Allow  me  to  respectfully  tell  you  that  if  you  can  show  me  that 
I  have  done  anything  to  deserve  to  he  interdicted  or  excom- 
municated, I  will  submit  in  silence  to  your  sentence.  But  before 
you  pass  that  sentence,  I  ask  you,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  make  a 
public  inquest  about  mc,  and  have  my  accusers  confront  me.  I 
warn  your  lordship  that  if  ^ou  interdict  or  excommunicate  me 
without  holding  an  inquest,  I  will  make  use  of  all  the  means 
which  our  holy  church  puts  in  the  hands  of  her  priests,  to  defend 
my  honor  and  prove  my  innocence.  I  will  also  appeal  to  the 
laws  of  our  great  Republic,  which  protects  the  character  of  all 
her  citizens  against  anyone  who  slanders  them.  It  will  then  be 
at  your  risk  and  peril  that  you  will  pass  such  a  sentence  against  me." 

My  calm  answer  greatly  excited  his  rage.  He  violently 
struck  the  table  with  his  fist,  ami  said: 

"  I  do  not  care  a  straw  about  your  threats.  1  repeat  it,  Mr. 
Chiniquy,  if  you  are  not  at  Kahokia  by  the  15th  of  next  month, 
I  will  interdict  and  excommunicate  }  ou." 

Feeling  that  it  was  a  folly  on  my  part  to  argue  with  a  man 
who  was  beside  himself  by  passion  and  excess  of  wine,  I  replied: 

"  With  the  help  of  God,  I  will  never  bear  the  infamy  of  an 
interdict  or  excommunication.  1  will  do  all  that  religion  and 
honor  will  allow  me  to  prevent  such  a  dark  spot  from  defiling 
my  name,  and  the  man  who  does  try  it,  will  learn  at  his  own  ex- 
pense that  I  am  not  only  a  priest  of  Christ  but  also  an  American 
citizen.  I  respectfully  tell  your  lordship  that  I  neither  smoke, 
nor  use  intoxicating  drinks.  The  time  which  your  other  priests 
give  to  those  habits,  I  spend  in  the  study  of  books,  and  especially 
of  my  Bible.  1  found  in  them  not  only  my  duties  but  my  rights; 
and  just  as  I  am  determined,  with  the  help  of  God,  to  perform 
my  duties,  I  will  stand  by  my  rights." 

I  then  immediately  left  the  room  to  take  the  train  to  St. 
Aane, 


634  FIFTY    VEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Having  spent  a  part  of  the  night  pra;ying  God  to  change  the 
•heart  of  my  bishop,  and  keep  me  in  the  midst  of  my  people, 
who  were  becoming  dearer  and  dearer  to  me,  in  proportion  to 
the  efforts  of  the  enemy  to  drive  me  away  from  them,  I  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  the  bishop: 

To  THE  R.T.  Rev.  O'Regan,  Bishop  of  Chicago. 

My  Ljrd: — The  more  I  consider  jour  design  to  turn  me  out  of  the 
colony  which  I  have  founded  and  of  which  I  am  the  pastor,  the  more  I  be- 
lieve it  a  duty  which  I  owe  to  myself,  my  friends  and  to  my  countrymen,  to 
protest  before  God  and  man  against  what  you  intend  to  do. 

Not  a  single  one  of  your  priests  stands  higher  than  I  do  in  the  public 
mind,  neither  is  more  loved  and  respected  by  his  people  than  I  am.  I  defy 
my  bitterest  enemies  to  prove  the  contrary.  And  that  character  which  is 
my  most  precious  treasure  you  intend  to  despoil  me  of  by  ignominiously 
sending  me  away  from  among  my  people!  Certainly,  I  have  enemies,  and 
I  am  proud  of  it.  The  chief  ones  are  well  known  in  this  country  as  the 
most  depraved  of  men .  The  cordial  reception  they  say  they  have  received 
from  you,  has  not  taken  away  the  stains  they  have  on  their  foreheads. 

By  this  letter,  I  again  request  you  to  make  a  public  and  most  minute 
inquest  into  my  conduct.  My  conscience  tells  me  that  nothing  can  be  found 
against  me.  Such  a  public  and  fair  dealing  with  me  would  confound  my 
accusers.  But  I  speak  of  accusers,  when  I  do  not  really  know  if  I  have 
any.  Where  are  they?  What  are  their  names .f*  Of  what  sin  do  they 
accuse  me.''  All  these  questions,  which  I  put  to  you  last  Tuesday,  were  left 
unanswered!  and  would  to  God  that  you  would  answer  them  to-day,  by  giv- 
ing me  their  names.  I  am  ready  to  meet  them  before  any  tribunal.  Before 
jrou  strike  the  last  blow  on  the  victim  of  the  most  hellish  plot,  I  request 
you,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  give  a  moment's  attention  to  the  following  con 
sequences  of  my  removal  from  this  place  at  present. 

You  know  I  have  a  suit  with  Mr.  Spink  at  the  Urbana  Court,  for  the 
beginning  of  October.  My  lawyers  and  witnesses  are  all  in  Kankakee  and 
Iroquois  counties;  and  in  the  very  time  I  want  most  to  be  here  to  prove 
my  innocence  and  guard  my  honor,  you  order  me  to  go  to  a  place  more 
than  300  miles  distant?  Did  you  ever  realize  that  by  that  strange  conduct 
you  help  Spink  against  your  own  priest.''  When  at  Kahokia,  I  will  have 
to  bear  the  heavy  expenses  of  traveling  more  than  300  miles,  many  times, 
to  consult  my  friends,  or,  be  deprived  of  their  valuable  help!  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  you  thus  try  to  tie  my  hands  and  feet,  and  deliver  me  into  the 
hands  of  my  remorseless  enemies.^  Since  the  beginning  of  that  suit,  Mr. 
Spink  proclaims  that  you  help  him,  and  that,  with  the  perjured  priests,  you 
have  promised  to  do  all  in  your  power  to  crush  me  down !  For  the  sake  of 
'he  sacred  character  you  bear,  do  not  show  so  publicly  that  Mr.  Spink's 
tioastings  are  true.  For  the  sake  of  your  high  position  in  the  church,  do  not  so 


BISHOP    o'rEGAN.  635 

publicly  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  heartless  land  speculator  of  L'Erable. 
He  has  already  betrayed  his  Protestant  friends  to  get  a  wife;  he  will,  ere 
•ong,  betray  vou  for  less.  Let  me  then  live  in  peace  here,  till  that  suit  is 
over. 

By  turning  me  away  from  my  settlement,  you  desti-oy  it.  More  than 
nine-tentlis  of  the  emigrants  came  here  to  live  near  me;  by  striking  me  you 
strike  them  all. 

Where  will  you  find  a  priest  who  will  love  that  people  so  much  as  to 
give  them,  every  year,  from  one  to  two  thousand  dollars,  as  I  have  invari- 
ably done.  It  is  at  the  price  of  those  sacrifices  that,  with  the  poorest  class 
of  emigrants  from  Canada,  I  have  founded  here  in  four  years  a  settlement 
which  cannot  be  surpassed,  or  even  equaled,  in  the  United  States,  for  its 
progress.  And  now  that  I  have  spent  my  last  cent  to  form  this  colony,  you 
turn  me  out  of  it.  Our  college,  where  150  boys  are  receiving  such  a  good 
education,  will  be  closed  the  very  day  I  leave.  For,  you  know  very  well 
the  teachers  I  got  from  Montreal  will  leave  as  soon  as  I  will. 

Ah!  if  you  are  merciless  towards  the  priest  of  St.  Anne,  have  pity  on 
these  jK)or  children.  I  would  rather  be  condemned  to  death  than  to  see 
them  destroy  their  intelligence  by  running  in  the  streets.  Let  me  then 
finish  my  work  here,  and  give  me  time  to  ctrengthen  these  young  institu- 
tions, which  would  fall  to  the  ground  with  me. 

If  you  turn  me  out  or  interdict  me,  as  you  say  you  will  do,  if  I  dis- 
obey your  orders,  my  enemies  will  proclaim  that  you  treat  me  with  that 
rigor  because  you  have  found  me  guilty  of  some  great  iniquity,  and  this 
necessarily  will  prejudice  my  judges  against  me.  They  will  consider  me  as 
a  vile  criminal.  For  who  will  suppose,  in  this  free  country,  that  there  is  a 
class  of  men  who  can  judge  a  man  and  condemn  him  as  our  Bishop  of 
Chicago  is  doing  to-day,  without  giving  him  the  names  of  his  accusers  or 
telling  him  of  what  crimes  he  is  accused. 

In  the  name  of  God,  I  again  ask  you  not  to  force  me  to  leave  mr 
colony  before  I  prove  my  innocence,  and  the  iniquity  of  Spink,  to  the  honest 
people  of  Urbana. 

But,  if  you  are  deaf  to  my  prayers,  and  if  nothing  can  deter  vou  from 
your  resolution,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  in  the  unenviable  position  of  an  inter- 
dicted priest  among  my  countrymen.  Send  me,  by  return  mail,  my  letters 
of  mission  for  the  new  places  you  intend  trusting  to  my  care.  The  sooner 
I  get  there,  the  better  for  me  and  my  people.  1  am  ready!  When  on  the 
road  of  &xi\e,  I  will  pray  the  God  of  Abraham  to  give  me  the  fortitude  and 
the  faith  he  gave  to  Isaac,  when  laying  his  head  on  the  altar,  he  willingly 
presented  his  throat  to  the  sword.  I  will  pray  my  Saviour,  bearing  His 
heavy  cross  to  the  top  of  Calvary,  to  direct  and  help  my  steps  towards  the 
kuid  of  exile  you  have  prepared  for  your 

Devoted  Priest, 

C.  CHINIQUY. 


636  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

This  letter  was  not  yet  mailed  when  we  heard  that  the  drun- 
kard priests  around  us  were  publishing  that  the  bishop  had  inter- 
dicted me,  and  they  had  received  orders  from  him  to  take  charge 
of  the  colony  of  St.  Anne.  I  immediately  called  a  meeting  of 
the  whole  people  and  told  them:  "  The  bishop  has  not  interdict- 
ed me  as  the  neighboring  priests  publish ;  he  has  only  threatened 
to  do  so,  if  1  do  not  leave  this  place  for  Kahokia,  b}'  the  15th  of 
next  month.  But  though  he  has  not  interdicted  me,  it  may  be 
that  he  does  to-day  falsely  publish  that  he  has  done  it.  We 
can  expect  anything  from  the  destroyer  of  the  fine  congrega- 
tion of  the  French  Canadians  of  Chicago.  He  wants  to  destrov 
me  and  3'ou  as  he  has  destroyed  them.  But  before  he  immo- 
lates us,  I  hope  that,  with  the  help  of  God,  we  will  fight  as 
Christian  soldiers,  for  our  life,  and  we  will  use  all  the  means 
which  the  laws  of  our  church,  the  Holy  Word  of  God,  and  the 
glorious  Constitution  of  the  United  States  allow  us  to  employ 
against  our  merciless  tyrant. 

"  I  ask  you,  as  a  favor,  to  send  a  deputation  of  four  members 
of  our  colony  in  whom  you  place  the  most  implicit  confidence, 
to  carry  this  letter  to  the  bishop.  But  before  delivering  it,  the}- 
will  put  to  him  the  following  questions,  the  answers  of  which, 
they  will  write  down  with  great  care  in  his  presence,  and  deliver 
them  to  us  faithfully.  It  is  evident  that  we  are  now  entering 
into  a  momentous  struggle.  We  must  act  with  prudence  and 
firmness.  Messrs.  J.  B.  Lemoine,  Leon  Mailloux,  Francis 
Bechard  and  B.  Allaire,  having  been  unanimously  chosen  for 
that  important  mission,  we  gave  them  the  following  questions  to 
put  to  the  bishop: 

ist.     "  Have  you  interdicted  Mr.  Chiniquj? 

2nd.  "  Why  have  you  interdicted  him.'*  Is  Mr.  Chiniquy  guilty  of  any 
crime  to  deserve  to  be  interdicted.'  Have  those  crimes  been  proved  against 
him  in  a  canonical  way.' 

3rd.     "  Why  do  you  take  Mr.  Chiniquy  away  from  us.' 

[Our  deputies  came  back  from  Chicago  with  the  following  report  und 
answers,  which  they  swore  to,  some  time  after  before  the  Kankakee  court.] 

1st.  "  I  have  suspended  Mr.  Chiniquy  on  the  19th  inst.,  on  account  of 
his  stubbornness  and  want  of  submission  to  my  orders,  when  I  ordered  him 
to  Kahokia. 

and.     "  If  Mr.  Chiniquy  ha&  said  mass  since  as  you  say,  he  is  irregulac 


BISHOP    o'rEGAN.  637 

and   the  pope  alone  can   restore  him   in   his  ecclesiastical  and  sacerdotal 
functions. 

3rd.  '•  I  take  him  away  from  St.  Anne,  despite  his  prayers  and  yours, 
because  he  has  not  been  willing  to  live  in  peace  and  friendship  with  the 
Revs.  Messrs.  Lebel  and  Cartevel. 

[The  bishop,  being  asked  if  those  two  priests  had  not  been  interdicted 
by  him  for  public  scandals,  was  forced  to  say,  "  Yes!  "] 

4th.  "My  second  reason  for  taking  Mr.  Chiniquy  from  St.  Anne,  and 
sending  him  to  his  new  mission,  is  to  stop  the  law-suit  Mr.  Spink  has  insti- 
tuted against  him. 

[The  bishop  being  asked  if  he  would  promise  that  the  suit  would  be 
stopped  by  the  removal  of  Mr.  Chiniquy,  answered :  "  1  cannot  promise 
that."] 

5th.  "  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  one  of  the  best  priests  in  my  diocese,  and  I  do 
not  want  to  deprive  myself  of  his  services.  No  accusation  against  his 
morality  has  been  proved  before  me. 

6th.  "  Mr.  Chiniquy  has  demanded  an  inquest  to  prove  his  innocence 
against  certain  accusations  inade  against  him  ;  he  asked  me  the  names  of  his 
accusers,  to  confound  them,     I  have  refused  to  grant  his  request. 

[After  the  bishop  had  made  these  declarations,  the  deputation  presented 
him  the  letter  of  Mr.  Chiniquy.  It  evidently  made  a  deep  impression  upon 
him.     As  soon  as  he  had  read  it,  he  said:] 

7tli.  "Tell  Mr.  Chiniquy  to  come  and  meet  me  to  prepare  for  his  new 
mission,  and  I  will  give  him  the  letters  he  wants,  to  go  and  labor  there. 

FRANCIS  BECHARD, 
(Signed)  J.  B.  LEMOINE, 

BASILIQUE  ALLAIRE, 
LEON  MAILLOUX."* 

After  the  above  had  been  read  and  delivered  to  the  people,  I 
showed  them  the  evident  falsehood  and  contradictions  of  the 
bishop  when  he  said  in  his  second  answer:  "If  Mr.  Chiniquy 
said  mass  since  I  interdicted  him,  he  is  irregular,  and  the  pope 
alone  can  restore  him  in  his  ecclesiastical  functions,"  and  then  in 
the  seventh, "  Tell  Mr.  Chiniquy  to  come  and  meet  me  to  prepare 
for  his  new  mission,  and  I  will  give  him  the  letters  he  w^ants  to 
go  and  labor  there." 

The  last  sentence,  I  said,  proves  that  he  knew  he  had  not  in- 
terdicted me  as  he  said  at  first.  For,  had  he  done  so,  he  could 
not  give  me  letters  to  administer  the  sacraments  and  preach  at 
Kahok;a  before  my  going  before  the  pope,  who  alone,  as  he  said, 

♦Those  gentlemen,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Allaire,  are  still  living-,  i836 


63S  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

himself,  could  give  me  such  powers,  after  he  (the  bishop)  knew 
that  I  had  said  mass  since  my  return    from   Chicago.     Now,  my 
friends,  here  is  the  laws  of  our  holy  church,  not  the  saying  or  the 
law  of  a  publicly  degraded  man,  as  the  Bishop  of  Chicago:     '  If 
a  man  has  been  unjustly  condemned,  let  him  pay   no  attention  to 
the  unjust  sentence;  let  him  even  do  nothing  to  have  that  unjust 
sentence  removed.'    (  Canon  of  the  Churchy  by  St.  Gelase,  Pope.) 
"If  the   bishop   had    interdicted  me  on  the  19th,  his  sentence 
would  be  unjust,  for   from   his  own   lips  we  have  the  confession, 
'that  no  accusation  has  ever  been  proved  before  him;  that  I  am 
one  of  his  best  priests;  that   he  does  not  want  to  be  deprived   of 
my  services.'     Yes,  such  a  sentence,  if  passed,  would   have  been 
unjust,  and    our    business,  to-day,  would    be  to  treat    it   with    the 
contempt  it  would  deserve.     But  that  unjust  sentence  has  not  even 
been  pronounced,  since,  after  saying   mass  every   day  since  the 
i^lh,   the   bishop    himself    wants    to    give   me    letters   to   go   to 
Kahokia   and    work   as  one  of    his   best   priests!     It   strikes  me, 
to-day,   for  the    first  time,  that  it  is  more   your  destruction,  as  a 
people,  than  mine,  which  the  bishop   wants  to  accomplish.      It  is 
my    desire   to    remain  in    your  midst   to  defend    your  rights  as 
Catholics.     If  you  are  true  to  me,  as  I  will  be  to  you,  in  the  im- 
pending struggle,  we  have  nothing  to  fear;  for  our  holy  Catholic 
church  is  for  us;  all  her   laws  and  canons  are   in    our  favor;  the 
Gospel   of    Christ   is   for  us;  the    God    of   the    Gospel  is  for  us; 
even   the   pope,  to  whom  we  will   appeal,  will   be   for  us — for  I 
must  tell  you  a  thing  which,  till  to-day,  I  kept  secret,  viz. :     The 
Archbishop  of   St.  Louis,  to  whom  I  brought   my   complaint,  in 
April    last,  advised   me  to  write    to   the   pope  and    tell    him,  not 
all,  for  it  would   make  too  large  a  volume,  but  something  of   the 
criminal  deeds  of  the  roaring  lion  who  wants  to  devour  us.     He 
is,  to-day,  selling  the  bones  of  the  dead  which  are  resting  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  cemetery   of  Chicago!     But  if  you  are  true  to 
yourselves  as  Catholics  and  Americans,  that    mitred    tyrant   will 
not  sell  the  bones  of  our  friends  and  relatives  which  rest   here  in 
our  burying  ground.     He  has  sold  the  parsonage  and  the  churcli 
which  our  dear  countrymen  had  built  in  Chicago.      Those  prop- 
erties are,  to-day,  in  the  hands  of   t!ic   Iii^li;  luit   if   \ on   promi-c 


BISHOP    OltEGAX.  639 

to  Stand  by  your  rights  as  Christian  men  and  American  citizens, 
I  will  tell  that  avaricious  bishop:  '  Come  and  sell  our  parsonage 
and  our  church  here,  if  you  dare  ! ' 

"  As  I  told  you  before,  we  have  a  glorious  battle  to  fight.  It 
is  the  battle  of  freedom  against  the  most  cruel  tyranny  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  It  is  the  battle  of  truth  against  falsehood;  it  is 
the  battle  of  the  old  Gospel  of  Christ  against  the  new  gospel  of 
Bishop  O'Regan.  Let  us  be  true  to  ourselves  to  the  end,  and  our 
holy  church,  which  that  bishop  dishonors,  will  bless  us.  Our 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  whose  Gospel  is  despised  by  that  adventurer, 
will  be  for  us,  and  give  us  a  glorious  victory.  Have  you  not  read 
in  your  Bibles  that  Jesus  wanted  his  disciples  to  be  free,  when 
He  said :  '  If  the  son  of  man  shall  make  you  free,  yun  shall  be 
free  indeed.'  Does  that  mean  that  the  Son  of  God  wants  us  to 
be  the  slaves  of  Bishop  O'Regan  ?  'No !'  cried  out  the  whole  people. 

"  May  God  bless  you  for  your  understanding  of  your  Chris- 
tian rights.  Let  all  those  who  want  to  be  free,  with  me,  raise 
their  hands. 

"Oh!  blessed  be  the  Lord,"  I  said,  "  there  are  more  than 
3;,ooo  hands  raised  towards  heaven  to  say  that  you  want  to  be 
free!  Now,  let  those  who  do  not  want  to  defend  their  rights  as 
Christians  and  as  American  citizens,  raise  their  hands.  Thanks 
be  to  God,"  I  again  exclaimed,  "there  is  not  a  traitor  among  us! 
You  are  all  the  true,  brave  and  noble  soldiers  of  liberty,  truth 
and  righteousness!     May  the  Lord  bless  you  all!" 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people.  Be- 
fore dismissing  them,  I  said  : 

"  We  will,  no  doubt,  very  soon  witness  one  of  the  most  ludic- 
rous comedies  ever  played  on  this  continent.  That  comedy  is 
generally  called  excommunication.  Some  drunkard  priests,  sent 
by  the  drunkard  Bishop  of  Chicago,  will  come  to  excommunicate 
us.  I  expect  their  visit  in  a  few  days.  That  performance  will 
be  worth  seeing,  and  I  hope  that  you  will  see  and  hear  the  most 
amusing  thing  in  your  life." 

I  was  not  mistaken.  The  very  next  day,  we  heard  that  the 
3rd  of  September  had  been  chosen  by  the  bishop  to  excommuni- 
cate us. 


640  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

1  said  to  the  people:  "When  you  see  the  flag  of  the  free 
and  the  brave  floating  from  the  top  of  our  steeple,  come  and  rally 
around  that  emblem  of  liberty." 

There  were  more  than  3,000  people  on  our  beautiful  hill 
when  the  priests  made  their  appearance.  A  few  moments  be- 
fore, I  had  said  to  that  immense  gathering: 

"I  bless  God  that  you  are  so  many  to  witness  the  last  tyran- 
nical act  of  Bishop  O'Regan.  But  I  have  a  favor  to  ask  of  you, 
it  is  that  no  insult  or  opposition  whatever  will  be  made  to  the 
joriests  who  come  to  play  that  comedy.  Please  do  not  say  an 
angrv  word,  do  not  move  a  finger  against  the  performers.  The}^ 
are  not  responsible  for  what  they  do,  for  two  reasons: 

"  1st.      They  will  probably  be  drunk. 

"2nd.  They  are  bound  to  do  that  work  by  theiv  master  and 
Lord  Bishop  O'Regan." 

The  priests  arrived  at  about  2  o'clock  p.  m.,  and  never  such 
shouting  and  clapping  of  hands  had  been  heard  in  our  colony  as 
on  their  appearance.  Never  had  I  seen  my  dear  people  so 
cheerful  and  good-humored  as  when  one  of  the  priests,  trem- 
bling from  head  to  foot  with  terror  and  drunkenness,  tried  to 
read  the  following  sham  act  of  excommunication,  which  he 
nailed  on  the  door  of  the  chapel: 

The  Reverend  Monsieur  Chiniquj',  heretofore  curate  of  St.  Anne, 
Colonie  of  Beaver,  in  the  Diocese  of  Chicago,  has  formally  been  inter- 
dicted by  me  for  canonical  causes. 

The  said  Mr.  Chiniquy,  notwithstanding  that  interdict,  has  maliciously 
performed  the  functions  of  the  holy  ministry,  in  administering  the  holy 
sacraments  and  saying  mass.  This  has  caused  him  to  be  irregular  and  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  authority  of  the  church,  consequently  he  is  a  schis- 
matic. 

The  said  Mr.  Chiniquy,  thus  named  by  my  letters  and  verbal  injunc- 
tion, has  absolutely  persisted  in  violating  the  laws  of  the  church,  and  dis- 
obeyed her  authority,  is  by  this  present  letter  excommunicated. 

I  forbid  any  Catholic  having  any  communication  with  him,  in  spiritual 
matters,  under  pain  of  excommunication.  Every  Catholic  who  goes  against 
this  defense,  is  excommunicated. 

(Signed)  1^  ANTHONY, 

Bishop  of  Chicago,  and  Administrator  of  Quincy. 

Sept.  3rd,  1856. 


BISHOP    o'rEGAN.  641 

As  soon  as  the  priests,  who  had  nailed  this  document  to  the 
<loor  of  our  chapel,  had  gone  away  at  full  speed,  I  went  to  see 
it,  and  found,  what  I  had  expected,  that  it  was  not  signed  by  the 
bishop,  neither  by  his  grand  vicar,  nor  any  known  person,  and 
consequently,  it  was  a  complete  nullity,  according  to  the  laws 
of  the  church.  Fearing  I  would  prosecute  him,  as  I  threatened, 
he  shrank  from  the  responsibility  of  his  own  act,  and  had  not 
signed  it.  He  was  probably  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
himself  excommunicated,  ipso  facto^  for  not  having  signed  the 
document  himself,  or  by  his  known  deputies.  I  learned  after- 
wards, that  he  got  a  boy  12  years  old  to  write  and  sign  it.  In 
this  way,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  bring  that  document  before 
any  court,  on  account  of  its  want  of  legal  and  necessary  forms. 
That  act  was  also  a  nullity,  for  being  brought  by  three  priests 
who  were  not  mentis  compos^  from  their  actual  state  of  drunken- 
ness. And  again,  it  was  a  nullity,  from  the  evident  falsehood, 
which  was  its  base. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  bishop  had  interdicted  and  suspended  me 
on  the  19th  of  Aug.,  for  canonical  causes.  But  he  had  declared 
to  the  four  deputies  we  had  sent  him :  "  That  Mr.  Chiniquy  was 
one  of  my  best  priests,  that  nothing  had  been  proved  against 
him,"  consequently,  no  canonical  cause  could  exist  for  the  allega- 
tion. The  people  understood  very  well  that  the  whole  affair 
was  a  miserable  farce,  designed  to  separate  them  from  their  pas- 
tor. It  had  just,  by  the  good  providence  of  God,  the  contrary 
effect.  They  had  never  shown  me  such  sincere  respect  and 
devotedness  as  since  that  never-to-be-forgotten  day. 

The  three  priests,  after  leaving,  entered  the  house  ot  one  of 
our  farmers,  called  Bellanger,  a  short  distance  from  the  chapel, 
and  asked  permission  to  rest  a  while.  But  after  sitting  and 
smoking  a  few  minutes,  they  all  went  out  to  the  stables.  The 
farmer  finding  this  very  strange,  went  out  after  them  to  see  what 
they  would  do  in  his  stables:  to  his  great  surprise  and  disgust, 
he  found  them  drinking  the  last  of  their  whiskey.  He  exclaimed : 
^'Is  it  not  a  shame  to  see  three  priests,  in  a  stable,  drinking 
rum .? " 

They  made  no  answer,  but  went  immediately   to   their    car- 


642  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

riage  and  drove  away  as  quickly  as  possible,  singing  with  all 
their  might,  a  bacchanalian  song!  Such  was  the  last  act  of  that 
excommunication,  which  has  done  more  than  anything  else  to 
prepare  my  people  and  myself  to  understand  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  a  den  of  theives,  a  school  of  infidelity  and  the  very? 
antipodes  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 


Chapter  LVIIL 


ADDRESS  FROM  MY  PEOPLE,  ASKING  ME  TO  REMAIN-ADDRESS 
OF  THE  PEOPLE  TO  THP  BISHOP-I  AM  AGAIN  DRAGGED  AS 
A  PRISONER  BY  THE  SHERIFF  TO  URBANA-PERJURY  OF 
THE  PRIEST  LEBELLE  -  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  ANXIETY 
ABOUT  THE  ISSUE  OF  THE  PROSECUTION-MY  DlSTRESS- 
NIGHT  OF  DESSOLATION-THE  RESCUE— MISS  PHILOMENE 
MOFFAT  SENT  BY  GOD  TO  SAVE  ME-LEBELLE'S  CONFESSION 
AND  DISTRESS— SPINK  "WITHDRAWS  HIS  SUIT-MY  INNO- 
CENCE ACKNOWLEDGED-NOBLE  WORDS  AND  CONDUCT  OF 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN-THE  OATH  OF  MISS  PHILOMENE 
MOFFAT. 


THE  Sabbath  afternoon  after  the  three  drunken  priests  nailed 
their  unsigned,  unsealed,  untestified,  and  consequently  null 
sentence  of  excommunication,  to  the  door  of  our  chapel,  the 
people  had  gathered  from  every  part  of  our  colony  into  the  large 
hall  of  the  court-house  of  Kankakee  City  to  hear  several  ad- 
dresses on  their  duties  of  the  day,  and  thev  unanimously  passed 
the  follow^ing  resolution: 

"Resolved.  That  we,  French  Canadians  of  the  County  of  Kankakee, 
do  hereby  decide  to  give  our  moral  support  to  Rev.  C.  Chiniquy,  in  the  per- 
secution now  exerted  against  him  by  the  Bishop  of  Chicago,  in  violation  of 
the  lawB  of  the  church,  expressed  and  sanctioned  hy  the  Councils." 

After  this  resolution  had  been  voted,  Mr.  Bechard,  who  is 
now  one  of  the  principal  members  of  the  parliament  of  Canada, 
and  who  was  then  a  merchant  of  Kankakee  City,  presented  to 
me  the  following  address,  which  had  also  been  unanimouslv 
voted  by  the  people : 

"  Dear  and  Beloved  Pastor  : — For  several  years  we  have  been  wit- 
nesses of  the  persecution  of  which  you  are  the  subject,  on  the  part  of  the 
bad  priests,  your  neighbors,  and  on  the  part  of  the  unworthy  Bishop  of 
Chicago ;  but  we  also  have  been  the  witnesses  of  your  sacerdotal  virtues — 

6*3 


644  FIFT^'     YEARS     IX      T 1 1 K      CIIL'KCH     OF     ROME. 

of  your  forbearance  of  their  calumnies — and  our  respect  and  aftectloM  to< 
your  person  has  but  increased  at  the  sight  of  those  trials. 

''  We  know  that  you  are  persecuted,  not  only  because  you  are  a  Cana- 
dian priest,  and  that  you  like  us,  but  also  because  you  do  us  good  in  making 
a  feacrifice  of  your  own  private  fortune  to  build  school-houses  and  to  feed 
oar  teachers  at  your  own  table.  We  know  that  the  Bishop  of  Chicago,  who 
resembles  more  an  angry  wolf  than  a  pastor  of  the  church,  having  destroyed 
the  prosperous  congregation  of  Chicago  by  taking  awav  from  them  their 
»plendid  church,  which  they  had  built  at  the  cost  of  many  sacrifices,  and 
giving  it  to  the  Irish  population,  and  having  discouraged  the  worthy  popula- 
tion of  Bourbonnais  Grove  in  forcing  on  them  drunken  and  scandalous 
priests,  wants  to  take  you  away  from  among  us,  to  please  Spink,  the  greatest 
enemy  of  the  French  population.  Thev  even  say  that  the  bishop,  carrying 
iniquity  to  its  extreme  bonds,  wanted  to  interdict  you.  But  as  our  church 
cannot,  and  is  not  willing  to  sanction  evil  and  calumny,  we  know  that  all 
those  interdicts,  based  on  falsehood  and  spite,  are  null  and  void. 

"  We  therefore  solicit  you  not  to  give  way  in  presence  of  the  perfidious 
plots  of  your  enemies,  and  not  to  leave  us.  Stay  among  us  as  our  pastor 
and  our  father,  and  we  solemnly  promise  to  sustain  you  in  all  your  hard- 
ships to  the  end,  and  to  defend  you  against  our  enemies.  Stay  among  us, 
to  instruct  us  in  our  duties  by  vour  eloquent  speeches,  and  to  enlighten  us 
by  your  pious  examples.  Stay  among  us,  to  guard  us  against  the  perfidious 
designs  of  the  Bishop  of  Chicago,  .who  wants  to  discourage  and  destroy  our 
prosperous  colony,  as  he  has  already  discouraged  and  destroyed  other  con- 
gregations of  the  French  Canadians,  by  leaving  them  without  a  pastor,  or 
by  forcing  on  them  unworthy  priests." 

The  stern  and  unanimous  determination  of  my  countrymen 
to  stand  by  me  in  the  impending  struggle  is  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  which  God  has  ever  given  me.  It  filled  me  with  a 
courage  which  nothing  could  hereafter  shake.  But  the  people 
of  St.  Anne  did  not  think  that  it  was  enough  to  show  to  the 
bishop  that  nothing  could  ever  shake  the  resolution  they  had 
taken  to  live  and  die  free  men.  Thev  gathered  in  a  public  and 
immense  meeting  on  the  Sabbath  after  the  sham  excommuni- 
cation, to  adopt  the  following  address  to  the  Bishop  of  Chicago, 
a  copy  of  w^hich  was  sent  to  every  Bishop  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  and  to  Pope  Pius  IX: 

"To  His  Lordship,  Anthony  O'Regan  of  Chicago: — We,  the 
undersigned,  inhabitants  of  the  parish  of  St.  Anne,  Beaver  settlement,  seeing 
with  sorrow  that  you  have  discarded  our  humble  request,  which  we  have 
sent  you  by  four  delegates,  and  have  persisted  in  trying  to  drive  away 
our  honest  and  worthy  priest,   who  has    edified    us    in    all    circumstanoes 


MV     INN'OCENCK     Al  K  .\()\\I.K  DC  K  I).  6_|^.^ 

by  his  public  and  religious  conduct,  and  having,  contrary  to  the  rules  of  our 
holv  church  and  cominon  sense,  struck  our  worthy  pastor,  Mr.  Chiniquy, 
with  excominunication,  having  caused  him  to  be  announced  as  a  schismatic 
priest,  and  having  forbidden  us  to  communicate  with  him  in  religious  mat- 
ters, are  hereby  protesting  against  the  unjust  and  iniquitous  inanner  in 
which  you  have  struck  him,  refusing  him  the  privilege  of  justifying  himself 
and  proving  his  innocence. 

"Consequently,  we  declare  that  we  are  ready  at  all  times  as  gocxl 
Catholics,  tc  obey  all  your  orders  and  ordinances  that  are  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church,  but  that  we  are  not  willing  to 
follow  you  in  all  your  errors  of  judgments,  in  your  injustices  and  covetous 
caprices.  Telling  you,  as  bt.  Jerome  wrote  to  his  Bi>hop,  that  as  long  as 
\ou  will  treat  us  as  your  children,  we  will  obey  you  as  a  father;  but  as  soon 
as  you  will  treat  us  as  our  master,  we  shall  cease  to  consider  you  as  our 
father.  Considering  Mr,  Chiniquy  as  a  good  and  virtuous  priest,  worthy  of 
the  place  he  occupies,  and  possessing  as  yet  all  his  sacerdotal  powers,  in 
spite  of  your  null  and  ridiculous  sentence,  we  have  unanimously  decided  to 
keep  him  among  us  as  our  pastor;  therefore  praving  your  Lordship  not  to 
put  >ourself  to  the  trouble  of  seeking  another  priest  for  us.  More  yet:  wc 
have  imanimouslv  decided  to  sustain  him  and  furnish  him  the  means  to  go 
as  far  as  Rome,  if  he  cannot  have  justice  in  America. 

"  We  further  declare  that  it  has  been  dishonorable  and  shameful  for  our 
bishop  and  for  our  holy  religion  to  have  seen,  coming  under  the  walls  of 
our  chapel,  bringing  the  orders  of  the  prince  of  the  church  of  a  representa- 
tive of  Christ,  three  men  covered  with  their  sacerdotal  garments,  having 
their  tongues  half  paralyzed  by  the  effects  of  brandy,  and  who,  tin-ning  their 
backs  to  the  church,  went  into  the  house  and  barn  of  one  of  our  settlers  and 
there  emptied  their  bottles.  .Vnd  from  there,  taking  their  seats  in  their 
buggies,  went  towards  the  settlement  of  L'Erable,  singing  drunken  songs 
and  hallooing  like  wild  Indians.  Will  \our  lordship  be  influenced  by  such 
a  set  of  men,  who  seem  to  ha\e  for  their  mission  to  degrade  the  sacrados 
and  Catholicism.' 

"  We  conclude,  in  hoping  that  your  lordship  will  not  persist  in  your 
decision,  given  in  a  moment  of  madness  and  spite;  that  you  will  reconsider 
your  acts,  and  that  you  will  retract  your  unjust,  null  and  ridiculous  excom- 
muiiication,  and  by  these  means  avoid  the  scandal  of  which  your  precipita- 
tion is  the  cause.  We  then  hope  that,  changing  your  determination,  you 
will  work  for  the  welfare  of  our  holy  religion,  and  not  to  its  degredation,  in 
which  your  intolerant  conduct  would  lead  us,  and  that  you  will  not  persist 
in  trying  to  drive  our  worthy  pastor.  Rev.  Charles  Chiniquy,  from  the 
flourishing  colony  that  he  has  founded  at  the  cost  of  the  abandonment  of 
his  native  land,  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  high  position  he  had  in  Canada:  that 
^ou  will  bring  peace  between  you  and  us,  and  that  we  shall  ha\  e  in  the 
Bishop  of  Chicago  not  a  tyrant,  but  a  father,  and  that  you  will  have  In  u» 


646  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

not  rebels,  but  faithful   children,  by  our  virtues  and  our  good   example. 

Subscribing  ourselves  the  obedient  children  of  the  church. 

"THEOPILE  DORIEN,  J.  B.  LEMOINE,  N.  P., 

"DET.  VANIER,  OLIVER  SENECHALL, 

"J.  B.  BELANGER,  BASILIQUE  ALLAIR, 

"CAMILE  BETOURNEY,        MICHEL  ALLAIR, 
"STAN'LAS  GAGNE,  JOSEPH  GRISI, 

"ANTOINE  ALLAIN,  JOSEPH  ALLARD, 

"And  five  hundred  others." 

This  address,  singned  by  more  than  five  hundred  men,  all 
heads  of  families,  and  reproduced  by  almost  the  whole  press  in 
the  United  States,  fell  as  a  thunderclap  on  the  head  of  the  heart- 
less destroyer  of  our  people.  But  it  did  not  change  his  destruc- 
tive plans.  It  had  just  the  contrary  effect.  As  a  tiger,  mortally 
wounded  by  the  sure  shots  of  the  hunters,  he  filled  the  country 
with  his  roaring,  hoping  to  frighten  us  by  his  new  denunciations. 
He  published  the  most  lying  stories  to  explain  his  conduct,  and 
to  show  the  world  that  he  had  good  reasons  for  destroying  the 
French  congregation  of  Chicago,  and  trying  the  same  experi- 
inent  on  St.  Anne. 

In  order  to  refute  his  false  statements,  and  to  show  more 
clearly  to  the  whole  world  the  reason  I  had,  as  a  Catholic  priest, 
to  resist  him,  I  addressed  the  following  letter  to  his  lordship: 

St.  Anne,  Kankakee  County,  Ills., 
September  25,   1856. 

"  Rt.  Rev'd  O'Regan: — You  seem  to  be  surprised  that  I  have  offered 
the  holy  sacrifice  of  mass  since  our  last  interview.  Here  are  some  of  my 
reasons  for  so  doing. 

"  1st.  You  have  not  suspended  me;  far  from  it,  you  have  given  me 
fifteen  days  to  consider  what  I  should  do,  threatening  only  to  interdict  me 
after  that  time,  if  I  would  not  obey  your  orders. 

"2nd.  If  you  have  been  so  ill-advised  as  to  suspend  me,  for  the  crime 
of  telling  you  that  my  intention  was  to  live  the  live  of  a  retired  priest  in  my 
little  colony,  sooner  than  be  exiled  at  my  age,  your  sentence  is  ridiculous 
and  null ;  and  if  you  were  as  expert  in  the  jure  Canonico  as  in  the  art  of 
pocketing  our  money,  you  would  know  that  you  are  yourself  suspended 
if  so  facto  for  a  year,  and  that  I  have  nothing  to  fear  or  to  expect  from 
you  now. 

"  3rd.  When  I  bowed  down  before  the  altar  of  Jesus  Christ,  twenty- 
four  years  ago,  to  receive  the  priesthood,  my  intention  was  to  ba  the  minis- 
ter of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  not  a  slave  of  a  lawless  tyrant. 


MV    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  647 

"  4th.  Remember  the  famous  words  of  Tertullian,  '■Nimia  fotestas, 
•nulla  potestas^  For  the  sake  of  peace,  I  have,  with  manj  others,  tolerated 
vour  despotism  till  now;  but  my  patience  is  at  an  end,  and  for  the  sake  of 
our  holy  church,  which  you  are  destroying,.!  am  determined  with  many  to 
oppose  an  insurmountable  wall  to  your  tyranny. 

"  5th.  I  did  not  come  here,  you  know  well,  as  an  ordinary  missionary ; 
but  I  got  from  your  predecessor  the  permission  to  form  a  colony  of  my  em- 
igrating countrymen.  I  was  not  sent  here  in  1851  to  take  care  of  any  con- 
gregation. It  was  a  complete  wilderness ;  but  I  was  sent  to  form  a  colony 
of  Catholics.  I  planted  my  cross  in  a  wilderness.  In  a  great  part,  with  my 
own  money,  I  have  built  a  chapel,  a  college  and  a  female  academy.  I 
have  called  from  everywhere  my  countrymen — nine-tenths  of  them  came 
here  only  to  live  with  me,  and  because  I  had  the  pledged  word  of  my 
bishop  to  do  that  work.  And  as  long  as  I  live  the  life  of  a  good  priest  I 
deny  you  the  right  to  forbid  me  to  remain  in  my  colony  which  wants  my 
help  and  my  presence. 

"  6th.  You  have  never  shown  me  your  authority  (but  once)  except  in 
the  most  tyrannical  way.  But  now,  seeing  that  the  more  humble  I  am 
before  you,  the  more  insolent  you  grow,  I  have  taken  the  resolution  to 
stand  by  mv  rights  as  a  Catholic  priest  and  as  an  American  citizen. 

"  7th.  You  remember,  that  in  our  second  interview  you  forbade  me  to 
have  the  good  preceptors  we  have  now  for  our  children,  and  you  turned  into 
ridicule  the  idea  I  had  to  call  them  from  Canada.  Was  that  the  act  of  a 
bishop  or  of  a  mean  despot.' 

"  8th.  A  few  days  after  you  ordered  me  to  live  on  good  terms  with  R. 
R.  LeBelle  and  Carthavel,  though  you  were  well  acquainted  with  their 
scandalous  lives,  and  twice  you  threatened  me  with  suspension  for  refusing 
to  become  a  friend  of  those  two  rogues!  And  you  have  so  much  made  a 
fool  of  yourself  before  the  four  gentlemen  I  sent  to  you  to  be  the  witnesses 
of  your  iniqnity  and  my  innocence,  that  you  have  acknowledged  before  them 
that  one  of  your  principal  reasons  for  turning  me  out  of  my  colony  was, 
that  I  had  not  been  able  to  keep  peace  with  three  priests  whom  you  ac- 
knowledged to  be  depraved  and  unworthy  priests!  Is  not  that  surpassing 
wickedness  and  tyranny  of  anything  recorded  in  the  blackest  pages  of  the 
most  daring  tyrants.'  Yor  want  to  punish  by  exile  a  gentleman  and  a 
good  priest,  because  he  cannot  agree  to  become  the  friend  of  two  public 
rogues!  I  thank  you.  Bishop  O' Regan,  to  have  made  that  public  confession 
in  the  presence  of  unimpeachable  witnesses.  I  do  not  want  to  advise  you 
to  be  hereafter  very  prudent  in  what  you  intend  to  do  against  the  reputation 
and  character  of  the  priest  of  St.  Anne.  If  you  continue  to  denounce  me  as 
you  have  done  since  a  few  weeks,  and  to  tell  the  people  what  you  think 
fit  against  me,  I  have  awful  things  to  publish  of  your  injustice  and 
tyranny. 

"  As  Judas  sold  our  Saviour  to   his  enemies,   so  you  have   sold    me  to 


648  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

my  enemy  of  L'Erable.  But  be  certain  that  you  shall  not  deliver  up  jfour 
victim  as  you  like. 

"  For  withdrawing  a  suit  which  you  have  incited  against  my  honor, 
and  which  you  shall  certainly  lose,  you  drag  me  out  from  my  home  and 
order  me  to  the  land  of  exile,  and  you  cover  that  iniquity  with  the  appear- 
ance of  zeal  for  the  public  peace,  just  as  Pilate  delivered  his  victim  into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies  to  make  peace  with  them. 

"  Shame  on  you,  Bishop  O'Regan !  For  the  sake  of  God,  do  not 
oblige  me  to  reveal  to  the  world  what  I  know  against  you.  Do  not  <?blige 
me,  in  self-defence,  to  strike,  in  you,  my  merciless  persecutor.  If  you  have 
no  pity  for  me,  have  pity  on  yourself,  and  on  the  church  which  that  coming 
struggle  will  so  much  injure. 

"  It  is  not  enough  for  you  to  have  so  badly  treated  my  poor  countrymen 
of  Chicago — your  hatred  against  the  French  Canadians  cannot  be  satisfied 
except  when  you  have  taken  away  from  them  the  only  consolation  they 
have  in  this  land  of  exile — to  possess  in  their  midst  a  priest  of  their  own 
nation  whom  they  love  and  respect  as  a  father!  My  poor  countrymen  of 
Chicago,  with  many  hard  sacrifices,  had  built  a  fine  church  for  themselves 
and  a  house  for  their  priest.  I'ou  haz'c  taken  their  church  from  their  hands 
and  given  it  to  the  Irish;  you  have  sold  the  house  of  their  priests,  after 
turning  him  out;  and  what  have  you  done  with  the  $1,500  you  got 
as  its  price .''  Public  rumor  says,  that  you  are  employing  that  money  to 
support  the  most  unjust  and  infamous  suit  against  one  of  their  priests. 
Continue  a  little  longer,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  the  cursing  of  my  poor 
countrymen  against  you  will  be  heard  in  heaven  and  that  the  God  of 
Justice  will  give  them  an  avenger! 

"  You  have,  at  three  different  times,  threatened  to  interdict  and  excom- 
municate me  if  I  would  not  give  you  my  little  personal  properties!  and  as 
many  times  vou  have  said  in  my  teeth,  that  I  was  a  bad  priest,  because  I 
refused  to  act  according  to  your  rapacious  tyranny ! 

"  The  impious  Ahab,  murdering  Naboth  to  get  his  fields,  is  risen  from 
the  dead  in  your  person.  You  cannot  kill  my  body,  since  I  am  protected  by 
the  glorious  Hag  of  the  United  States;  but  you  do  worse,  you  try  to  destroy 
my  honor  and  my  character,  which  are  dearer  to  me  than  my  life.  In.  a 
moral  way  you  give  my  blood  to  be  licked  by  your  dogs.  But  remember 
the  words  of  the  prophet  to  Ahab,  '  In  this  place  where  the  dogs  have  licked 
the  blood  of  Naboth,  they  shall  lick  thy  blood  also.'  For  every  false  wit- 
ness you  shall  bring  against  me,  I  shall  have  a  hundred  unimpeachable  ones 
against  you.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  religious  Irish,  and  generous 
Germans,  and  liberty  and  fair-play-loving  French  Canadians,  will  help  me  in 
that  struggle.  I  do  not  address  you  these  words  as  a  threat,  but  as  a  friendly 
warning. 

"  Keep  quiet,  my  lord ;  do  not  let  yourself  be  guided  by  your  quick  tem- 
per ;  do  not  be  so  free  in  the  use  of  suspense  and  interdicts.     These  terrible 


MY     INXOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  649 

arms  are  two-edged  swords,  which  very  often  hurt  more  the  imprudent  who 
make  use  of  them  than  those  whom  they  intend  to  strike. 

"  I  wish  to  live  in  peace  with  you.  I  take  my  God  to  witness,  that  to 
this  day  I  have  done  everything  to  keep  peace  with  you.  But  the  peace  I 
want  is  the  peace  which  St.  Jerome  speaks  of  when,  writing  to  his  bishop, 
he  tells  him : 

"  'It  is  no  use  to  speak  of  peace  with  the  lips,  if  we  destroy  it  with  our 
works.  It  is  a  very  different  way  to  work  for  peace,  from  trying  to  submit 
every  one  to  an  abject  slavery.  We,  also,  want  peace.  Not  only  we 
desire  it,  but  we  implore  you  instantly  to  give  it.  However,  the  peace  we 
■want  is  the  peace  of  Christ — a  true  peace,  a  peace  without  hatred,  a  peace 
which  is  not  a  masked  war,  a  peace  which  is  not  to  crush  enemies,  but  a 
peace  which  unites  friends. 

"  'How  can  we  call  that  peace  which  is  nothing  but  tyranny.^  Why  should 
we  not  call  everything  by  its  proper  name.'  Let  us  call  hatred — what  is 
hatred.  And  let  us  say  that  peace  reigns  only  when  a  true  love  exists.  We 
are  not  the  authors  of  the  troubles  and  divisions  which  exist  in  the  church. 
A  father  must  love  his  children.  A  bishop,  as  well  as  a  father,  must  wish 
to  be  loved,  but  not  feared.  The  old  proverb  says,  One  hates  ivhom  he 
fears,  and  we  naturally  wish  for  the  death  of  the  one  we  hate.  If  you  do 
not  try  to  crush  the  religious  men  under  your  power  they  will  submit 
themselves  to  your  authority.  Offer  them  the  kiss  of  love  and  peace  and 
they  will  obey  you.  But  liberty  refuses  to  yield  as  soon  as  you  tr^'  to  crush 
it  down.  The  best  way  to  be  obeyed  by  a  free  man  is  not  to  deal  with 
him  as  with  a  slave.  We  know  the  laws  of  the  church,  and  we  do  not 
ignore  the  rights  which  belong  to  every  man.  We  have  learned  man^* 
things,  not  only  from  experience,  but  also  from  the  study  of  books.  The 
king  who  strikes  Ills  subjects  with  an  iron  rod,  or  who  thinks  that  his  fingers 
must  be  heavier  than  his  father's  hand,  has  soon  destroyed  the  kingdom 
even  of  the  peaceful  and  BBild  David.  The  people  of  Rome  refused  to  bear 
the  yoke  of  their  proud  kiag. 

"'We  have  left  our  country  in  order  to  live  in  peace.  In  this  solitude 
our  intention  was  to  respect  the  a»thority  of  the  pontiffs  of  Christ  (we 
meah  those  who  teach  the  true  faith).  We  want  to  respect  them  not  as  our 
masters,  but  as  our  fathers.  Our  intention  was  to  respect  them  as  bishops, 
not  as  usurpers  and  tyrants  who  want  to  redu«e  us  to  slavery  by  the  abuse 
of  their  power.  We  are  not  so  vain  as  to  ignore  what  is  due  to  the  priests 
of  Christ,  for  to  receive  them  is  to  receive  the  very  one  whose  bishops  they 
are.  But  let  them  be  satisfied  with  the  respect  which  is  due  to  them.  Let 
them  remember  that  they  are  fathers,  not  masters  of  those  who  have  given 
up  everything  in  order  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  a  peaceful  solitude.  May 
Christ  who  is  our  mighty  God  grant  that  we  should  be  united  not  by  a 
false  peace,  but  by  a  true  and  loyal  love,  lest  that  by  biting  each  other  w« 
destroy  cacli  other.' 

[Letter  of  St.  Jerome  to  his  bishop.] 


650  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  You  have  a  great  opinion  of  the  episcopal  power,  and  so  have  I.  But 
St.  Paul  and  all  the  Holy  Fathers  that  I  have  read,  have  also  told  us  many 
things  of  the  dignity  of  the  priest  (alter  Christus  Sacerdos).  I  am  your 
brother  and  equal  in  many  things ;  do  not  forget  it.  I  know  my  dignity  as  a 
man  and  a  priest,  and  I  shall  sooner  lose  my  life  than  to  surrender  them  to 
any  man,  even  a  bishop.  If  you  think  you  can  deal  with  me  as  a  carter 
with  his  horse,  drawing  him  where  he  likes,  you  will  soon  see  your 
error. 

"  I  neither  drink  strong  wines  nor  smoke,  and  the  many  hours  thai 
others  spend  in  C7nf  tying  their  bottles  and  smoking  their  pipes ^  I  read  my  dear 
books— I  study  the  admirable  laws  of  the  church  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
I  love  my  books  and  the  holy  laws  of  our  cchrch,  because  they  teach  me 
my  rights  as  well  as  my  duties.  They  tell  me  that  many  years  ago  a  general 
council,  Avhich  is  something  above  you,  has  annulled  your  unjust  sentenca, 
and  brought  upon  your  head  the  very  peualty  you  intended  to  impose  upon 
me.  They  tell  ine  that  any  sentence  from  you  coming  (from  your  own 
profession)  from  bad  and  criminal  motives,  is  null,  and  will  fall  powerless  at 
my  feet. 

"  But  I  tell  you  again,  that  I  desire  to  live  in  peace  with  you.  The  false 
reports  of  LeBelle  and  Carthevel  have  disturbed  that  peace;  but  it  is  still  in 
your  power  to  have  it  for  yourself  and  give  it  to  me.  I  am  sure  that  the 
sentence  you  say  you  have  preferred  against  me  comes  from  a  misunder- 
standing, and  your  wisdom  and  charity,  if  you  can  hear  their  voice,  can 
very  easily  set  everything  as  it  was  two  inonths  ago.  It  is  still  in  your 
power  to  have  a  warm  friend,  or  an  immovable  adversary  in  Kankakee 
County.  It  would  be  both  equitable  and  honorable  in  you  to  extinguish 
the  fires  of  discord  which  you  have  so  unfortunately  enkindled,  by  drawing 
back  a  sentence  which  you  would  never  have  preferred  if  you  had  not  been 
deceived.  You  would  be  blessed  by  the  Church  of  Illinois,  and  particularly 
by  the  10,000  French  Canadians  who  surround  me,  and  are  ready  to  support 
me  at  all  hazards. 

"  Do  not  be  angry  from  the  seeming  harsh  words  which  you  find  in  this 
letter.  Nobody,  but  I,  could  tell  you  these  sad  truths,  though  every  one 
of  your  priests,  and  particularly  those  who  flatter  you  the  most,  repeat 
them  every  day. 

"  By  kind  and  honest  proceedings  you  can  get  everything  from  me, 
even  the  last  drop  of  my  blood;  but  you  will  find  me  an  immovable  rock  if 
you  approach  me  as  you  have  already  done  (but  once)  with  insult  and  tyran- 
nical threats. 

"You  have  not  been  ordained  a  bishop  to  rule  over  us  according  to 
your  fancy,  but  you  have  the  eternal  laws  of  justice  and  equity  to  guide  you. 
You  have  the  laws  of  the  church  to  obey  as  well  as  her  humblest  child,  and 
as  soon  as  you  do  anything  against  these  imperishable  laws  you  are  power- 
less to  obtain  your  object.     It  is  not  only  lawful,  but  a  duty  to  resist  you. 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED  65I 

When  you  strike  without  a  legitimate  or  a  canonical  cause ;  when  you  try 
to  take  away  my  character  to  please  some  of  your  friends ;  when  you  order 
me  to  exile  to  stop  a  suit  which  you  are  exciting  against  me ;  when  you 
punish  me  for  the  crime  of  refusing  to  obey  tho  orders  you  gave  me  to  be 
the  friend  of  three  public  rogues;  when  you  threaten  me  with  excommuni- 
cation, because  I  do  not  give  you  my  little  personal  properties,  I  have  noth- 
ing to  fear  from  your  interdicts  and  excommunication. 

"  What  a  sad  lot  for  me,  and  what  a  shame  for  you,  if  by  your  continual 
attacks  at  the  door  of  our  churches  or  in  the  public  press,  you  oblige  me 
to  expose  your  injustice.  It  is  yet  time  for  you  to  avoid  that.  Instead  of 
striking  me  like  an  outcast,  come  and  give  me  the  paternal  hand  of  charity, 
instead  of  continuing  that  fraticidal  combat,  come  and  heal  the  wounds  you 
have  made  and  already  received.  Instead  of  insulting  me  by  driving  me 
away  from  my  colony  to  the  land  of  exile,  come  and  bless  the  great  work  I 
have  begun  here  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  my  people.  Instead 
of  destroying  the  college  and  the  female  academy,  for  the  erection  of  whtch 
I  have  expended  my  last  cent,  and  whose  teachers  are  fed  at  my  table,  come 
and  bless  the  three  hundred  little  children  who  are  daily  attending  our 
schools. 

"  Instead  of  sacrificing  me  to  the  hatred  of  my  enemies,  come  and 
strengthen  my  heart  against  their  fury. 

"  I  tell  you  again,   that  no  consideration   whatever  will  induce  nie  to 

surrender  my  right  as  a  Catholic  priest  and  as  an  Atnericuji  citizen.     By  the 

first  title  you  cannot  interdict  me,  as  long  as   I    am  a  good  priest,   for  the 

crime  of  wishing  to  live  in  my  colony  and  among  my  people.     By  the  second 

title,  you  cannot  turn  me  out  from  ?ny  home. 

"C.  CHINIQUY." 

It  was  the  first  time  that  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  with  his 
whole  people,  had  dared  to  speak  such  language  to  a  Bishop  of 
Rome  on  this  continent.  Never  yet  had  the  unbearable  tyranny 
of  those  haughty  men  received  such  a  public  rebuke.  Our  fear- 
less words  fell  as  a  bombshell  in  the  camp  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic hierachy  of  America. 

With  very  few  exceptions,  the  press  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
whose  columns  had  so  often  echoed  the  cries  of  indignation 
raised  everywhere  against  the  tyranny  of  Bishop  O'Regan, 
took  sides  with  me.  Hundreds  of  priests,  not  only  from  Illinois, 
but  from  every  corner  of  the  United  States,  addressed  their 
warmest  thanks  to  me  for  the  stand  I  had  taken,  and  asked  me, 
in  the  name  of  God  and  for  the  honor  of  the  church,  not  to 
yield  an  inch  of  my    rights.     Many  promised   to  support   us  at 


652  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  court  of  Rome,  by  writing  themselves  to  the  Pope,  to  de- 
nounce not  only  the  Bishop  of  Illinois,  but  several  others,  who, 
though  not  so  openly  bad,  were  yet  trampling  under  their  feet 
the  most  sacred  rights  of  the  priests  and  the  people.  Unfortu- 
nately those  priests  gave  me  a  saddening  knowledge  of  their 
cowardice  by  putting  in  their  letters  "  absolutely  confidential^'' 
They  all  promised  to  help  me  when  I  was  storming  the  strong 
fortress  of  the  enemy,  provided  I  would  go  alone  in  the  gap, 
and  that  they  would  keep  themselves  behind  thick  walls,  fai 
from  shot  and  shell. 

However,  this  did  not  disturb  me,  for  my  God  knows  it,  my 
trust  was  not  in  my  own  strength,  but  in  his  protection.  I  was 
sure  that  I  was  in  the  right,  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  on 
my  side,  that  all  the  canons  and  laws  of  the  councils  were  in  my 
favor. 

My  library  was  filled  with  the  best  books  on  the  canons  and 
laws  passed  in  the  great  councils  of  my  church.  It  was  written 
in  big  letters  in  the  celebrated  work,  "  Histoire  du  droit  canoni- 
gue.''''  There  is  no  arbitrary  power  in  the  Church  of  Christ. — 
Vol.  iii.,  page  139. 

The  Council  of  Augsburg,  held  in  1548  (Can.  24),  had  de- 
clared that,  "  no  sentence  of  excommunication  will  be  passed, 
except  for  great  crimes." 

The  Pope  St.  Gregory  had  said:  "  That  censures  are  null 
when  not  inflicted  for  great  sins  or  for  faults  which  have  not 
been  clearly  proved." 

"  An  unjust  excommunication  does  not  bina  before  God 
those  against  whom  it  has  been  hushed.  But  it  injures  only  the 
one  who  has  proffered  it." — Eccl.  Laws,  by  Hericourt,  c.  xxii., 
No.  50. 

"  If  an  unjust  sentence  is  pronounced  against  any  one,  he 
must  not  pay  any  attention  to  it;  for,  before  God  and  his  Church, 
an  unjust  sentence  cannot  injure  anybody.  Let,  then,  that  per- 
son do  nothing  to  get  such  an  unjust  sentence  repealed,  for  it 
cannot  injure  him." — St.  Gelace — The  Pope — (  Canoni  bin  est,) 

The  canonists  conclude,  from  all  the  laws  of  the  church  on 
th-^t  matter,  "  That  if  a  priest  is  unjustly  interdicted   or  exccna- 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  653 

municated  he  may  continue  to  officiate  without  any  fear  of  be- 
coming irregular." — Eccl.  Laws,  by  Hericourt,  c.  xxii..  No.  51. 

Protected  by  these  laws,  and  hundreds  of  others  too  long  to 
enumerate,  which  my  church  had  passed  in  every  age,  strength- 
ened by  the  voice  of  my  conscience,  which  assured  me  that  I 
had  done  nothing  to  deserve  to  be  interdicted  or  excommunica- 
ted; sure,  besides,  of  the  testimony  brought  by  our  four  dele- 
gates that  the  bishop  himself  had  declared  that  I  was  one  of 
his  best  priests,  that  he  wanted  to  give  me  my  letters  to  go  and 
perform  the  functions  of  my  ministry  in  Kahokia:  above  all, 
knowing  the  unanimous  will  of  my  people  that  I  should  remain 
with  them  and  continue  the  great  and  good  work  so  providen- 
tially trusted  to  me  in  my  colony,  and  regarding  this  as  an  indi- 
cation of  the  divine  will,  I  determined  to  remain,  in  spite  of  the 
Bishop  of  Chicago.  All  the  councils  of  my  church  were  telling 
me  that  he  had  no  power  to  injure  me,  and  that  all  his  official 
acts  were  null. 

But  if  he  were  spiritually  powerless  against  me,  it  was  not 
so  in  temporal  matters.  His  power  and  his  desire  to  injure  us 
had  increased  with  his  hatred,  since  he  had  read  our  letters  and 
seen  them  in  all  the  papers  of  Chicago. 

The  first  thing  he  did  was  to  reconcile  himself  to  the  priest 
LeBelle,  whom  he  had  turned  outignominiously  from  his  diocese 
some  time  before.  That  priest  had  since  that  obtained  a  fine 
situation  in  the  diocese  of  Michigan.  He  invited  him  to  his 
palace,  and  petted  him  several  days.  I  felt  that  the  reconciliation 
of  those  two  men  meant  nothing  good  for  me.  But  my  hope 
was,  more  than  ever,  that  the  merciful  God  who  had  protected 
me  'SO  many  times  against  them,  would  save  me  again  from 
their  machinations.  The  air  was,  however,  filled  with  the 
strangest  rumors  against  me.  It  was  said  everywhere  that  Mr. 
jLeBelle  was  to  bring  such  charges  against  my  character  that  I 
rwould  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

What  were  the  new  iniquities  to  be  laid  to  my  charge.''  No 
one  could  tell.  But  the  few  partisans  and  friends  of  the  bishop. 
Messrs.  LeBelle  and  Spink,  were  jubilant  and  sure  that  I  was  to 
hT,  I'rrrever  destroved. 


654  FIFTY    YBARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

At  last,  the  time  arrived  v/hen  the  Sheriff  of  Kankakee  had 
to  drag  me  again  as  a  criminal  and  a  prisoner  to  Urbana,  and 
deliver  me  into  the  hands  of  the  sheriff  of  that  city.  I  arrived 
here  on  the  20th  of  October,  with  my  lawyers,  Messrs.  Osgood 
and  Paddock,  and  a  dozen  witnesses.  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln 
had  preceded  me  only  by  a  few  minutes  from  Springfield.  He 
was  in  the  company  of  Judge  David  Davis,  since  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  when  I  met  him. 

The  jury  having  been  selected  and  sworn,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
LeBelle  was  the  first  witness  called  to  testify  and  say  what  he 
knew  against  my  character. 

Mr.  Lincoln  objected  to  that  kind  of  testimony,  and  tried  to 
prove  that  Mr.  Spink  had  no  right  to  bring  his  nevs^  suit  against 
me  by  attacking  my  character.  But  Judge  Davis  ruled  that  the 
prosecution  had  that  right  in  the  case  that  was  before  him.  Mr. 
LeBelle  had,  then,  full  liberty  to  say  anything  he  wanted,  and 
he  availed  himself  of  his  privilege.  His  testimony  lasted  nearly 
an  hour,  and  was  too  long  to  be  given  here.  I  will  only  say 
that  he  began  by  declaring  that  "  Chiniquy  was  one  of  the  vilest 
men  of  the  day — that  every  kind  of  bad  rumors  were  constantly 
circulating  against  him."  He  gave  a  good  number  of  those 
rumors,  though  he  could  not  positively  swear  if  they  were 
founded  on  truth  or  not,  for  he  had  not  investigated  them.  But 
he  said  there  was  one  of  which  he  was  sure,  for  he  had  authen- 
ticated it  thoroughly.  He  expressed  a  great  deal  of  apparent 
regret  that  he  was  forced  to  reveal  to  the  world  such  things 
which  "were  not  only  against  the  honor  of  Chiniquy,  but,  to 
some  extent,  involved  the  good  name  of  a  dear  sister,  Madame 
Bosse.  But  as  he  was  to  speak  the  truth  before  God,  he  could 
not  help  it — the  sad  truth  must  be  told.  "  Mr.  Chiniquy^'*  he 
said,  '•'■had  attempted  to  do  the  most  infamous  things  with  my 
own  sister^  Madame  Bosse.  She  herself  has  told  me  the  whole- 
story  under  oath,  and  she  would  be  here  to  unmask  the  wicked 
man  to-day  before  the  whole  world,  if  she  were  not  forced  to 
silence,  at  home,  from  a  severe  illness." 

Though  every  word  of  that  story  was  a  perjury,  there  was 
such  a  color  of  truth  and  sincerity  in   my  accuser,   that  his  testi- 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  655 

mony  f.ell  upon  me  and  my  lawyers  and  all  my .  friends  as  a 
thunderbolt.  A  man  who  has  never  heard  such  a  calumny 
brought  against  him  before  a  jury  in  a  court-house  packed  with 
people,  composed  of  friends  and  foes,  will  never  understand 
what  I  felt  in  this  the  darkest  hour  of  my  life.  My  God  only 
knows  the  weight  and  the  bitterness  of  the  waves  of  desolation 
which  then  passed  over  my  soul. 

After  that  testimony  was  given,  there  was  a  lull,  and  a  most 
profound  silence  in  the  court-room.  All  the  eyes  were  turned 
upon  me,  and  I  heard  many  voices  speaking  of  me,  whispering, 
"The  villain!"  Those  voices  passed  through  my  soul  as  pois- 
oned arrows.  Though  innocent,  I  wished  that  the  ground  would 
open  under  my  feet  and  bring  me  down  to  the  darkest  abysses, 
to  conceal  me  from  the  eyes  of  my  friends  and  the  whole  world. 

However,  Mr.  Lincoln  soon  interrupted  the  silence  by  ad- 
dressing to  LeBelle  such  cross-questions  that  his  testimony,  in 
the  minds  of  many,  soon  lost  much  of  its  power.  And  he  did 
still  more  destroy  the  effect  of  his  (LeBelle's)  false  oath,  when, 
he  brought  my  twelve  witnesses,  who  were  among  the  most 
respectable  citizens  of  Bourbonnais,  formerly  the  parishioners  of 
Mr.  LeBelle.  Those  twelve  gentlemen  swore  that  Mr.  LeBelle 
was  such  a  drunkard  and  vicious  man,  that  he  was  so  publicly 
my  enemy  on  account  of  the  many  rebukes  I  had  given  to  his 
private  and  public  vices,  that  they  would  not  believe  a  word  of 
what  he  said,  even  upon  his  oath. 

At  ten  p.  M.,  the  court  was  adjourned,  to  meet  again  the  next 
morning,  and  I  went  to  the  room  of  Mr.  Lincoln  with  my  two 
other  lawyers,  to  confer  about  the  morning's  work.  My  mind 
was  unspeakably  sad.  Life  had  never  been  such  a  burden  to  mt 
as  in  that  hour.  I  was  tempted,  like  Job,  to  curse  the  hour 
when  I  was  born.  I  could  see  in  the  faces  of  my  lawyers^ 
though  they  tried  to  conceal  it,  that  they  were  also  full  of 
anxiety. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "though  1 
hope,  to-morrovv,  to  destroy  the  testimony  of  Mr.  LeBelle 
against  you,  I  must  concede  that  I  see  great  dangers  ahead. 
There  is  not  the  least  doubt  in  mv  mind  that  everv   word  he  has 


656  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

said  is  a  s\vo»-n  lie ;  but  my  fear  is  that  the  jury  thinks  differently. 
I  am  a  pretty  good  judge  in  these  matters.  I  feel  that  our  jury- 
men think  that  you  are  guilty.  There  is  only  one  way  to  per- 
fectly destroy  the  power  of  a  false  witness — it  is  by  another 
direct  testimony  against  what  he  has  said,  or  by  showing  from 
his  very  lips  that  he  has  perjured  himself.  I  failed  to  do  that 
last  night,  though  I  have  diminished,  to  a  great  extent,  the  force 
of  his  testimony.  Can  you  not  prove  an  alibi,  or  can  you  not 
bring  witnesses  who  were  there  in  the  same  house  that  day, 
who  would  flatly  and  directly  contradict  what  your  remorseless 
enemy  has  said  against  you?" 

I  answered  him :  "  How  can  I  try  to  do  such  a  thing  when 
they  have  been  shrewd  enough  not  to  fix  the  very  date  of  the 
alleged  crime  against  me?" 

"  You  are  correct,  you  ai'e  perfectly  correct,  Mr.  Chiniquy," 
answered  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  as  they  have  refused  to  specify  the 
date,  we  cannot  try  that.  I  have  never  seen  two  such  skillful 
rogues  as  those  two  priests!  There  is  really  a  diabolical  skill  iw 
the  plan  they  have  concocted  for  your  destruction.  It  is  evident 
that  the  bishop  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  plot.  You  remember 
how  I  have  forced  LeBelle  to  confess  that  he  was  now^  on  the 
most  friendly  terms  with  the  Bishop  of  Chicago,  since  he  has 
become  the  chief  of  your  accusers.  Though  I  do  not  give  up 
the  hope  of  rescuing  you  from  the  hands  of  your  enemies,  I 
do  not  like  to  conceal  from  you  that  I  have  several  reasons 
to  fear  that  you  w^ill  be  declared  guilty  and  condemned  to  a 
heavy  penalty,  or  to  the  penitentiary,  though  I  am  sure  you 
are  perfectly  innocent.  It  is  very  probable  that  we  will  have  to 
confront  that  sister  of  LeBelle  tomorrow.  Her  sickness  is 
probably  a  feint,  in  order  not  to  appear  here  except  after  the 
brother  will  have  prepared  the  public  mind  in  her  favor.  At 
all  events,  if  she  does  not  come,  they  will  send  some  justice  of 
the  peace  to  get  her  sworn  testimony,  which  w^ill  be  more  dif- 
ficult to  rebut  than  her  own  verbal  declarations.  That  woman 
is  evidently  in  the  hands  of  the  bishop  and  her  brother  priest, 
ready  to  swear  anything  they  order  her,  and  I  know  nothing  so 
difficult  as  to  refute  such  female  testimonies,  particularly  when 


MV    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  657 

they  are  absent  from  the  court.  The  only  way  to  be  sure  of 
a  favorable  verdict  to-morrow  is,  that  God  Almighty  would 
take  our  part  and  show  your  innocence!  Go  to  Him  and 
pray,  for  He  alone  can  save  you." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  exceedingly  solemn  when  he  addressed 
those  words  to  me,  and  they  went  very  deep  into  my  soul. 

I  have  often  been  asked  if  Abraham  Lincoln  had  any  religion; 
but  I  have  never  had  any  doubt  about  his  profound  confidence  in 
God,  since  I  heard  those  words  falling  from  his  lips  in  that  hour 
of  anxiety.  I  had  not  been  able  to  conceal  my  deep  distress. 
Burning  tears  were  rolling  on  my  cheeks  when  he  was  speaking, 
and  there  was  on  his  face  the  expression  of  friendly  sympathy 
which  I  shall  never  forget.  Without  being  able  to  say  a  word, 
I  left  him  to  go  to  my  little  room.  It  was  nearly  eleven 
o'clock.  I  locked  the  door  and  fell  oiv  my  knees  to  pray,  but  I 
was  imable  to  say  a  single  word.  The  horrible  sworn  calumnies 
thrown  at  my  face  by  a  priest  of  my  own  church  were  ringing 
in  my  ears  I  my  honor  and  my  good  name  so  cruelly  and  forever 
destroyed  I  all  my  friends  and  my  dear  people  covered  with  an 
eternal  confusion!  and  more  than  that,  the  sentence  of  condem- 
nation which  was  probably  to  be  hurled  against  me  the  next 
day  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  country,  whose  eyes  were  upon 
me!  All  those  things  were  before  me,  not  only  as  horrible 
phantoms,  but  as  heavy  mountains,  under  the  burdens  of  which 
I  could  not  breathe.  At  last  the  fountains  of  tears  were  opened, 
and  it  relieved  me  to  weep;  I  could  then  speak  and  cry:  "Oh! 
my  God!  have  mercy  upon  me!  thou  knowest  my  innocence! 
hast  thou  not  promised  that  those  who  trust  in  thee  cannot  perish! 
Oh !  do  not  let  me  perish,  when  Thou  art  the  only  One  in  whom 
I  trust !     Come  to  m}-  help !  Save  me ! " 

From  eleven  p.  m.,  to  three  in  the  morning  I  cried  to  God, 
and  raised  my  supplicating  hands  to  his  throne  of  mercy.  But 
I  confess  to  my  confusion,  it  seemed  to  me  in  certain  moments, 
that  it  was  useless  to  pray  and  to  cry,  for  though  innocent,  I  was 
doomed  to  perish.  I  \vas  in  the  hands  of  my  enemies.  My  God 
had  forsaken  me! 

What  an  awful  night  I  spent!     I  hope  none  of  my  readers 


658  FIFTY    YKARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

will  ever  know  by  their  own  experience  the  agony  of  spirit  L 
endured.  I  had  no  other  expectation  than  to  be  forever  dis- 
honored, and  sent  to  the  penitentiary  next  morning! 

But  God  had  not  forsaken  me!  He  had  again  heard  my 
cries,  and  was,  once  more,  to  show  me  His  infinite  mercy ! 

At  three  o'clock  a.  m.,  I  heard  three  knocks  at  my  door,  and 
I  quickly  went  to  open  it.  "Who  w^as  there?  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, with  a  face  beaming  with  joy ! " 

I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes.  But  I  was  not  mistaken. 
It  was  my  noble-hearted  friend,  the  most  honest  lawyer  of  Illi- 
nois!— one  of  the  noblest  men  Heaven  has  ever  given  to  earth! 
It  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  had  been  given  me  as  my  Saviour! 
On  seeing  me  bathed  with  tears,  he  exclaimed,  "  Cheer  up, 
Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  have  the  perjured  priests  in  my  hands.  Their 
diabolical  plot  is  all  known,  and  if  they  do  not  fly  away  before 
the  dawn  of  day,  they  will  surely  be  lynched.  Bless  the  Lord, 
you  are  saved! " 

The  sudden  passage  of  extreme  desolation  to  an  extreme  joy 
came  near  killing  me.  I  felt  as  suffocated,  and  unable  to  utter 
a  single  word.  I  took  his  hand,  pressed  it  to  my  lips,  and  bathe</ 
it  with  tears  of  joy.  I  said :  "  May  God  forever  bless  you,  dear 
Mr.  Lincoln.  But  please  tell  me  how  you  can  bring  me  such 
glorious  news!  " 

Here  is  the  simple  but  marvellous  story,  as  told  me  by  that 
great  and  good  man,  whom  God  had  made  the  messenger  of  his 
mercies  towards  me: 

"  As  soon  as  LeBelle  had  given  his  perjured  testimony  against 
you  yesterday,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "  one  of  the  agents  of  the 
Chicago  pre?f,  telegraphed  to  some  of  the  principal  papers  of 
Chicago:  '  It  is  probable  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  will  be  condemned; 
for  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  LeBelle  seems  to  leave  no 
doubt  that  he  is  guilty.'  And  the  little  Irish  boys,  to  sell  their 
papers,  filled  the  streets  with  the  cries:  '  Chiniquy  will  be  hung! 
Chiniquy  will  be  hung!'  The  Roman  Catholics  were  so  glad 
to  hear  that,  that  ten  thousand  extra  copies  have  been  sold. 
Among  those  who  bought  those  papers  was  a  friend  of  yours, 
called  Terrien,  who  went  to  his  wife  and  told  her  that  you  were 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  659 

to  be  condemned,  and  when  the  woman  heard  that,  she  &aid,  '  It 
is  too  bad,  for  I  know  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  not  guilty.' 

"  '  How  do  you  know  that  ? '  said  her  husband.  She  answered : 
'  1  was  there  when  the  priest  LeBelle  made  the  plot,  and  promised 
to  give  his  sister  two-eighties  of  good  land  if  she  would  swear  a 
false  oath — and  accuse  him  of  a  crime  which  that  woman  said 
he  had  not  even  thought  of  with  her.' 

"  '  If  it  be  so,'  said  Terrien,  "  we  cannot  allow  Mr.  Chiniquy 
to  be  condemned.     Come  with  me  to  Urbana.' 

"  But  that  woman  being  quite  unwell,  said  to  her  husband, 
♦  You  know  well  I  cannot  go;  but  Miss  Philomene  Moffat  was 
with  me  then.  She  knows  every  particular  of  that  wicked  plot 
as  %vell  as  I  do.  She  is  well;  go  and  take  her  to  Urbana.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  her  testimony  will  prevent  the  condemnation  of 
Mr.   Chiniquy.' 

"  Narcisse  Terrien  started  immediately:  and  when  you  were 
praying  God  to  come  to  your  help,  He  was  sending  your  de- 
liverer at  the  full  speed  of  the  railroad  cars.  Miss  Moffat  has 
just  given  me  the  details  of  that  diabolical  plot.  I  have  advised 
her  not  to  show  herself  before  the  Court  is  opened.  I  will,  then, 
send  for  her,  and  when  she  will  have  given,  under  oath,  before 
the  Court,  the  details  she  has  just  given  me,  I  pity  Spink  with 
his  perjured  priests.  As  I  told  you,  I  would  not  be  surprised  if 
they  were  lynched:  for  there  is  a  terrible  excitement  in  town 
among  many  people  who  from  the  beginning,  suspect  that  the 
priests  have  perjured  themselves  to  destroy  you. 

"Now  your  suit  is  gained,  and  to-morrow,  you  will  have 
the  greatest  triumph  a  man  ever  got  over  his  confounded  foes. 
But  you  are  in  need  of  a  rest  as  well  as  myself.     Good-bye." 

After  thanking  God  for  that  marvellous  deliverance,  I  went 
to  bed  and  took  the  needed  rest. 

But  what  was  the  priest  LeBeile  doing  in  that  very  moment.'* 
Unable  to  sleep  after  the  awful  perjury  he  had  just  made,  he  had 
watched  the  arrival  of  the  trains  from  Chicago  with  an  anxious 
mind,  for  he  was  aware  through  the  confessions  he  had  heard, 
that  there  were  two  persons  in  that  city  who  knew  his  plot  and 
his  false  oath;  and  though  he  had  the  promises  from  them   that 


66o  FIFTY    YEARS    IV    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

they  would  never  reveal  it  to  anybody,  he  was  not  without  some 
fearful  apprehensions  that  I  might,  by  some  way  or  other,  become 
acquainted  with  his  abominable  conspiracy.  Not  long  after  the 
arrival  of  the  trains  from  Chicago,  he  came  down  from  his 
room  to  see  in  the  book  where  travelers  register  their  names,  if 
there  was  any  newcomers  from  Chicago,  and  what  was  his  dismay 
when  he  saw  the  first  name  entered  was  '■''  Philomene  Moffat  P'' 
That  very  name,  Philomene  Moffat,  who  some  time  before,  had 
gone  to  confess  to  him  that  she  had  heard  the  whole  plot  from 
his  own  lips,  when  he  had  promised  i6o  acres  of  land  to  per- 
suade his  sister  to  perjure  herself  in  order  to  destroy  me.  A 
deadly  presentiment  chilled  the  blood  in  his  veins!  "Would  it 
be  possible  that  this  girl  is  here  to  reveal  and  prove  my  perjury 
before  the  world  ?  " 

He  immediately  sent  for  her,  when  she  was  just  coming  from 
meeting  Mr.  Lincoln. 

"  Miss  Philomene  Moffat  here!"  he  exclaimed,  when  he  saw 
her.     "What  are  you  coming  here  for,  this  night.?"  he  said. 

"  You  will  know  it,  sir,  to-morrow  morning,"  she  answered. 

"Ah!  wretched  girl!  you  come  to  destroy  me?"  he  ex- 
claimed. 

She  replied :  "  I  do  not  come  to  destroy  you,  for  jou  are 
already  destroyed.     Mr.  Lincoln  knows  everything." 

"Oh!  my  God!  my  God!"  he  exclaimed,  striking  his  fore- 
head with  his  hands.  Then  taking  a  big  bundle  of  bank  notes 
from  his  pocket-book,  he  said :  "  Here  are  one  hundred  dollars 
for  you,  if  you  take  the  morning  train  and  go  back  to  Chicago." 

"  If  you  would  offer  me  as  much  gold  as  this  house  could 
contain,  I  would  not  go,"  she  replied. 

He  then  left  her  abruptly,  ran  to  the  sleeping-room  of  Spink, 
and  told  him:  "  Withdraw  your  suit  against  Chiniquy;  we  are 
lost;  he  knows  all." 

Without  losing  a  moment,  he  went  to  the  sleeping-room  of 
his  co-priest,  and  told  him:  "  Make  haste — dress  yourself  and 
let  us  take  the  morning  train;  we  have  no  business  here,  Chini- 
quy knows  all  our  secrets." 

When  the  hour  of  opening  the  court  came,  there  was  an  im- 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  66l 

mense  crowd,  not  only  inside,  but  outside  its  walls.  Mr.  Spink, 
pale  as  a  man  condemned  to  death,  rose  before  the  Judge,  and 
said:  "  Please  the  court,  allow  me  to  withdraw  my  prosecution 
against  Mr.  Chiniquy.  I  am  now  persuaded  that  he  is  not  guilty 
of  the  faults  brought  against  him  before  this  tribunal." 

Abraham  Lincoln,  having  accepted  that  reparation  in  my 
name,  made  a  short,  but  one  of  the  most  admirable  speeches  I 
had  ever  heard,  on  the  cruel  injustices  I  had  suffered  from  my 
merciless  persecutors,  and  denounced  the  rascality  of  the  priests 
who  had  perjured  themselves,  with  such  terrible  colors,  that  it 
had  been  very  wise  on  their  part  to  fly  away  and  disappear 
before  the  opening  of  the  court.  For  the  whole  city  was  ran- 
sacked for  them  by  hundreds,  who  blamed  me  for  forgiving 
them  and  refusing  to  have  my  revenge  for  the  wrong  they  had 
done  me.  But  I  thought  that  my  enemies  were  sufficiently  pun- 
ished by  the  awful  public  disclosures  of  their  infernal  plot.  It 
seemed  that  the  dear  Saviour  who  had  so  visibly  protected  me, 
was  to  be  obeyed,  when  he  was  whispering  in  my  soul,  "  For- 
give them  and  love  them  as  thyself."  '-^- 

Was  not  Spink  sufficiently  punished  by  the  complete  ruin 
which  was  brought  upon  him  by  the  loss  of  the  suit?  For 
having  gone  to  Bishop  O'Regan  to  be  indemnified  for  the  enor- 
mous expenses  of  such  a  long  prosecution,  at  such  a  distance,  the 
bishop  coldly  answered  him :  "  I  had  promised  to  indemnify  you 
if  you  would  put  Chiniquy  down,  as  you  promised  me.  But  as 
it  is  Chiniquy  who  has  put  you  down,  I  have  not  a  cent  to  give 
you." 

Abraham  Lincoln  had  not  only  defended  me  with  the  zeal 
and  talent  of  the  ablest  lawyer  I  have  ever  known,  but  as  the 
most  devoted  and  noblest  friend  I  ever  had.  After  giving  more 
than  a  year  of  his  precious  time  to  my  defense,  when  he  had 
pleaded  during  two  long  sessions  of  the  Court  of  Urbana,  with- 
out receiving  a  cent  from  me,  I  considered  that  I  was  owing  him 
a  great  sum  of  money.  My  other  two  lawyers,  who  had  not 
done  the  half  of  his  work,  asked  me  a  thousand  dollars  each,  and 
I  had  not  thought  that  too  much.  After  thanking  him  for  the 
inappreciable    services    he  had    rendered    me,  I   requested  him 


662  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

to  show  me  his  bill,  assuring  him  that,  though  I  would  uot  be 
able  to  pay  the  whole  cash,  I  would  pay  him  to  the  last  cent,  if 
he  had  the  kindness  to  wait  a  little  for  the  balance. 

He  answered  me  with  a  smile  and  an  air  of  inimitable  kind- 
ness, w^hich  was  peculiar  to  him:  "My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  I 
feel  proud  and  honored  to  have  been  called  to  defend  you.  But 
I  have  done  it  less  as  a  lawyer  than  as  a  friend.  The  money  I 
should  receive  from  you  would  take  away  the  pleasure  I  feel  at 
having  fought  your  battle.  Your  case  is  unique  in  my  whole  prac- 
tice. I  have  never  met  a  man  so  cruelly  persecuted  as  you  have 
been,  and  who  deserves  it  so  little.  Your  enemies  are  devils  incar- 
nate. The  plot  they  had  concocted  against  you  is  the  most  hellish 
one  I  ever  knew.  But  the  vs^ay  you  have  been  saved  from  their 
hand,  the  appearance  of  that  young  and  intelligent  Miss  Moffat, 
who  was  really  sent  by  God  in  the  very  hour  of  need,  when,  I 
confess  it  again,  I  thought  everything  was  nearly  lost,  is  one  of 
the  most  extraoidinary  occurrences  I  ever  saw.  It  makes  me 
remember  what  I  have  too  often  forgotten,  and  what  my  mother 
often  told  me  when  young — that  our  God  is  a  prayer-hearing 
God.  This  good  thought,  sovv^n  into  my  young  heart  by  that 
dear  mother's  hand,  was  just  in  my  mind  when  I  told  you,  '  Go 
and  pray,  God  alone  can  save  you.'  But  I  confess  to  you  that  I 
had  not  faith  enough  to  believe  that  your  prayer  would  be  so 
quickly  and  so  marvellously  answered  by  the  sudden  appearance 
of  that  interesting  young  lady,  last  night.  Now  let  us  speak  of 
what  you  owe  me.  Well! — Well! — how  much  do  you  owe  me? 
You  owe  me  nothing!  for  I  suppose  you  are  quite  ruined.  The 
expenses  of  such  a  suit,  I  know,  must  be  enormous.  Your  ene- 
mies want  to  ruin  you.  Will  I  help  them  to  finish  your  ruin, 
when  I  hope  I  have  the  right  to  be  put  among  the  most  sincere 
and  devoted  of  your  friends?" 

"  You  are  right,"  I  answered  him ;  "you  are  the  most  devoted 
and  noblest  friend  God  ever  gave  me,  and  I  am  nearly  ruined 
by  my  enemies.  Bl^c  you  are  the  father  of  a  pretty  large 
family;  you  must  support  them.  Your  traveling  expenses  in 
coming,  twice,  here  for  me  from  Springfield;  your  hotel  bills 
•during  the  tw^o  terms  you  have  defended   me,  must  be  verv  con- 


MV    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED. 


663 


siderable.  It  is  not  just  that  you  should  receive  notliing  in  re- 
turn for  such  work  and  expenses." 

"  Well!  well!"  he  answered,  "  I  will  give  you  a  promissory 
note  which  you  will  sign."  Taking  then  a  small  piece  of  paper, 
he  wrote: 

He  handed  me  the  note,  saying,  "  Can  you  sign  that?" 


c^Ccr-^^^^ 


/tf^^uC*^^ 


^  ^^C:^ 


After  reading  it,  I  said,  "Dear  Mr.  Lincoln,  this  is  a  joke. 
It  is  not  possible  that  you  ask  only  fifty  dollars  for  services  which 
are  worth  at  least  two  thousand  dollars." 

He  then  tapped  me  with  the  right  hand  on  the  shoulders  and 
said:  "Sign  that;  it  is  enough.  I  will  pinch  some  rich  man  for 
that  and  make  them  oay  the  rest  of  the  bill,"  and  he  laughed 
outright. 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  was  writing  the  due-bill,  the  relax- 
ation of  the  great  strain  upon  my  mind,  and  the  great  kindness 
of  my  benefactor  and  defender  in  charging  me  so  little  tor 
such  a  service,  and  the  terrible  presentiment  that  he  would  pay 


664  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 

with  his  life  what  he  had  done  for  me,  caused  me  to  break  into 
sobs  and  tears. 

As  Mr.  Lincoln  had  finished  writing  the  due  bill,  he  turned 
round  to  me,  and  said,  "  Father  Chiniquy,  what  are  you  crying 
for?  ought  you  not  to  be  the  most  happy  man  alive?  you  have 
beaten  your  enemies  and  gained  the  most  glorious  victory,  and 
you  will  come  out  of  all  your  troubles  in  triumph." 

"  Dear  Mr.  Lincoln,"  I  answered,  "  allow  me  to  tell  you  that 
the  joy  I  should  naturally  feel  for  such  a  victory  is  destroyed  in 
my  mind  by  the  fear  of  what  it  may  cost  you.  There  were, 
then,  in  the  crowed,  not  less  than  ten  or  twelve  Jesuits  from 
Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  who  came  to  hear  ray  sentence  of  condem- 
nation to  the  penitentiary.  But  it  was  on  their  heads  that  you 
have  brought  the  thunders  of  heaven  and  earth!  nothing  can  be 
compared  to  the  expression  of  their  rage  against  you,  when  you 
not  only  wrenched  me  from  their  cruel  hands,  but  you  were 
making  the  walls  of  the  court-house  tremble  under  the  awful 
and  superhumanly  eloquent  denunciation  of  their  infamy,  dia- 
bolical malice,  and  total  want  of  Christian  and  human  principle, 
in  the  plot  they  had  formed  for  mv  destruction.  What  troubles 
my  soul,  just  now,  and  draws  m}'  tears,  is  that  it  seems  to  me 
that  I  have  read  your  sentence  of  death  in  their  bloody  eyes. 
How  many  other  noble  victims  have  already  fallen  at  their  feet! 

He  tried  to  divert  my  mind,  at  first,  with  a  joke,  "  Sign  this," 
said  he,  "  It  will  be  ray  warrant  of  death." 

But  after  I  had  signed,  he  became  more  solemn,  and  said,  "I 
know  that  Jesuits  never  forget  nor  forsake.  But  man  must  not 
care  how  and  where  he  dies,  provided  he  dies  at  the  post  of 
honor  and  duty,"  and  he  left  me. 

Here  is  the  sworn  declaration  of  Miss  Philomene  Moffat, 
now  Mrs.  Philomene  Schwartz: 


'♦State  of  Illinois,  } 

Cook  County,    ) 

"Philomene  Schwartz  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  That 
she  is  of  the  age  of  forty-three  years,  and  resides  at  484  Milwaukee 
Avenue,  Chicago;  that  her  maiden  name  was  Philomene   Moffat,   that  she 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  665 

knew  Father  LeBelle,  the  Roman  CathoHc  priest  of  the  French  Catholics 
of  Chicago  during  his  Hfetime,  and  knows  Rev.  Father  Chiniquy ;  that 
about  the  month  of  May,  A.  D.  1854,  in  company  with  Miss  Eugenia 
Bossey,  the  housekeeper  of  her  uncle,  the  Rev'd  Mr.  LeBelle,  who  was 
then  living  at  the  parsonage  on  Clark  street,  Chicago,  while  we  were  sitting 
in  the  room  of  Miss  Bossey,  the  Rev.  Mr.  LeBelle  was  talking  with  his 
sister,  Mrs.  Bossey,  in  the  adjoining  room,  not  suspecting  that  we  were 
there  hearing  his  conversation,  through  the  door,  which  was  partly  opened; 
though  we  could  neither  see  him  nor  his  sister,  we  heard  every  word  of 
what  they  said  together,  the  substance  of  which  is  as  follows — Rev.  Mr. 
LeBelle  said  in  substance,  to  Mrs.  Bossey,  his  sister: 

"  '  You  know  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  a  dangerous  man,  and  he  is  my 
enemy,  having  already  persuaded  several  of  my  congregation  to  settle  in 
his  colony.  You  must  help  me  to  put  him  down,  by  accusing  him  of  having 
tried  to  do  a  criminal  action  with  you.' 

"  Madame  Bossey  answered :  '  I  cannot  say  such  a  thing  against  Mr. 
Chiniquy,  when  I  know  it  is  absolutely  false.' 

"  Rev.  M.  LeBelle  replied:  '  If  you  refuse  to  comply  with  my  request, 
I  will  not  give  you  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  I  intended  to 
give  vou;  you  will  live  and  die  poor.' 

"  Madame  Bossey  answered:  '1  prefer  never  to  have  that  land,  and  I 
like  better  to  live  and  die  poor,  than  to  perjure  myself  to  please  you.' 

"The  Rev.  Mr.  LeBelle,  several  times,  urged  his  sister,  Mrs.  Bossey,  to 
comply  with  his  desires,  but  she  refused.  At  last,  weeping  and  crying,  she 
said:  '  I  prefer  never  to  have  an  inch  of  land  than  to  damn  my  soul  for 
swearing  to  a  falsehood.' 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  LeBelle  then  said : 

"'  Mr.  Chiniquy  will  destroy  our  holy  religion  and  our  people  if  we  do 
not  destroy  him.  If  you  think  that  the  swearing  I  ask  you  to  do  is  a  sin, 
you  will  come  to  confess  to  me,  and  I  will  pardon  it  in  the  absolution  I  will 
give  you.' 

"  '  Have  you  the  power  to  forgive  a  false  oath.' '  replied  Mrs.  Bossey  to 
her  brother,  the  priest. 

"  'Yes,'  he  answered,  '  I  have  that  power;  for  Christ  has  said  to  all  his 
priests,  "  What  you  shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  what 
you  shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  ' 

"  Mrs.  Bossey  then  said:  'If  you  promise  that  you  will  forgive  that 
false  oath,  and  if  you  give  me  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  you 
promised,  I  will  do  w  hat  you  want.' 

"The  Rev'd  Mr.  LeBelle  then  said:  •  All  right!'  I  could  not  hear  any 
more  of  that  conversation,  for  in  that  instant  Miss  Eugenia  Bossey, 
who  had  kept  still  and  silent  with  us,  made  some  noise  and  shut  the 
ciocr. 


666  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  Affiant  further  states :  That  some  time  later  I  went  to  confess  to  Rev. 
Mr.  LeBelle,  and  I  told  him  that  I  had  lost  confidence  in  him,  He  asked  me 
why.^  I  answered:  'I  lost  my  confidence  in  you  since  I  heard  your  con- 
rersation  with  your  sister,  when  you  tried  to  persuade  her  to  perjure  herseif 
in  order  to  destroy  Father  Chiniquy.' 

"  Affiant  further  says:  "That  in  the  month  of  October,  A.  D.  1856,  the 
Rev'd  Mr.  Chiniquy  had  to  defend  himself,  before  the  civil  and  criminal 
court  of  Urbana,  Illinois,  in  an  action  brought  against  him  by  Peter  Spink; 
some  one  wrote  from  Urbana  to  a  paper  of  Chicago,  that  Father  Chiniquy 
was  probably  to  be  condemned.  The  paper  which  published  that  letter 
was  much  read  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  were  glad  to  hear  that  that 
priest  was  to  be  punished.  Among  those  who  read  that  paper  was  Narcisse 
Terrien.  He  had  lately  been  married  to  Miss  Sara  Chaussey,  who  told 
him  that  Father  Chiniquy  was  innocent;  that  she  was  present  with  me 
when  Rev'd  LeBelle  prepared  the  plot  with  his  sister,  Mrs.  Bossey,  and  had 
promised  her  a  large  piece  of  land  if  she  would  swear  falsely  against  Father 
Chiniquy.  Mr.  Narcisse  Terrien  wanted  to  go  with  his  wife  to  the  help  of 
Father  Chiniquy,  but  she  was  unwell  and  could  not  go.  He  came  to  ask 
me  if  I  remembered  well  the  conversation  of  Rev'd  Mr.  LeBelle,  and  if  I 
would  consent  to  go  to  L^rbana  to  expose  the  whole  plot  before  the  court, 
and  I  consented. 

"  We  started  that  same  evening  for  Urbana,  where  we  arrived  late  at 
night.  I  immediately  met  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln,  one  of  the  lawyers  of 
Father  Chiniquy,  and  told  him  all  that  I  knew  about  the  plot. 

"  That  very  same  night  the  Rev'd  Mr.  LeBelle,  having  seen  my  name 
on  the  hotel  register,  came  to  me  much  excited  and  troubled, '  and  said, 
Philomene,  what  are  you  here  for.'' 

"  I  answered  him,  '  I  cannot  exactly  tell  you  that ;  but  you  will  probably 
know  it  tomorrow  at  the  court-house! ' 

'"Oh,  wretched  girl!'  he  exclaimed,  'you  have  come  to  destroy  me.' 

" '  I  do  not  come  to  destroy  you,'  I  replied,  '  for  you  are  already  des- 
troyed ! ' 

"  Then  drawing  from  his  portmonnaie-book  a  big  bundle  of  bank-notes, 
which  he  said  was  worth  one  hundred  dollars,  he  said:  '  I  will  give  you  all 
this  money  if  you  will  leave  by  the  morning  train  and  go  back  to  Chicago. ' 

"  I  answered  him :  '  Though  you  would  offer  me  as  much  gold  as  this 
room  can  contain,  I  cannot  do  what  you  ask.' 

"  He  then  seemed  exceedingly  distressed,  and  he  disappeared.  The  next 
morning  Peter  Spink  requested  the  court  to  allow  him  to  withdraw  his 
accusations  against  Father  Chiniquy,  and  to  stop  his  prosecutions,  having, 
he  said,  found  out  that  he.  Father  Chiniquy,  was  innocent  of  the  things 
brought  against  him,  and  his  request  was  granted-  Then  the  innocence 
:ind  honesty  of  Father  Chiniquy  was    acknowledged  by  the  court  after  it 


MY    INNOCENCE    ACKNOWLEDGED.  66^ 

had  been  proclaimed  by   Abraham    Lincoln,   who  was   afterwards  elected 
President  of  the  United  States. 

"(Signed)  PHILOMENE  SCHWARTZ* 

"  I,  Stephen  R.  Moore,  a  Notary  Public  in  the  County  of  Kankakee, 
in  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  duly  authorized  by  law  to  adminster  oaths,  do 
hereby  certify  that,  on  this  2ist  day  of  October,  A.  D.  l88i,  Philomene 
Schwartz  personally  appeared  before  me,  and  made  oath  that  the  above 
affidavit  by  her  subscribed  is  true,  as  therein  stated.  In  witness  whereto,  I 
have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  notarial  seal. 

"STEPHEN  R.  MOORE, 

"  NoUry  Public." 

«  That  Udy  is  still  living,  iSS6,  and  at  the  head  of  oa«  ot  tke  most  respectable  familiM  a< 
Gbicag-o,  redding  at  482  Milwaukee  Aveana. 


Chapter  LIX. 

MOIICENT  OF  UrrSSSUPTION  IN  THB  THRSAX)  OF  MT  "FIPTT 
TSABS  IN  TH£  CHUBCH  OF  BOIO:,"  TO  SKB  HO'W  KIT  SAD 
PREVISIONS  ABOUT  MY  DEFENDBB,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
WEBB  TO  BB  BK  A  LTZED-BOME  THE  IMPXACABLT!  ENEMY 
OF  THB  TTNITBD  STATES— SHE  WANTS  TO  OONftUEB  AND 
BT7LE  THEM,  IN  OBDEB  TO  DBSTBOY  ALL  THEIB  BIGHTS, 
FBIVILBQBS  AND  LIBEBTIES. 

WHEN  it  became  evident,  in  1851,  that  my  plan  of  forming 
a  grand  colony  of  Roman  Catholic  French-speaking  people 
on  the  prairies  of  Illinois  was  to  be  a  success,  D'Arcy  McGee, 
:hen  editor  of  The  Freemar^ s  Journal^  official  journal  of  the 
Bishop  of  New  York,  wrote  me  to  know  my  views,  and  Imme- 
diately determined  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  similar 
enterprise  in  behalf  of  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics.  He  pub- 
lished several  able  articles  to  show  that  the  Irish  people,  with 
very  few  exceptions,  were  demoralized,  degraded  and  kept  poor, 
around  their  groggeries,  and  showed  how  they  would  thrive, 
become  respectable  and  rich,  if  they  could  be  induced  to  ex- 
change their  grog  shops  for  the  fertile  lands  of  the  west.  Through 
his  influence,  a  large  assembly,  principally  composed  of  priests, 
to  which  I  was  invited,  met  at  Buffalo,  in  the  spring  of  1852. 
But  w^hat  was  his  disappointment,  when  he  saw  that  the  greatest 
part  of  those  priests  were  sent  by  the  Bishops  of  the  United 
States  to  oppose  and  defeat  his  plans ! 

He  vainly  spoke  with  a  burning  eloquence  for  his  pet 
scheme.  The  majority  coldly  answered  him :  "  We  are  deter- 
mined, like  you,  to  take  possession  of  the  United  States  and  rule 
them ;  but  we  cannot  do  that  without  acting  secretly  and  with 
the  utmost  w^isdom.  If  our  plans  are  known,  they  will  surely 
be  defeated.  What  does  a  skillful  general  do  when  he  wants  to 
conquer  a  country?  Does  he  scatter  his  soldiers  over  the  farm 
lands,  and  spend  their  time  and  energy   in  ploughing   the   fields 


ROME,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  669 

and  sowing  grain?  No!  He  keeps  them  well  united  around  his 
banners,  and  marches  at  their  head,  to  the  conquest  of  the 
strongholds,  the  rich  and  powerful  cities.  The  farming  coun- 
tries then  submit  and  become  the  price  of  his  victory,  without 
moving  a  finger  to  subdue  them.  So  it  is  with  us.  Silently  and 
patiently,  we  must  mass  our  Roman  Catholics  in  the  great  cities 
of  the  United  States,  remembering  that  the  vote  of  a  poor  jour- 
neyman, though  he  be  covered  with  rags,  has  as  much  weight 
in  the  scale  of  power  as  the  millionaire  Astor,  and  that  if  we 
have  two  votes  against  his  one,  he  will  become  as  powerless  as 
an  oyster.  Let  us,  then,  multiply  our  votes;  let  us  call  our  poor 
but  faithful  Irish  Catholics  from  every  corner  of  the  world,  and 
gather  them  into  the  very  hearts  of  those  proud  citadels  which 
the  Yankees  are  so  rapidly  building  under  the  names  of  Wash- 
ington, New  York,  Boston,  Chicago,  Buffalo,  Albany,  Troy, 
Cincinnati,  etc.  Under  the  shadows  of  those  great  cities,  the 
Americans  consider  themselves  as  a  giant  and  unconquerable 
race.  They  look  upon  the  poor  Irish  Catholic  people  with  su- 
preme contempt,  as  only  fit  to  dig  their  canals,  sweep  their 
streets  and  work  in  their  kitchens.  Let  no  one  awake  those 
sleeping  lions,  to-day.  Let  us  pray  God  that  they  may  sleep 
and  dream  their  sweet  dreams,  a  few  years  more.  How  sad  will 
their  awakening  be,  when  with  our  outnumbering  votes,  we  will 
turn  them,  forever,  from  every  position  of  honor,  power  and  profit ! 
What  will  those  hypocritical  and  godless  sons  and  daughters  of 
the  fanatical  Pilgrim  Fathers  say,  when  not  a  single  judge,  not 
a  single  teacher,  not  a  single  policeman,  will  be  elected  if  he  be 
not  a  devoted  Irish  Roman  Catholic?  What  will  those  so- 
called  giants  think  of  our  matchless  shrewdness  and  ability, 
when  not  a  single  Senator  or  member  of  Congress  will  be  chosen, 
if  he  be  not  submitted  to  our  holy  father,  the  Pope?  What  a 
sad  figure  those  Protessant  Yankees  will  cut  when  we  will  not 
only  elect  the  President,  but  fill  and  command  the  armies,  man 
the  navies,  and  hold  the  keys  of  the  public  treasury?  It  will 
then  be  time  for  our  faithful  Irish  people  to  give  up  their  grog- 
shops, in  order  to  become  the  judges  and  governors  of  the  land. 
Then   our  poor   and   humble   mechanics,  will  leave  their  damp 


670  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THK    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

ditches  and  muddy  streets,  to  rule  the  cities  in  all  their  depart- 
ments, from  the  stately  mansion  of  Mayor  of  New  York,  to  the 
humble,  though  not  less  noble  position  of  teacher. 

"Then,  yes!  then,  we  will  rule  the  United  States,  and  lay 
them  at  the  feet  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  may  put  an 
end  to  their  godless  system  of  education,  and  sweep  aw^ay  those 
impious  laws  of  liberty  of  conscience,  which  are  an  insult  to  God 
and  man!" 

D'Arcy  McGee  was  left  almost  alone  when  the  votes  were 
taken.  From  that  time,  the  Catholic  priests,  with  the  most  ad- 
mirable ability  and  success,  have  gathered  their  Irish  legions  into 
the  great  cities  of  the  United  States,  and  the  American  people 
must  be  very  blind  indeed,  if  they  do  not  see  that  if  they  do 
nothing  to  prevent  it,  the  day  is  very  near  when  the  Jesuits  vv^ill 
rule  their  country,  from  the  magnificent  White  House  at  Wash- 
ington, to  the  humblest  civil  and  military  department  of  this  vast 
Republic.  They  are  already  the  masters  of  New  York,  Balti- 
more, Chicago,  St.  Paul,  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  Savannah,  Cin- 
cinnati, Albany,  Troy,  Milwaukee,  St.  Louis,  San  Francisco,  etc. 
Yes!  San  Francisco,  the  rich,  the  great  queen  of  the  Pacific,  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits! 

From  the  very  first  days  of  the  discovery  of  the  gold  mines 
of  California,  the  Jesuits  had  the  hopes  of  becoming  masters  of 
these  inexhaustible  treasures,  and  they  secretly  laid  their  plans, 
with  the  most  profound  ability  and  success.  They  saw,  at  once, 
that  the  great  majority  of  the  lucky  miners,  of  every  creed  and 
nation,  were  going  back  home,  as  soon  as  they  had  enough  to  se- 
cure an  honorable  competence  to  their  families.  It  became  then 
evident,  that  of  those  multitudes  which  the  thii'st  of  gold  had 
brought  from  every  corner  of  the  world,  not  one  out  of  fifty 
would  fix  their  homes  in  San  Francisco.  The  Jesuits  saw  at  a 
glance,  that  if  they  could  pei^suade  the  Irish  Catholics  to  settle 
and  remain  there,  they  would  soon  be  the  masters  and  rulers  of 
that  golden  city,  whose  future  is  so  bright  and  so  great !  And 
that  scheme,  worked  day  and  night  with  the  utmost  persever- 
ance, has  been  crowned  with  perfect  success. 

The  consequence  is,  that  while  you  find  onlv  a  few  American*, 


ROMB,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  67  I 

Germans,  Scotch  and  English  millionaires  in  San  Francisco,  you 
find  more  than  fifty  Catholic  Irish  millionaires  in  that  city.  Its 
richest  bank  (Nevada  Bank)  is  in  their  hands,  and  so  are  all  the 
street  railways.  The  principal  ofl^ices  of  the  city  are  filled  with 
Irish  Roman  Catholics.  Almost  all  the  police  are  composed  of 
the  same  class,  as  well  as  the  volunteer  military  associations. 
Their  compact  unity,  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits,  with  their  enor- 
mous wealth,  make  them  almost  supreme  masters  of  the  mines 
of  California  and  Nevada. 

When  one  knows  the  absolute,  abject  submission  of  the  Irish 
Roman  Catholics,  rich  or  poor,  to  their  priests;  how  the  mind, 
the  soul,  the  will,  the  conscience  are  firmly  and  irrevocably  tied 
to  the  feet  of  the  priests,  he  can  easily  understand  that  the  Jesuits 
of  the  United  States  form  one  of  the  richest  and  most  powerful 
corporations  the  world  ever  saw. 

It  is  well  known  that  those  fifty  Catholic  millionaires,  with 
their  myriads  of  employees,  are,  through  their  wives,  and  bv 
themselves,  continually  at  the  feet  of  the  Jesuits,  who  swim  in  a 
golden  sea. 

No  one,  if  he  be  not  a  Roman  Catholic,  or  one  of  those  so- 
called  Protestants  who  give  their  daughters  to  the  nuns,  and 
their  sons  to  the  Jesuits  to  be  educated,  has  much  hopes,  where 
the  Jesuits  rule,  of  having  a  lucrative  office  in  the  San  Francisco 
to-day. 

The  Americans,  with  few  exceptions,  do  not  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  the  dark  cloud  which  is  rising  at  their  horizon,  from 
Rome.  Though  that  cloud  is  filled  with  rivers  of  tears  and 
blood,  they  let  it  grow  and  rise  without  even  caring  how  they 
will  escape  from  the  impending  hurricane. 

It  is  to  San  Francisco  that  you  must  go  to  have  an  idea  of 
the  number  of  secret  and  powerful  organizations  with  which  the 
Church  of  Rome  prepares  herself  for  the  impending  conflict, 
through  which  she  hopes  to  destroy  the  schools,  and  every  vestige 
of  human  rights  and  liberties  in  the  United  Siates. 

In  order  to  more  easily  drill  the  Roman  Catholics  and  pre- 
pare them  for  the  irrepressible  struggle,  the  Jesuits  have  organ- 
ized them  into  a  great   number  of  secret   societies,  the  principal 


672  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  which  are:  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  Irish  Amc  /an 
Society,  Knights  of  St.  Patrick,  St.  Patrick's  Cadets,  St.  Patrick 
Mutual  Alliance,  Apostles  of  Liberty,  Benevolent  Sons  of  the 
Emerald  Isle,  Knights  of  St,  Peter,  Knights  of  the  Red  Branch, 
Knights  of  the  Columskill,  The  Secret  Heart,  etc.,  etc. 

Almost  all  these  secret  associations  are  military  ones.  They 
have  their  headquarters  at  San  Francisco;  but  their  rank  and  file 
are  scattered  all  over  the  United  States.  They  number  700,000 
soldiers,  who,  under  the  name  of  United  States  Volunteer  Militia, 
are  officered  by  some  of  the  most  skillful  generals  and  officers  of 
this  Republic. 

Another  fact,  to  which  the  American  Protestants  do  not  suf- 
ficiently pay  attention,  is  that  the  Jesuits  have  been  shrewd 
enough  to  have  a  vast  majority  of  Roman  Catholic  generals  and 
officers,  to  command  the  army  and  man  the  navy  of  the  United 
States. 

Rome  is  in  constant  conspiracy  against  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  man  all  over  the  world;  but  she  is  particularly  so  in  the 
United  States. 

Long  before  I  was  ordained  a  priest,  I  knew  that  my  church 
was  the  most  implacable  enemy  of  this  Republic,  My  profes- 
sors of  philosophy,  history  and  theology  had  been  unanimous  in 
telling  me  that  the  principles  and  la\«s  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
wei'e  absolutely  antagonistic  tc  the  laws  and  principles 
which  are  the  foundation-stones  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

1st,  The  most  sacred  principle  of  the  United  States  Consti- 
tution is  the  equality  of  every  citizen  before  the  law.  But  the 
fundamental  principW  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  is  the  denial  of 
that  equality. 

2nd.  Liberty  of  conscience  is  proclaimed  by  the  United 
States,  a  most  sacred  principle  which  every  citizen  must  uphold, 
even  at  the  price  of  his  blood.  But  liberty  of  conscience  is  de- 
clared by  all  the  Popes  and  Councils  of  Rome,  a  most  godless, 
unholy  and  diabolical  thing,  which  every  good  Catholic  must 
"•bhor  and  destroy,  at  any  cost. 

■^rd.      The  American  Constitution  assures  the  absolute  inde- 


ROME,    THE    EMEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  673 

pendence  of  the  civil  from  the  ecclesiastical  or  church  power; 
but  the  Church  of  Rome  declares,  through  all  her  Pontiffs  and 
Councils,  that  such  independence  is  an  impiety  and  a  revolt  against 
God. 

4.th.  The  American  Constitution  leaves  every  man  free  to 
serve  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience;  but  the 
Church  of  Rome  declares  that  no  maji  has  ever  had  such  a  right, 
and  that  the  Pope  alone  can  know  and  say  what  man  must  be- 
lieve and  do. 

5th.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  denies  the  right 
in  anv  body  to  punish  any  other  for  differing  from  him  in  reli- 
gion. But  the  Church  of  Rome  says  that  she  has  a  right  to 
punish  with  the  confiscation  of  their  goods,  or  the  penalty  of 
death,  those  who  differ  in  faith  from  the  Pope. 

6th.  The  United  States  have  established  schools  all  over 
their  immense  territories,  w'here  they  invite  the  people  to  send 
their  children,  that  they  may  cultivate  their  intelligence  and  be- 
come good  and  useful  citizens.  But  the  Church  of  Rome  has 
publicly  cursed  all  these  schools,  and  forbidden  their  children  to 
attend  them,  under  pain  of  excommunication  in  this  world  and 
damnation  in  the  next. 

7th.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  based  on  the 
principle  that  the  people  are  the  primary  source  of  all  civil 
power.  But  hundreds  of  times,  the  Church  of  Rome  has  pro- 
claimed that  this  principle  is  impious  and  heretical.  She  says 
that  "  all  government  must  rest  upon  the  foundation  of  the  Cath- 
olic faith;  with  the  Pope  alone  as  the  legitimate  and  infallible 
source  and  interpreter  of  the  law." 

I  could  cite  many  other  things,  proving  that  the  Church  of 
Rome  is  an  absolute  and  irreconcilable  enemy  of  the  United 
Stases;  but  it  would  be  too  long.  These  are  sufficient  to  show- 
to  the  American  people  that  Rome  is  a  viper,  which  they  feed 
and  press  upon  their  bosom.  Sooner  or  later,  that  viper  will 
bite  to  death  and  kill  this  Republic. 

This  was  foretold  by  Lafayette,  and  is  now  promulgated  by 
the  greatest  thinkers  of  our  time. 

The  greatest   inventor,   or    rather   the   immortal    father    of 


674  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

electric  telegraphy,  Samuel  Morse,  found  it  out  when  in  Rome, 
and  published  it  in  1834,  in  his  remarkable  work,  "  Conspiracies 
Against  the  Liberties  of  the  United  States."  The  learned  Dr. 
S.  Irenaeus  Prime,  in  his  life  of  Pi'of.  Morse,  says:  "When  Mr. 
Morse  was  in  Italy,  he  became  acquainted  with  several  ecclesias- 
tics of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  he  was  led  to  believe,  from 
what  he  learned  from  them,  that  a  political  conspiracy,  under 
the  cloak  of  a  religious  mission,  was  formed  against  the  United 
States.  When  he  came  to  Paris  and  enjoyed  the  confidence  and 
friendship  of  Lafayette,  he  stated  his  convictions  to  the  Gen- 
eral, who  fully  concurred  with  him  in  the  reality  of  such  a 
conspiracy." 

That  great  statesman  and  patriot,  the  late  Richard  W. 
Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  his  admirable  work,  "The 
Papacy  and  the  Civil  Power,"  says:  "Nothing  is  plainer  than 
that,  if  the  principles  of  the  Church  of  Rome  prevail  here,  our 
constitution  would  necessarily  fall.  The  two  cannot  exist  together. 
They  are  in  open  and  direct  antagonism  with  the  fundamental 
theory  of  our  government  and  of  all  popular  government  every- 
where." 

The  eloquent  Spanish  orator,  Castelar,  speaking  of  his  own 
Church  of  Rome,  said,  in  1869,  "  There  is  not  a  single  progress- 
sive  principle  that  has  not  been  cursed  by  the  Catholic  Church, 
This  is  true  of  England  and  Germany,  as  well  as  all  Catholic 
countries.  The  Church  cursed  the  French  Revolution,  the  Bel- 
gian Constitution  and  the  Italian  Independence,  Not  a  Consti. 
tution  has  been  born,  not  a  step  of  progress  made,  not  a  solitary 
reform  effected,  which  has  not  been  under  the  terrific  anathemas 
of  the  Church." 

But  why  ask  the  testimony  of  Protestants  or  Liberals  to  warn 
the  American  people  against  that  conspiracy,  when  we  have  the 
public  testimony  of  all  the  bishops  and  priests  to  prove  it  ?  With 
the  most  daring  impudence,  the  Church  of  Rome,  through  her 
leading  men,  is  boasting  of  her  stern  determination  to  destroy  all 
the  rights  and  privileges  which  have  cost  so  much  blood  to  the 
American  people.  Let  the  Americans,  who  have  eyes  to  see 
and  intelligence  to  understand,  read  the  following  unimpeacha- 


ROME,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  675 

ble  documents,  and  judge  for  themselves  of  what  will  become  of 
this  country,  if  Rome  is  allowed  to  grow  strong  enough  to  ex- 
ecute her  threats. 

"  The  church  is  of  necessity  intolerant.  Heresy,  she  endures 
when  and  where  she  must,  but  she  hates  it,  and  directs  all  her 
energies  to  destroy  it. 

"  If  Catholics  ever  gain  a  sufficient  numerical  majority  in  this 
country,  religious  freedom  is  at  an  end.  So  our  enemies  say,  so 
we  believe." — The  Shepherd  of  the  V^alley^  official  journal  of  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  Nov.  23,  1851. 

"  No  man  has  a  right  to  chose  his  religion.  Catholicism  is 
the  most  intolerant  of  creeds.  It  is  intolerance  itself.  We 
might  as  rationally  maintai*  that  two  and  two  does  not  make 
four,  as  the  theory  of  Religious  Liberty.  Its  impiety  is  only 
equalled  by  its  absurdity." — Ne-w  York  Freeman^  official  journal 
of  Bishop  Hughes,  Jan.  26,  1S52. 

"  The  Church  is  instituted,  as  every  Catholic  who  understands 
his  religion  believes,  to  guard  and  defend  the  right  of  God, 
against  any  and  every  enemy,  at  all  times,  in  all  places.  .She, 
therefore,  does  not,  and  cannot  accept,  or  in  any  degree  favor 
liberty,  in  the  Protestant  sense  of  liberty." — Catholic  Worlds 
April,  1870. 

"  The  Catholic  Church  is  the  medium  and  channel  through 
which  the  will  of  God  is  expressed.  While  the  state  has  riglits, 
she  has  them  only  in  virtue  and  by  permission  of  the  Superior 
Authority,  and  that  authority  can  be  expressed  only  through  the 
church." — Catholic  IVorld,  July,  1S70. 

*'  Protestantism  has  not,  and  never  can  have,  any  right,  where 
Catholicity  has  triumphed.  Therefore,  we  lose  the  breath  we 
expend  in  declaiming  against  bigotry  and  intolerance  and  in  favor 
of  Religious  Liberty,  or  the  right  of  man  to  be  of  anv  religion 
as  best  pleases  him." — Catholic  Jieviezc^June,  1865. 

"  Religious  Liberty  is  merely  endured  until  the  opposite  can 
be  carried  into  effect  without  peril  to  the  Catholic  Church." — 
Rt.  Rev.  O'Connor,  Bishop  of  Pittsburgh. 

"  The  Catholic  Church  numbers  one-third  the  American  pop- 
ulation; and  if  its  membership  shall   increase,  for  the  next  thirty 


676  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

years,  as  it  has  the  thirty  years  past,  in  1900,  Rome  will  have  a 
majority,  and  be  bound  to  take  this  country  and  keep  it.  There 
is,  ere  long,  to  be  a  state  religion  in  this  country,  and  that  state 
religion  is  to  be  the  Roman  Catholic. 

"  I  St.  The  Roman  Catholic  is  to  wield  his  vote  for  the  pur- 
pose of  securing  Catholic  ascendancy  in  this  country. 

"  3nd.  All  legislation  must  be  governed  by  the  will  of  God, 
unerringly  indicated  by  the  Pope. 

"  3rd.  Education  must  be  controlled  by  Catholic  authorities, 
and  under  education,  the  opinions  of  the  individual,  and  the  utter- 
ances of  the  press  are  included,  and  many  opinions  are  to  be  for- 
bidden by  the  secular  arm,  under  the  authority  of  the  church, 
even  to  war  and  bloodshed." — Father  Hecker,  Catholic  Worlds 
July,  1S70. 

"It  was  proposed  that  all  religious  persuasions  should  be  free 
and  their  worship  publicly  exercised.  But  we  have  rejected  this 
article  as  contrary  to  the  canons  and  councils  of  the  Catholic 
church." — Pope  Pius  VIL,  Encyclical^  1808. 

Every  one  kno'W's  that  one  of  the  first  and  most  solemn  acts 
of  the  present  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  was  to  order  that  the  theology  of 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas  should  be  taught  in  all  the  colleges,  semin- 
aries and  universities  of  the  Church  of  Rome  throughout  the 
whole  world,  as  the  most  accurate  teachings  of  the  doctrines  of 
his  church.  Well,  on  the  30th  of  Dec,  1870, 1  forced  the  Rt.Rev. 
Pole}',  Bishop  of  Chicago,  to  translate  from  Latin  into  English, 
before  the  court  of  Kankakee,  and  to  swear  that  the  following 
law  was  among  those  promulgated  by  St.  Thomas  as  one  of  the 
present  and  unchangeable  laws  ot  the  Church  of  Rome: 

"  Though  heretics  must  not  be  tolerated  because  they  deserve 
it,  we  must  bear  with  them,  till,  by  a  second  admonition,  they 
may  be  brought  back  to  the  faith  of  the  church.  But  those  who 
after  a  second  admonition,  remain  obstinate  in  their  errors,  must 
not  only  be  excommunicated,  but  they  must  be  delivered  to  the 
secular  power  to  be  exterminated." — St.  Thomas  Acquinas 
Sutntna  Theologia^  vol.  4,  p.  90. 

After  the  Bishop  had  sworn  that  this  was  the  true  doctine 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  expressed   by   St.  Thomas,  and  taught 


ROME,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  O77 

in  all  the  colleges,  seminaries  and  universities  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  I  forced  him  to  declare,  under  oath,  that  he,  and  every 
priest  of  Rome,  once  a  year,  under  pain  of  eternal  damnation,  is 
obliged  to  say,  in  the  presence  of  God,  in  his  Breviarum  (his 
official  prayer-hook)  that  that  doctrine  w^as  so  good  and  holy, 
that  every  word  of  it  has  been  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
vSt.  Thomas. 

The  same  Bishop  Foley  was  again  forced  by  me,  before  the 
same  court  of  Kankakee,  to  translate  from  Latin  into  English, 
the  following  decree  of  the  council  of  Lateran,  and  to  acknowl- 
edge, under  oath,  that  it  was  as  much  the  law  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  to-day,  as  on  the  day  it  was  passed,  in  the  year  1215: 

"  We  excommunicate  and  anathematize  every  heresy  that  ex- 
alts itself  against  the  holy  orthodox  and  Catholic  faith,  condemn- 
ing all  heretics,  by  whatever  name  they  may  be  known,  for 
though  their  faces  differ,  they  are  tied  together  by  their  tails. 
Such  as  are  condemned  are  to  be  delivered  over  to  the  existing 
secular  powers  to  receive  due  punishment.  If  laymen,  their 
goods  must  be  confiscated.  If  priests,  they  shall  be  degraded 
from  their  respective  orders,  and  their  property  applied  to  the 
church  in  which  th#y  officiated.  Secular  powers  of  all  ranks 
and  degrees  are  to  oe  warned,  induced,  and,  if  necessary,  com- 
pelled by  ecclesiastical  censure,  to  swear  that  they  will  exert 
themselves  to  the  utmost  in  the  defence  of  the  faith,  and  extir- 
pate all  heretics  denounced  by  the  church,  who  shall  be  found 
in  their  territories.  And  whenever  any  person  shall  assume  gov- 
ernment, whether  it  be  spiritual  or  temporal,  he  shall  be  bound 
to  abide  by  this  decree. 

"  If  any  temporal  lord,  after  having  been  admonished  and 
required  by  the  church,  shall  neglect  to  clear  his  territory  of 
heretical  depravity,  the  Metropolitan  and  Bishop  of  the  Province 
shall  unite  in  excommunicating  him.  Should  he  remain  contuma- 
cious a  whole  year,  the  fact  shall  be  signified  to  the  Supreme 
Pontiff,  who  will  declare  his  vassals  released  from  their  allegiance 
from  that  time,  and  will  bestow  his  territory  on  Catholics,  to  be 
occupied  by  them,  on  condition  of  exterminating  the  heretics  and 
preserving  the  said  territory  in  the  faith." 


678  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  Catholics  who  shall  assume  the  cross  for  the  extermina- 
tion of  heretics,  shall  enjoy  the  same  indulgence,  and  be 
protected  by  the  same  privileges  as  are  granted  to  those  who 
go  to  the  help  of  the  Holy  Land.  We  deci'ee  further  that  all 
those  who  have  dealings  with  heretics,  and  especially  such  as 
receive,  defend  and  encourage  them,  shall  be  excommunicated. 
He  shall  not  be  elegible  to  any  public  office.  He  shall  not  be 
admitted  as  a  \vitness.  He  shall  neither  have  the  power  to 
bequeath  his  property  by  will,  nor  to  succeed  to  any  inheri- 
tance. He  shall  not  bring  any  action  against  any  person,  but 
any  one  can  bring  action  against  him.  Should  he  be  a  judge, 
his  decision  shall  have  no  force,  nor  shall  any  cause  be  brought 
before  him.  Should  he  be  a  lawyer,  no  instruments  made  by 
him  shall  be  held  valid,  but  shall  be  condemned  with  their 
authors." 

Cardinal  Manning,  speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Pope,  said: 
"  I  acknowledge  no  civil  power;  I  am  the  subject  of  no  prince; 
and  I  claim  more  than  this.  I  claim  to  be  the  supreme  judge  and 
director  of  the  consciences  of  men.  Of  the  peasants  that  till  the 
fields,  and  of  the  prince  that  sits  upon  the  throne;  of  the  house- 
hold that  lives  in  the  shade  of  privacy,  and  the  legislator  that 
makes  laws  for  kingdoms.  I  am  sole,  last,  supreme  judge 
of  what  is  right  and  wrong.  Moreover,  we  declare,  affirm, 
define  and  pronounce  it  to  be  necessary  to  salvation  to  every 
human  creature  to  be  subject  to  the  Roman  Pontiff!  !" — Tablet^ 
Oct.  9,  1864. 

"  Undoubtedly  it  is  the  intention  of  the  Pope  to  possess  this 
country.  In  this  intention  he  is  aided  by  the  Jesuits,  and  all  the 
Catholic  prelates  and  priests." — BrovDnson's  Review^  May, 
1864. 

"  For  our  own  part,  we  take  this  opportunity  to  express  our 
hearty  delight  at  the  suppression  of  the  Protestant  Chapel  in 
Rome.  This  may  be  thought  intolerant;  but  when,  we  ask,  did 
we  profess  to  be  tolerant  of  Protestantism,  or  to  favor  the  ques- 
tion that  Protestantism  ought  to  be  tolerated.  On  the  contrary, 
we  hate  Protestantism.     We  detest  it  with  our  whole  heart  and 


i 


ROME,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  679 

ooul,  and  we  pray  our  aversion  for  it  may  never  decrease." — 
Pittsburgh  Catholic  Kisitor^  July ^  1848,  official  journal  of  the 
Bishop. 

"  No  good  government  can  exist  without  religion,  and  there 
can  be  no  religion  without  an  inquisition,  which  is  wisely  designed 
for  the  protection  and  promotion  of  the  true  faith." — Boston 
Pilot^  official  journal  of  the  Bishop. 

"  The  Pope  has  the  right  to  pronounce  sentence  of  deposition 
against  any  sovereign,  when  required  by  the  good  of  the  Spirit- 
ual Order." — Brownsoti's  Review^  1849. 

"  The  power  of  the  church  exercised  over  sovereigns  in  the 
middle  ages  was  not  a  usurpation,  was  not  derived  from  the  con- 
cessions of  princes  or  the  consent  of  the  people,  but  was  and  is 
held  by  divine  right,  and  whoso  resists  it,  rebels  against  the 
King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords. "  —  Brozvnson's  Review, 
June  1 85 1. 

The  council  of  Constance,  held  in  1414,  declared:  "That  any 
person  who  has  promised  security  to  heretics  shall  not  be  obliged 
to  keep  his  promise,  by  whatever  he  may  be  engaged. 

"  It  is  in  consequence  of  that  principle  that  no  faith  must  be 
kept  with  heretics,  that  John  Huss  was  publicly  burned  on  the 
scaffold,  the  6th  of  July,  1415,  in  the  city  of  Constance,  though 
he  had  a  safe  passport  from  the  Emperor." 

"  Negroes  have  no  rights  which  the  white  man  is  bound  to 
respect." — Roman  Catholic  Cliief-yustice  Tafiy,  in  his  Dred- 
Scot  Decision. 

"  If  the  liberties  of  the  American  people  are  ever  destroyed, 
they  will  fall  by  the  hands  of   the  Catholic  clergy." — Lafayette. 

"  If  your  son  or  daughter  is  attending  a  State  School,  you 
are  violating  your  duty  as  a  Catholic  parent,  and  conducing  to 
the  everlasting  anguish  and  despair  of  your  child.  Take  him 
away.  Take  him  away,  if  you  do  not  wish  your  deathbed  to 
be  tormented  with  the  spectre  of  a  soul  which  God  has  given 
vou  as  a  sacred  trust,  surrendered  to  the  great  enemy  of  mankind. 
Take  him  away,  rather  than  incur  the  wrath  of  his  God,  and  the 
loss  of  his  soul." —  Western  Tablet,  official  paper  of  the  Bishop 
of  Chicasro. 


6So  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

All  the  echoes  of  the  United  States,  are  still  repeating  the 
same  denunciations  against  our  public  schools  made  by  Mgr. 
Capel,  a  prelate  attached  to  the  household  of  the  Pope.  That 
Roman  Catholic  dignitaiy  has  not  only  passed  again  the  sentence 
of  death  against  the  schools  of  the  United  States;  but  he  has 
warned  the  Americans  that  the  time  is  not  far  away  when  the 
Roman  Catholics,  at  the  order  of  the  Pope,  will  refuse  to  pay 
their  school  tax,  and  will  send  bullets  to  the  breasts  of  the  gov- 
ernment agents,  rather  than  pay  it.  "  The  order  can  come  any 
day  from  Rome,"  said  the  prelate.  "  It  will  come  as  quickly  as 
the  click  of  the  trigger,  and  it  will  be  obeyed,  of  course,  as 
coming  from  God  Almighty,  himself!  " 

The  Catholic  Columbian^  edited  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  says:  "Secu- 
lar ( government )  schools  are  unfit  for  Catholic  children. 
Catholic  parents  cannot  be  allowed  the  sacraments,  who  choose 
to  send  their  children  to  them,  when  they  could  make  use  of  the 
Catholic  schools." 

"  The  absurd  and  erroneous  doctrin.es,  or  ravings,  in  defense 
of  liberty  of  conscience,  are  a  most  pestilential  error,  a  pest  of 
all  others,  to  be  dreaded  in  the  State." — Encyclical  Letters  of 
Pope  Pius  /A'.,  Aug.  15,  1854. 

"  You  should  do  all  in  your  power  to  carry  out  the  intentions 
of  his  holiness,  the  Pope.  Where  you  have  the  electoral  fran- 
chise, give  vour  votes  to  none  but  those  who  assist  you  in  so 
holy  a  struggle." — Daniel  O'  Conticll. 

"  Catholic  votes  should  be  cast  solidly  for  the  democracy  at 
the  next  election.  It  is  the  only  possible  hope  to  break  down 
the  school  system." — Toledo  Catholic  Review. 

"  It  is  of  faith  that  the  Pope  has  the  right  of  deposing  her- 
etical and  rebel  kings.  Monarchs,  so  deposed  by  the  Pope,  are 
converted  into  notorious  tyrants,  and  may  be  killed  by  the  first 
who  can  reach  them. 

"  If  the  public  cause  cannot  meet  with  its  defence  in  the 
death  of  a  tyrant,  it  is  lawful  for  the  first  who  arrives,  to  assas- 
sinate him. " — Suarez,  Defensio  Fidei\  Book  VI.,  chap.  4, 
Nos.  13-14. 


LEO    XIII..  PRESENT  POPE. 


p.  C76. 


ROME,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  68l 

"  See,  sir,  from  this  chamber,  I  govern,  not  only  to  Paris, 
but  to  China;  not  only  to  China,  but  to  all  the  world,  without 
any  one  knowing  how  I  do  it." —  Tambriorini^  General  of  the 
Jesuits. 

"  A  man  who  has  been  excommunicated  by  the  Pope,  may 
be  killed  anywhere,  as  Escobar  and  Deaux  teach,  because  the 
Pope  has  an  indirect  jurisdiction  ONer  the  whole  w^orld,  even  in 
temporal  things,  as  all  the  Catholics  maintain,  and  as  Suarez 
proves  against  the  King  of  England." — Bussambaum — Lacroi, 
Theologica  ^loralis^  '757* 

The  Roman  Catholic  historian  of  the  Jesuits,  Cratineau 
Joly,  in  his  Vol.  II.,  page  435,  approvingly  says:  "  Father 
Guivard,  writing  about  Henry  IV.,  King  of  France,  says:  *  If 
he  cannot  be  deposed,  let  us  make  war;  and  if  we  cannot  make 
war,  let  him  be  killed.'  " 

The  great  Roman  Catholic  theologian,  Dens,  puts  to  him- 
self, the  question:  "Are  heretics  justly  punished  with  death.'* 
He  answers:  'St.  Thomas  says:  Yes!  22,  question  11,  Art.  3. 
Because  forgers  of  money,  or  other  disturbers  of  the  state,  are 
justly  punished  with  death;  therefore,  all  heretics  who  are  for- 
gers of  faith,  and,  as  experience  testifies,  grievously  disturb  the 
State.' 

"  This  is  contirmed,  because  God,  in  the  Old  Testament, 
ordered  the  false  prophets  to  be  slain,  and  in  Deuteronomy  it  is 
decreed  that  if  any  one  will  act  proudly,  and  will  not  obey  the 
commands  of  the  priests,  let  him  be  put  to  death. 

"The  same  is  proved  from  the  condemnation  of  the  14th 
article  of  John  IIuss,  in  the  Council  of  Constance." — Dens,  p. 
S8,  Tome  II.,  Dublin,  1834. 

"  That  we  may,  in  all  things,  attain  the  truth.  That  we  may 
not  err  in  anything,  we  ought  ever  to  hold,  as  a  fixed  principle, 
that  what  I  see  white,  1  believe  to  be  black,  if  the  superior  au- 
thorities of  the  church  define  it  to  be  so." — Spiritual  Exercise^ 
by  Ignatius  Loyola,  founder  of  the  Jesuits. 

"  As  for  holy  obedience,  this  virtue  must  be  perfect  in  everv 
p>oint,  in  execution,  in  will,  in  intellect,  doing  which  is  enjoined 
with  all   celerity,   spiritual    joy,    and  perseverance;    persuading 


682 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


ourselves  that  everything  is  just,  suppressing  every  repugnant 
thought  and  judgment  of  one's  own,  in  a  certain  obedience, 
should  be  moved  and  directed  under  Divine  Providence,  by  his 
superior,  just  as  if  he  w^ere  a  corpse  {^Perindi acsi  cadavei'  essef) 
w^hich  allow^s  itself  to  be  moved  and  led  in  eveiy  direction." — 
Ignatius  Loyola,  Spiritual  Exercise. 

"  If  the  Holy  Church  so  requires,  let  us  sacrifice  our  own 
opinions,  our  knowledge,  our  intelligence,  the  splendid  dreams 
of  our  imagination  and  the  sublime  attainments  of  human  un- 
derstanding."— Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  Encyclical^  Aug.  15th, 
1832. 

"  No  more  cunning  plot  was  ever  devised  against  the  intelli- 
gence, the  freedom,  the  happiness  and  virtue  of  mankind,  than 
Romanism." — Gladstone,  Letter  to  Aberdeen. 

"  The  principal  and  most  efficacious  means  of  practicing 
obedience  due  to  superiors,  and  of  rendering  it  meritorious 
before  God,  is  to  consider  that,  in  obeying  them,  we  obey  God 
Himself,  and  that  by  despising  their  commands,  we  despise  the 
authority  of  the  Divine  Master. 

"  When,  thus,  a  Religious  receives  a  pi"ecept  from  her  pre- 
.  late, superior  or  confessor,  she  should  immediately  execute  it,  not 
only  to  please  them,  but  principally  to  please  God,  whose  will  is 
know^n  by  their  command. 

"  If,  then,  you  receive  a  command  from  one  who  holds  the 
place  of  God,  you  should  observe  it  as  if  it  came  from  God 
Himself.  It  may  be  added  that  there  is  more  certainty  of  doing 
the  will  of  God  by  obedience  to  our  superiors  than  by  obedience 
to  Jesus  Christ,  should  He  appear  in  person  and  give  His  com- 
mand. 

"  St.  Philip  used  to  say  that  the  Religious  shall  be  most  cer- 
tain of  not  having  to  render  an  account  of  the  actions  performed 
through  obedience,  for  these,  the  superiors  only,  who  command 
them  shall  be  accountable." — Saint  Ligouri,  The  Nun  Sancti' 
fied. 

'•In  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  plenitude 
•  if  which  resides  in  His  Vicar,  the  Pope,  we  declare  that  the  teach- 
ing that  the  earth  is  not  the  centre  of  the  world,  and  that  it  moves 


ROME     lii,.     :..si,.wi     < ^.siiii^D    STATES.  6S3 

with  a  diurnal  motion,  is  absurd,  philosophically  false,  and  er- 
roneous in  faith." — Decree  of  Pope  Urbain  XIII.  (signed)  by 
Cardinals  Felia,  Guido,  Desiderio,  Antonio,  Belligero,  and  Fab- 
ricius. 

In  consequence  of  that  infallible  decree  of  the  infallible  Pope, 
Galileo,  in  order  to  escape  death,  was  obliged  to  fall  on  his  knees 
and  perjure  himself,  by  signing  the  following  declaration  on  the 
2  3nd  of  June,  1663: 

"  I  abjure,  curse  and  detest  the  error  and  heresy  of  the  motion 
of  the  earth  around  the  sun." 

In  obedience  to  that  decree,  the  two  learned  Jesuit  astrono- 
mers, Lcsueur  and  Jacquier,  in  Rome,  only  a  few  years  ago, 
made  the  following  declaration:  "Newton  assumes,  in  his  third 
book,  the  hypothesis  of  the  earth  moving  around  the  sun.  The 
proposition  of  that  author  could  not  be  explained,  except  through 
the  same  hypothesis;  we  have,  therefore,  been  forced  to  act  a. 
character  not  our  own.  But  we  declare  our  entire  submission  to 
the  decrees  of  the  supreme  Pontiff  of  Rome  against  the  motion 
of  the  earth," — Nc-joton's  Principia^  bv  Fathers  Lesueur  and 
Jacquier,  vol.  iii.,  page  450. 

"A  Catholic  should  never  attach  himself  to  any  political  party- 
composed  of  heretics.  No  one  who  is  truly,  at  heart,  a  thorough 
and  complete  Catholic,  can  give  his  e'ntire  adhesion  to  a  Protest- 
ant leader;  for  in  so  doing,  he  divides  his  allegiance,  which  he 
owes  entirely  to  the  church." — Univers^  the  official  Catholic  pa- 
per of  the  Bishops  of  France,  Mar.  aSth,  186S. 

"Wbuld  he  (the  priest)  be  warranted  in  w^ithholding  any 
sacrament  of  the  church  from  a  man  by  reason  of  his  preferring 
one  candidate  to  the  other!  Absolutely  speaking,  he  w^ould; 
because  a  priest  is  not  only  warranted,  but  bound  to  withhold, 
the  sacraments  from  a  man  who  is  disposed  to  commit  a  mortal 
sin!  !" — Bishop  Vaughan's  address  to  the  Catholic  Club  at  Sal- 
ford,  England,  Jan.  2nd,  1873. 

"  Our  business  is  to  contrive: 

"  1st.     That   the   Catholics  Idc   imbued  with   hatred   for   the 
heretics,  whoever   they  may  be,  and   that   this  hatred  shall  con 
stantly  increase,  and  bind  them  closely  to  each  other. 


684  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 

"  2nd.  That  it  be,  nevertheless,  dissembled^  so  as  not  to 
transpire  until  the  day  when  it  shall  be  appointed  to  break 
forth. 

"  3rd.  That  this  secret  hate  be  combined  with  great  activity 
in  endeavoring  to  detach  the  faithful  from  every  government 
inimical  to  us,  and  employ  them,  when  they  shall  form  a  de- 
tached body,  to  strike  deadly  blows  at  heresy." — Secret  Plans 
of  the  Jesuits^  revealed  by  Albate  Leon,  p.  127. 

Henry  IV.,  King  of  France,  after  being  wounded  by  an  as- 
sassin sent  by  the  Jesuits,  said :  "1  am  compelled  to  do  one  of 
these  two  things:  Either  recall  the  Jesuits,  free  them  from  the 
infamy  and  disgrace  with  which  they  are  covered,  or  to  expel 
them  in  a  more  absolute  manner,  and  prevent  them  from  ap- 
proaching either  my  person  or  my  kingdom. 

"But,  then,  we  will  drive  them  to  despair  and  to  the  resolu- 
tion of  attempting  my  life  again,  which  would  render  it  so  mis- 
erable to  me,  being  always  under  the  apprehension  of  being 
murdered,  or  poisoned.  For  these  people  have  correspondence 
everywhere,  and  are  so  very  skillful  in  disposing  the  minds  of 
men  to  whatever  they  wish,  that  I  think  it  would  be  better  that 
I  should  be  already  dead." — Suliys  MetnoirSy  tome  ii.,  chap.  iii. 

"  Let  us  bring  all  our  skill  to  bear  upon  this  part  of  our  plan. 
Our  chief  concern  must  be  to  mould  the  people  to  our  purposes. 
Doubtless,  the  first  generation  will  not  be  wholly  ours;  but  the 
second  wiil  nearly  belong  to  us:  and  the  third  entirely." — The 
Secret  Plan,  page  127-128. 

"The  state  is,  therefore,  only  an  inferior  court,  bound  to  re- 
ceive the  law  from  the  superior  court  (the  church)  and  liable  to 
have  its  decrees  reversed  on  appeal." — Brotvnsoft's  Essays,  pages 
282-284. 

"  The  Jesuits  are  a  military  organization,  not  a  religious  or- 
der. Their  chief  is  a  general  of  an  army,  not  the  mere  father 
abbot  of  a  monastery.  And  the  aim  of  this  organization  is: 
Power.  Power  in  the  most  despotic  exercise.  Absolute  power, 
universal  power,  power  to  control  the  world  by  the  volition  of  a 
single  man.  Jesuitism  is  the  most  absolute  of  despotisms;  and 
at  the  same  time  the  greatest  and  the  most  enormous  of  abuses." 


ROME,    THE    ENEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  685 

— Memorial  of  the    Captivity  of  Napoleon  at   St.  Helena ^  by 
General  Montholon,  vol.  ii.,  p.  62. 

"  The  general  of  the  Jesuits  insists  on  being  master,  sover- 
eign, over  the  sovereign.  Wherever  the  Jesuits  are  admitted 
they  will  be  masters,  cost  what  it  may.  Their  society  is  by  na- 
ture dictatorial,  and  therefore  it  is  the  irreconcilable  enemy  of 
all  constituted  authority.  Every  act,  every  crime,  however 
atrocious,  is  a  meritorious  work,  if  committed  for  the  interest  of 
the  Society  of  the  Jesuits,  or  by  the  order  of  its  general." — 
Memorial  of  the  Captivity  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena^  vol.  ii.,  p. 

In  the  allocution  of  Sept.  1851,  Pope  Pius  IX.  said: 

"That  he  had  taken  that  principle  for  basis:  That  the  Cath- 
olic religion,  with  all  its  votes,  ought  to  be  exclusively  dominant 
in  such  sort  that  every  other  worship  shall  be  banished  and  inter- 
dicted! 

"  You  ask  if  the  Pope  were  lord  of  this  land  and  you  were 
in  a  minority,  what  he  would  do  to  you?  That,  we  say,  would 
entirely  depend  on  circumstances.  If  it  would  benefit  the  cause 
of  Catholicism,  he  would  tolerate  you ;  if  expedient,  he  would 
imprison,  banish  you,  probably  he  might  even  hang  you.  But 
be  assured  of  one  thing,  he  would  never  tolerate  you  for  the 
sake  of  your  glorious  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty." 
-^■Rambler.,  one  of  the  most  prominent  Catholic  papers  of  Eng- 
land, Sept.  1851. 

Lord  Acton,  one  of  the  Roman  Catholic  peers  of  England, 
reproaching  her  bloody  and  anti-social  laws  to  his  own  church, 
wrote:  "Pope  Gregory  VII.  decided  it  was  no  murder  to  kill 
excommunicated  persons.  This  rule  was  incorporated  in  the 
canon  law.  During  the  revision  of  the  code,  which  took 
place  in  the  i6th  century,  and  which  produced  a  whole  volume 
of  corrections,  the  passage  was  allowed  to  stand.  It  appears  in 
every  reprint  of  the  Corpus  Juris.  It  has  been  for  700  years, 
and  continues  to  be,  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  law.  Far  from 
being  a  dead  letter,  it  obtained  a  new  application  in  the  days  of 
the  Inquisition ;  and  one  of  the  later  Popes  has  declared  that  the 
murder  of  a  Protestant  is  so  good  a  deed  that  it  atones,  and  more 


686  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

than  atones,  for  the  murder  of  a  Catholic." — T'Ae  London  Times^ 
July  20th,  1872. 

In  the  last  council  of  the  Vatican,  has  the  Church  of  Rome 
expressed  any  regret  for  having  promulgated  and  executed  such 
bloody  laws?  No!  On  the  contrary,  she  has  anathematized  all 
those  who  think  or  say  that  she  was  wrong  when  she  deluged 
the  world  with  the  blood  of  the  millions  she  ordered  to  be 
slaughtered  to  quench  her  thirst  for  blood ;  she  positively  said  that 
she  had  a  right  to  punish  those  heretics  by  tortures  and  death. 

Those  bloody  and  anti-social  laws,  were  written  on  the  ban- 
ners of  the  Roman  Catholics,  when  slaughtering  100,000  Wal- 
denses  in  the  mountains  of  Piedmont,  and  more  than  50,000  de- 
fenceless men,  women  and  children  in  the  city  of  Bezieres.  It 
is  under  the  inspiration  of  those  diabolical  laws  of  Rome,  that 
75,000  Protestants  were  massacreed,  the  night  and  following 
week  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

It  was  to  obey  those  bloody  laws  that  Louis  XIV.  revoked 
the  Edict  of  Nantes,  caused  the  death  of  half  a  million  of  men, 
women  and  children,  who  perished  in  all  the  highways  of  France, 
and  caused  twice  that  number  to  die  in  the  land  of  exile,  where 
they  had  found  a  refuge. 

Those  anti-social  laws,  to-day,  are  written  on  .her  banners 
with  the  blood  of  ten  millions  of  martyrs.  It  is  under  those 
bloody  banners  that  6,000  Roman  Catholic  priests,  Jesuits  and 
bishops,  in  the  United  States,  are  marching  to  the  conquest  of 
this  Republic,  backed  by  their  seven  millions  of  blind  and  obedi- 
ent slaves. 

Those  laws,  which  are  still  the  ruling  laws  of  Rome,  were 
the  main  cause  of  the  last  rebellion  of  the  Southern  States. 

Yes!  without  Romanism,  the  last  aw^ful  civil  war  would 
have  been  impossible.  Jeff  Davis  would  never  have  dared  to 
attack  the  North,  had  he  not  had  assurance  from  the  Pope,  that 
the  Jesuits,  the  bishops,  the  priests  and  the  whole  people  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  under  the  name  and  mask  of  Democracy^ 
would  help  him. 

These  diabolical  and  anti-social  laws  of  Rome  caused  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  (Beauregard)  to  be  the  man  chosen  to  fire  the  first 


.M 


ROME,    THE    EMEMY    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  687 

gun  at  Fort  Sumter,  againt  the  flag  of  Liberty,  on  the  12th  of 
April,  1 86 1.  Those  antichristian  and  anti-social  laws  caused  the 
Pope  of  Rome  to  be  the  only  crowned  prince  in  the  whole 
world,  so  depraved  as  to  publicly  shake  hands  with  Jeff  Davis, 
and  proclaim  him  President  of  a  legitimate  government. 

These  are  the  laws  which  led  the  assassins  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln to  the  house  of  a  rabid  Roman  Catholic  woman,  Mary  Sur- 
ratt,  which  was  not  only  the  rendezvous  of  the  priests  of  Wash- 
ington, but  the  very  dwelling-house  of  some  of  them. 

That  woman,  gifted  by  God  to  be  an  angel  of  peace  and 
mercy  on  earth,  was  changed  by  those  laws  into  a  bloodthirsty 
tigress;  for  she  had  smelt  the  blood  which,  everywhere,  comes 
from  the  robe,  the  hands  and  the  lips  of  the  priest  of  Rome. 

Those  bloody  and  infernal  laws  of  Rome  nerved  the  arm  of 
the  Roman  Catholic,  Booth,  when  he  slaughtered  one  of  the 
noblest  men  God  has  ever  given  to  the  world. 

Those  bloody  and  anti-social  laws  of  Rome,  after  having 
covered  Europe  with  ruins,  tears  and  blood,  for  ten  centuries, 
have  crossed  the  oceans  to  continue  their  work  of  slavery  and 
desolation,  blood  and  tears,  ignorance  and  demoralization,  on 
this  continent.  Under  the  mask  and  name  of  Democracy, 
they  have  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion  of  the  South  against 
the  North,  and  caused  more  than  a  half  million  of  the  most 
heroic  sons  of  America  to  fall  on  the  fields  of  carnage. 

In  a  very  near  future,  if  God  does  not  miraculously  prevent 
it,  those  laws  of  dark  deeds  and  blood  will  cause  the  prosperity, 
the  rights,  the  education,  and  the  liberties  of  this  too  confident 
nation,  to  be  buried  under  a  mountain  of  smoking  and  bloody 
ruins.  On  the  top  of  that  mountain,  Rome  will  raise  her  throne 
and  plant  her  victorious  banners. 

Then  she  will  sing  her  Te  Deums  and  shout  her  shouts  of 
joy,  as  she  did,  when  she  heard  the  lamentations  and  cries  of 
desolation  of  the  millions  of  martyrs  burning  in  the  five  thous- 
and auto-da-fes  she  had  raised  in  all  the  capitals  and  great  cities 
of  Europe. 


Chapter   LX. 


VTTNDAMENTAL  FKINOIFLES  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THB 
UNITED  STATES,  DRAWN  FBOM  THE  GOSFEL  OF  OHBIST  - 
BOME  CANNOT  THRIVE  AND  STAND  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
WITHOUT  DESTROYINa  THEIR  FRINCIFLES  OF  FRATERNITT, 
EaUALITY  AND  LIBERTY,  WHICH  ARE  THE  FOUNDATION  OF 
THE  REFUBL.IC— MY  FIRST  VISIT  TO  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  TO 
WARN  HIM  OF  PLOTS  I  KNEW  AGAINST  HIM  — ROMISH 
PRIESTS  CIRCULATE  THE  NEWS  THAT  HE  WAS  BOBN 
IN  THE  CHUBCH  OF  BOME-LETTEB  OF  THE  POPE  TO  JEFF 
DAVIS-MY  LAST  VISIT  TO  THE  PBHSIDENT-HIS  ADMIBABLE 
BEFERENCE  TO  MOSES-WILLING  TO  DIE  FOR  HIS  NATION'S 
SAKE. 

EQUALITY    AND    FRATERNITY    OF    MEN    PRO- 
CLAIMED BY  CHRIST. 

"  Be  yc  not  called  Rabbi.  For  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ.  And 
all  ye  are  brethren."     (Math.  23 :  8.) 

"  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons.  But  in  every  nation,  he  that  feareth 
Him  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  with  Him."   (Acts  10  :  34-35.) 

"Jesus  called  them  unto  him  and  said:  Ye  know  that  the  princes  of  the 
Gentiles  exercise  dominion  over  them,  and  they  that  are  great  exercise  au- 
thority upon  them : 

"  But  it  shall  not  be  so  among  you.  But  whosoever  will  be  great  among 
you,  let  him  be  your  minister:  And  whosoever  will  be  chief  among  you, 
let  him  be  your  servant. 

"  Even  as  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minis- 
ter, and  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."     (Math.  20  :  25-28.) 

PRINCIPLES      OF      LIBERTY      PROCLAIMED      BY 

CHRIST. 

"If  ye  continue  in  my  word,  then  are  ye  my  disciples  indeed,  and  je 
shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free.  If  the  Son  shall 
make  you  free,  you  shall  be  free  indeed."     (John  8  :  32.) 

"  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to 
pnmth  the  Gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted, 

68S. 


MY    FIRST    VISIT     TO     ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  689 

to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to 

•et  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised."     (Luke  4  :  18.) 

"  Where  the  Spirit  of  God  is,  there  is  liberty."     (2  Cor.  3  :  17.) 

TOLERANCE     AND     LIBERTY    OF     CONSCIENCE 
PROCLAIMED  BY  CHRIST. 

"  And  they  did  not  receive  him  (Christ)  because  his  face  was  as  though 
he  would  go  to  Jerusalem.  And  when  his  disciples  James,  and  John,  saw 
this,  they  said:  Wilt  thou  that  we  command  fire  to  come  down  from 
heaven  and  consume  them,  even  as  Elias  did.' 

"  But  he  turned  and  rebuked  them,  and  said :  Ye  know  not  what  spirit 
ye  are  of. 

"  For  the  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  man's  life,  but  to  save 
them."     (Luke  9  :  53-56.) 

"  Then  Simon  Peter,  having  a  sword,  drew  it,  and  smote  the  high  priest's 
servant,  and  cut  off  his  right  ear.     The  servant's  name  was  Malchus. 

"  Then  said  Jesus  unto  Peter,  put  up  thy  sword  into  the  sheath:  the  cup 
which  my  Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?  For  all  they  ttiat 
take  the  sword,  shall  perish  with  the  sword."     (Matt.  26  :  52.     John  18  :  10.) 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  people  of  Judea,  filled  with  admira- 
tion at  these  sublime  doctrines  of  equality,  fraternity,  liberty 
and  tolerance,  should  exclaim.  "  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man!" 

Is  it  on  those  admirable  principles  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
is  founded?  No!  for  she  has,  thousands  of  times,  proclaimed 
that  her  mission  was  to  destroy  them  all,  even  if  she  had  to  wade 
in  the  blood  of  those  who  support  them. 

But  just  as  the  Catholic  Church  is  not  only  the  very  antif>odes 
and  the  most  implacable  enemy  of  those  admirable  doctrines  and 
principles,  so  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  is  the  ripe  f  ruk 
of  this  divine  seed,  sown  by  the  Son  of  God  himself  in  the  bosom 
of  humanity,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  to  save  the  world. 

Yes,  in  reference  to  those  principles  of  fraternity,  equality, 
fiberty  and  tolerance,  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  is  to 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  what  the  fruit  is  to  the  tree  which  has 
given  it.  And  this  is  the  verdict  given  by  the  whole  world,  the 
Church  of  Rome  excepted. 

Why  is  it  that  the  poor,  the  bruised,  the  wounded  and  the 
oppressed  from  every  land,  turn  their  eyes,  their  hearts  and  their 
steps,  towards  this  country?       It   is  because  all   the  echoes  of 


6qO  fifty    years    in    the    church    of    ROME. 

heaven  and  earth  have  told  them  that  the  United  States  RepuL"- 
lic  is,  par  excellence^  the  hind  of  fraternity,  fair-play,  equahty 
and  hberty,  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world  has  revealed  them. 

The  Poj>e  of  Rome  and  his  Jesuits  know  this  better  than  any 
one.  Hence,  their  constant  and  supreme  efforts  to  destroy  this 
Republic.  Believing  and  preaching  that  it  is  their  dut}^  to  ex- 
terminate the  individuals  who  differ  from  them  in  religion,  they 
assume  that  it  is  their  duty  to  destroy  the  governments  and  the 
nations  who  refuse  to  submit  to  their  yoke,  when  they  can  do  it 
safely. 

The  mission  of  Rome  being,  to  teach  that  the  inferior,  the 
people,  must  obey  his  superior,  just  as  the  corpse  obeys  the  hand 
which  moves  it,  or  as  the  stick  obeys  the  arm  which  directs  it,  she 
knows  well  that  she  cannot  fulfill  her  mission,  and  attain  her  ob- 
ject so  long  as  this  government  of  a  free,  sovereign  people,  stands ; 
ehe  is,  then,  bound  to  oppose,  paralyze  and  destroy  that  govern- 
ment when  she  finds  her  opportunity. 

With  lynx's  eye,  she  watched  that  opportunity:  and  with 
anxiety  and  rage  she  spied  from  her  cradle  the  onward  march 
of  this  young  giant  Republic.  She  knew  that  it  was  in  the  bo- 
som of  every  true  citizen  of  the  United  States  to  propagate 
those  accursed,  (by  her)  principles  of  equality,  fraternity  and 
liberty,  all  over  the  world.  She  saw  that  the  irresistible  influ- 
ence of  those  principles  were  felt  on  the  most  distant  nations, 
as  well  as  on  the  poor,  miserable,  Irish  people,  she  was  keeping 
under  her  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke;  she  understood  that 
there  was  a  real  danger  for  her  very  existence,  if  those  princi- 
ples would  continue  to  spread ;  that  her  slavery  star  would  go 
down  as  the  liberty  star  would  rise  on  the  horizon.  In  a  word,. 
Rome  saw  at  once  that  the  very  existence  of  the  United  States 
was  a  formal  menace  to  her  own  life.  Already  she  had 
seen  the  chains  of  two  millions  of  her  Irish  slaves  melted  at  the 
^  simple  touch  of  the  warm  rays  of  liberty  which  had  fallen  from 
the  stars  and  stripes  banners.  From  the  very  beginning,  she 
T>erfidiously  sowed  the  germs  of  division  and  hatred  between 
the  two  great  sections  of  this  country,  and  she  felt  an  unspeaka- 
ble joy  when   she  saw  that   she  had  succeeded   in   dividing   it* 


MY    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  69 1 

South  from  the  North,  on  the  burning  question  of  slavery.  She 
looked  upon  that  division  as  her  golden  opportunity.  To  crush 
one  party  by  the  other,  and  reign  over  the  bloody  ruins  of  both, 
has  invariably  been  her  policy.  She  hoped  that  the  hour  of  her 
supreme  triumph  over  this  continent  was  come.  She  ordered 
her  elder  son,  the  Emperor  of  France,  to  keep  himself  ready  to 
heljD  her  crush  the  North,  by  having  an  army  in  Mexico  ready 
to  support  the  South,  and  she  bade  all  the  Roman  Catholic  bish- 
ops, priests  and  people  to  enroll  themselves  under  the  banners  of 
slavery,  by  joining  themselves  to  the  party  of  Democracy.  And 
everybody  knows  how  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops  and  priests, 
almost  to  a  man,  obeyed  that  order.  Only  one  bishop  dared  to 
disobe}'.  Above  everything,  it  was  ordered  to  oppose  the  elec- 
tion of  Lincoln  at  any  cost.  For,  from  the  very  first  day  his 
eloquent  voice  had  been  heard,  a  thrill  of  terror  had  gone  through 
the  hearts  of  the  partisans  of  slavery.  The  Democratic  press,, 
which  was  then,  and  is  still  now,  almost  entirely  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  devoted  tool  of  the  Jesuits, 
deluged  the  country  with  the  most  fearful  denunciations  against 
him.  They  called  him  an  ap^;  a  stupid  brute,  a  most  dangerous 
lunatic,  a  bloody  monster,  a  merciless  tyrant,  etc.,  etc.  In  a 
word,  Rome  exhausted  all  her  resources  of  language,  she  ran- 
sacked the  English  dictionary  to  find  the  most  suitable  expressions 
to  fill  the  people  with  contempt,  hatred  and  horror  against  him. 
But  it  was  written  in  the  decrees  of  God  that  the  honest  Abraham 
Lincoln  should  be  proclaimed  President  of  the  United  States, 
the  4th  of  March,  1861. 

At  the  end  of  August,  having  known  from  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic priest,  \vhom,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  I  had  persuaded  to  leave 
the  errors  of  Popery,  that  there  was  a  plot  among  them  to  assas- 
sinate the  President,  I  thought  it  was  my  duty  to  go  and  tell  him 
what  I  knew,  at  the  same  time  giving  him  a  ncAV  assurance  of 
gratitude  for  what  he  had  done  for  me. 

Knowing  that  I  was  among  those  who  were  waiting  in  the 
ante-chamber,  he  sent  immediately  for  me,  and  received  me  with 
greater  cordiality  and  marks  of  kindness  than  I  could  expect. 

"  I  am  so  glad  to  meet  you  again,"  he  said :  "  you   see  that 


691  KIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMS. 

your  friends,  the  Jesuits,  have  not  yet  killed  me.  But  they 
would  have  surely  done  it,  when  I  passed  through  their  most 
devoted  city,  Baltimore,  had  I  not  defeated  their  plans,  by  pass- 
ing incognito,  a  few  hours  before  they  expected  me.  We  have 
the  proof  that  the  company  which  had  been  selected  and  organ- 
ized to  murder  me,  was  lead  by  a  rabid  Roman  Catholic,  called 
Byrne;  it  was  almost  entirely  composed  of  Roman  Catholics; 
more  than  that,  there  were  two  disguised  pi'iests  among  them,  to 
lead  and  encourage  them.  I  am  sorry  to  have  so  little  time  to 
see  you;  but  I  will  not  let  you  go  before  telling  you  that,  a  few 
days  ago,  I  saw  Mr.  Morse,  the  learned  inventor  of  electric  tele- 
graphy; he  told  me  that,  when  he  was  in  Rome,  not  long  ago, 
he  found  out  the  proofs  of  a  most  formidable  conspiracy  against 
this  country  and  all  its  institutions.  It  is  evident  that  it  is  to  the 
intrigues  and  emissaries  of  the  pope,  that  we  owe,  in  great  part, 
the  horrible  civil  war  which  is  threatening  to  cover  the  country 
with  blood  and  ruins. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  Prof.  Morse  had  to  leave  Rome  before  he 
could  know  more  about  the  secret  plans  of  the  Jesuits  against  the 
liberties  and  the  very  existence  of  this  country.  But  do  you 
know  that  I  want  you  to  take  his  place  and  continue  that  investi- 
gation? My  plan  is  to  attach  you  to  my  ambassador  of  France, 
as  one  of  the  secretaries.  In  that  honorable  position,  you  would 
go  from  Paris  to  Rome,  \vhere  you  might  find,  through  the  di- 
rections of  Mr.  Morse,  an  opportunity  of  reuniting  the  broken 
threads  of  his  researches.  '  It  takes  a  Greek  to  fight  a  Greek.' 
As  you  have  been  twenty-five  years  a  priest  of  Rome,  I  do  not 
know  any  man  in  the  United  States  so  well  acquainted  as  you  are 
with  the  tricks  of  the  Jesuits,  and  on  the  devotedness  of  whom 
I  could  better  rely.  And,  when  once  on  the  staff  of  my  ambas- 
ador,  even  as  one  of  the  secretaries,  might  you  not  soon  yourself 
become  the  ambassador?  I  am  in  need  of  Christian  men  in 
every  department  of  the  public  service,  but  more  in  those  high 
positions.     What  do  you  think  of  that?  " 

"  My  dear  President,"  I  answered,  "  I  feel  overwhelmed  by 
your  kindness.  Surely  nothiug  could  be  more  pleasant  to  me 
than  to  grant  your  request.     The  honor  you  want  to  confer  upon 


MY    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    I.IXCOLN.      .  69^ 

me  is  much  above  my  merit;  but  my  conscience  tells  me  that  I 
cannot  give  up  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  my  poor  French- 
Canadian  countrymen,  who  are  still  in  the  errors  of  Popery.  For 
I  am  about  the  only  one  who,  by  the  Providence  of  God,  has 
any  real  influence  over  them.  I  am,  surely,  the  only  one  the 
bishops  and  priests  seem  to  fear  in  that  work.  The  many 
attempts  they  have  made  to  take  away  my  life  are  a  proof 
of  it.  Besides  that,  though  I  consider  the  present  President  of 
the  United  States  much  above  the  Emperors  of  France,  Russia, 
and  Austria,  much  above  the  greatest  kings  of  the  world,  I 
feel  that  I  am  the  servant,  the  ambassador  of  One  who  is  as  much 
above  even  the  good  and  great  President  of  the  United  States, 
as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth,  I  appeal  to  your  own  Chris- 
tian and  honorable  feelings  to  know  if  I  can  forsake  the  one  for 
the  other." 

The  President  became  very  solemn,  and  replied: 

"You  are  right!  you  are  right!  There  is  nothing  so  great 
under  heaven,  as  to  be  the  ambassador  of  Christ." 

But,  then,  coming  back  to  himself,  with  one  of  his  fine  jokes, 
which  he  had  always  ready,  he  added: 

"Yes!  yes!  You  are  the  ambassador  of  a  greater  Prince  than 
I  am;  but  he  does  not  pay  vou  with  as  good  cash  as  T  would 
do." 

He  then  added:  ''  I  am  exceedingly  pleased  to  see  you.  How- 
ever, I  am  so  pressed,  just  now,  by  most  important  affairs,  that 
you  must  excuse  me  if  I  ask  you  to  give  your  place  to  one  of 
my  generals  who  is,  there,  waiting  for  me.  Please  come  again, 
to-morrow,  at  ten  o'clock,  I  have  a  very  important  question  to 
ask  you,  on  a  matter  which  has  been  constantly  before  my  mind, 
these  last  few  weeks." 

The  next  day,  I  was  there,  at  the  appointed  hour,  with  my 
noble  friend,  who  said: 

"  I  could  not  give  you  more  than  ten  minutes,  yesterday,  but 
I  will  give  you  twentv,  to-day ;  I  want  your  views  about  a  thing 
which  is  exceedingly  puzzling  to  me,  and  you  are  the  only  one 
to  whom  I  like  to  speak  on  that  subject.  A  great  number  of 
Democratic  papers  have  been  sent  to    me,  lately,  evidently  writ- 


694  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

ten  by  Roman  Catholics,  publishing  that  I  was  born  a  Roman 
Catholic,  and  baptized  by  a  priest.  They  call  me  a  renegade,  an 
apostate,  on  account  of  that;  and  they  heap  upon  my  head  moun- 
tains of  abuse.  At  first,  I  laughed  at  that,  for  it  is  a  lie.  Thanks 
be  to  God,  I  have  never  been  a  Roman  Catholic.  No  priest  of 
Rome  has  ever  laid  his  hand  on  my  head.  But  the  persistency 
of  the  Romish  press  to  present  this  falsehood  to  their  readers  as 
a  gospel  truth,  must  have  a  meaning.  Please  tell  me,  as  briefly 
as  possible,  what  you  think  about  that." 

"My  dear  President,"  I  answered,  "it  was  just  this  strange 
story  published  about  you,  which  brought  me  here,  yesterday.  I 
wanted  to  say  a  word  about  it;  but  you  were  too  busy. 

"Let  me  tell  you  that  I  wept  as  a  child  when  I  read  that 
story  for  the  first  time.  For,  not  only  my  impression  is,  that  it 
is  your  sentence  of  death;  but  I  have  from  the  lips  of  a  converted 
priest,  that  it  is  in  order  to  excite  the  fanaticism  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  murderers,  whom  they  hope  to  find,  sooner  or  later,  to 
strike  you  down,  they  have  invented  that  false  story  of  your 
being  born  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  of  your  being  baptized 
hy  a  priest.  They  want  by  that  to  brand  your  face  with  the  ig- 
nominious mark  of  apostacy.  Do  not  forget  that,  in  the  Church 
of  Rome,  an  apostate  is  an  outcast,  who  has  no  place  in  society, 
and  who  has  no  right  to  live. 

"  The  Jesuits  want  the  Roman  Catholics  to  believe  that  you 
are  a  monster,  an  open  enemy  of  God  and  of  his  Church,  that 
you  are  an  excommunicated  man.  For,  everj^  apostate  is,  ipso 
jfacto  (by  that  very  fact)  excommunicated.  I  have  brought  to 
you  the  theology  of  one  of  the  most  learned  and  approved  of  the 
Jesuits  of  his  time,  Bussambaum,  who,  with  many  others,  say 
that  the  man  who  will  kill  you  will  do  a  good  and  holy  work. 
More  than  that,  here  is  a  copy  of  a  decree  of  Gregory  VII., 
proclaiming  that  the  killing  of  an  apostate,  or  an  heretic  and  an 
excommunicated  man,  as  you  are  declared  to  be,  is  not  murder; 
nay,  that  it  is  a  good,  a  Christian  action.  That  decree  is  incorpor- 
ated in  the  canon  law^,  which  every  priest  must  study,  and  which 
every  good  Catholic  must  follow. 

'•My   dear  President,  I  must  repeat  to  you  here  what  I  said 


MV    FlKsr     VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  695 

when  in  Urbana,  in  1856.  My  fear  is  that  you  will  fall  under 
the  blows  of  a  Jesuit  assassin,  if  you  do  not  pay  more  attention 
than  you  have  done,  till  now,  to  protect  yourself.  Remember 
that  because  Coligny  was  an  heretic,  as  you  are,  he  was  brutally 
murdered  in  the  St.  Bartholomew  night;  that  Henry  IV.  was 
stabbed  by  the  Jesuit  assassin,  Revaillac,  the  14th  of  May,  1610, 
for  having  given  liberty  of  conscience  to  his  people,  and  that 
William  the  Taciturn  was  shot  dead  by  another  Jesuit  murderer, 
called  Girard,  for  having  broken  the  yoke  of  the  Pope.  The 
Church  of  Rome  is  absolutely  the  same  to-day,  as  she  was 
then;  she  docs  believe  and  teach,  to-day,  as  then,  that  she  has 
the  right  and  that  it  is  her  duty  to  punish  by  death  any  heretic 
who  is  in  her  way  as  an  obstacle  to  her  designs.  The  unaminity 
with  which  the  Catholic  hierarchy  of  the  United  States  is  on  the 
side  of  the  rebels,  is  an  incontrovertible  evidence  that  Rome 
wants  to  destroy  this  republic,  and  as  you  are,  by  your  personal 
virtues,  your  popularity,  your  love  for  liberty,  your  position,  the 
greatest  obstacle  to  their  diabolical  scheme,  their  hatred  is  con- 
centrated upon  you ;  you  are  the  daily  object  of  their  maledic- 
tions; it  is  at  your  breast  they  will  direct  their  blows.  My 
blood  chills  in  my  veins,  when  I  contemplate  the  day  which  may 
come,  sooner,  or  later,  when  Rome  will  add  to  all  her  other  in- 
iquities, the  murder  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

When  saying  these  things  to  the  President,  I  was  exceedingly 
moved,  my  voice  was  as  choked,  and  I  could  hardly  retain  my 
tears.  But  the  President  was  perfectly  calm.  When  I  had 
finished  speaking,  he  took  the  volume  of  Bussambaum  from  my 
hands,  read  the  lines  which  I  had  marked  with  red  ink,  and  I 
helped  him  to  translate  them  into  English.  He,  then,  gave  me 
back  the  book,  and  said : 

"  T  will  repeat  to  you  what  I  said  at  Urbana,  when  for  the 
first  time  you  told  me  your  fears  lest  I  would  be  assassin- 
ated by  the  Jesuits.  '  Man  must  not  care  where  and  when  he 
will  die,  provided  he  dies  at  the  post  of  honor  and  duty.'  But 
I  may  add,  to-day,  that  I  have  a  presentiment  that  God  will  caM 
me  to  him  through  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  Let  His  will,  and 
not  mine,  be  done!  "    He  then  looked  at  his  w^tch,  and  said:  "I 


6o6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

am  sorry  that  the  twenty  minutes  I  had  consecrated  to  our  in- 
terview have  almost  passed  away ;  I  will  be  forever  grateful  for 
the  warning  words  you  have  addressed  to  me  about  the  dangers 
ahead  to  my  life,  from  Rome.  I  know  that  they  are  not  imag- 
inary dangers.  If  I  were  fighting  against  a  Protestant  South, 
as  a  nation,  there  would  be  no  danger  of  assassination.  The  na- 
tions who  read  the  Bible,  fight  bravely  on  the  battle-fields,  but 
they  do  not  assassinate  their  enemies.  The  Pope  and  the  Jesuits, 
with  their  infernal  Inquisition,  are  the  only  organized  power  in 
the  world  which  have  recourse  to  the  dagger  of  the  assassin  to 
murder  those  whom  they  cannot  convince  with  their  arguments, 
or  conquer  with  the  sword. 

"  Unfortunately,  I  feel  more  and  more,  every  day,  that  it  is 
not  against  the  Americans  of  the  South,  alone,  I  am  fighting,  it 
is  more  against  the  Pope  of  Rome,  his  perfidious  Jesuits  and 
their  blind  and  blood-thirsty  slaves,  than  against  the  real  Amer- 
ican Protestants,  that  we  have  to  defend  ourselves.  Here  is  the 
real  danger  of  our  position.  So  long  as  they  will  hope  to  con- 
quer the  North,  they  will  spare  me ;  but  the  day  we  will  rout  their 
armies  (and  the  day  will  surely  come,  with  the  help  of  God), 
take  their  cities,  and  force  them  to  submit ;  then,  it  is  my  im- 
pression that  the  Jesuits,  who  are  the  principal  rulers  of  the 
South,  will  do  what  they  have  almost  invariably  done  in  the 
past.  The  dagger  or  the  pistol  of  one  of  their  adepts,  will  do 
what  the  strong  hands  of  the  warriors  could  not  achieve. 
This  civil  war  seems  to  be  nothing  but  a  political  affair  to 
those  who  do  not  see,  as  I  do,  the  secret  springs  of  that  terrible 
drama.  But  it  is  more  a  religious  than  a  civil  war.  It  is  Rome 
who  wants  to  rule  and  degrade  the  North,  as  she  has  ruled  and 
degraded  the  South,  from  the  very  day  of  its  discovery.  There 
are  only  very  few  of  the  Southern  leaders  who  are  not  more  or 
less  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  through  their  wives,  family 
relations  and  their  friends.  Several  members  of  the  family  of 
Jeff  Davis  belong  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  Even  the  Protest- 
ant ministers  are  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits  without  sus- 
pecting it.  To  keep  her  ascendency  in  the  North,  as  she  does  in 
the  South,  Rome  is  doing  here  what  she  has   done   in  Mexico, 


MY    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN.  697 

and  in  all  the  South  American  Republics;  she  is  paralyzing,  by 
a  civil  war,  the  arms  of  the  soldiers  of  Liberty.  She  divides  our 
nation,  in  order  to  weaken,  subdue  and  rule  it. 

"  Surely  we  have  some  brave  and  reliable  Roman  Catholic 
officers  and  soldiers  in  our  armies,  but  they  form  an  insignificant 
minority  when  compared  with  the  Roman  Catholic  traitors 
against  whom  we  have  to  guard  ourselves,  day  and  night.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  immense  majority  of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishops, 
priests  and  laymen,  are  rebels  in  heart,  when  they  cannot  be  in 
fact;  with  very  few  exceptions,  they  are  publicly  in  favor  of 
slavery.  I  understand,  now,  why  the  patriots  of  France,  who  de- 
termined to  see  the  colors  of  Liberty  floating  over  their  great  and 
beautiful  country,  were  forced  to  hang  or  shoot  almost  all  the 
priests  and  the  monks  as  the  irreconcilable  enemies  of  Liberty. 
For  it  is  a  fact,  which  is  now  evident  to  me,  that,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  every  priest  and  every  true  Roman  Catholic  is  a  de- 
termined enemy  of  Liberty.  Their  extermination,  in  France,  was 
one  of  those  terrible  necessities  which  no  human  wisdom  could 
avoid;  it  looks  to  me  now  as  an  order  from  heaven  to  save 
France.  May  God  grant  that  the  same  terrible  necessity  be  never 
felt  in  the  United  States!  But  there  is  a  thing  which  is  very 
certain;  it  is,  that  if  the  American  people  could  learn  what  I 
know  of  the  fierce  hatred  of  the  generality  of  the  priests  of 
Rome  against  our  institutions,  our  schools,  our  most  sacred  rights, 
and  our  so  dearly  bought  liberties,  they  would  drive  them  away, 
to-morrow,  from  among  us,  or  they  would  shoot  them  as  traitors. 
But  I  keep  those  sad  secrets  in  my  heart ;  you  are  the  only  one 
to  whom  I  reveal  them,  for  I  know  that  you  learned  them  before 
m«.  The  history  of  these  last  thousand  years  tells  us  that 
wherever  the  Church  of  Rome  is  not  a  dagger  to  pierce  the 
bosom  of  a  free  nation,  she  is  a  stone  to  her  neck,  and  a  ball  to 
her  feet,  to  paralyze  her  and  prevent  her  advance  in  the  w^ays  of 
civilization,  science,  intelligence,  happiness  and  liberty.  But  I 
forget  that  my  twenty  minutes  are  gc-ne  long  ago. 

"■  Please  accept  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  new  lights  you 
have  given  me  on  the  dangers  of  my  position,  and  come  again, 
I  will  always  see  you  with  a  new  pleasure." 


698  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

My  second  visit  to  Abraham  Lincoln  was  at  the  beginning 
of  June,  1862.  The  grand  victory  of  the  Monitor  over  the 
Merrimac,  and  the  conquest  of  New  Orleans,  by  the  brave  and 
Christian  Farragut,  had  filled  every  heart  with  joy ;  I  wanted  to 
unite  my  feeble  voice  to  that  of  the  whole  country,  to  tell  him 
how  I  blessed  God  for  that  glorious  success.  But  I  found  him 
so  busy  that  I  could  only  shake  hands  with  him. 

The  third  and  last  time  I  went  to  pay  my  respects  to  the 
doomed  President,  and  to  warn  him  against  the  impending  dan- 
gers which  I  knew  were  threatening  him,  was  on  the  morning  of 
June  8th,  1864,  when  he  was  absolutely  beseiged  by  people  who 
wanted  to  see  him.  After  a  kind  and  warm  shaking  of  hands, 
he  said: 

'•  I  am  much  pleased  to  see  you  again.  But  it  is  impossible, 
to-day,  to  say  anything  more  than  this.  To-morrow  afternoon, 
I  will  receive  the  delegation  of  the  deputies  of  all  the  loyal 
states,  sent  to  officially  announce  the  desire  of  the  country  that  I 
should  remain  the  President  four  years  more.  I  invite  you  to 
be  present  with  them  at  that  interesting  meeting.  You  will  see 
some  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  our  Republic,  and  I  will  be 
glad  to  introduce  you  to  them.  You  will  not  present  yourself  as 
a  delegate  of  the  people,  but  only  as  the  guest  of  the  President; 
and  that  there  may  be  no  trouble,  I  will  give  you  this  card,  with 
a  permit  to  enter  with  the  delegation.  But  do  not  leave  Wash- 
ington before  I  see  you  again;  I  have  some  important  matters 
on  which  I  want  to  know  your  mind." 

The  next  day,  it  was  my  privilege  to  have  the  greatest  honor 
ever  received  by  me.  The  good  President  wanted  me  to  stand 
at  his  right  hand,  when  he  received  the  delegation,  and  hear  the 
address  presented  by  Governor  Dennison,  the  President  of  the 
convention,  to  which  he  replied  in  his  own  admirable  simplicity 
and  eloquence;  finishing  by  one  of  his  most  witty  anecdotes.  "I 
am  reminded  in  this  convention  of  a  story  of  an  old  Dutch  farmer, 
who  remarked  to  a  companion,  wisely,  '  that  it  was  not  best  to 
swap  horses  when  crossing  a  stream.' " 

The  next  day,  he  kindly  took  ine  with  him  in  his  carriage, 
when  visiting   the    30,000  wounded  soldiers  picked    up   on  th« 


MY    FIRST     VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN'.  699 

battle-fields  of  the  seven  days  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  and 
the  thirty  days  battle  around  Richmond,  where  Grant  was  just 
breaking  the  backbone  of  the  rebellion.  On  the  way  to  and 
from  the  hospitals,  I  could  not  talk  much.  The  noise  of  the  car- 
riage rapidly  drawn  on  the  pavement  was  too  great.  Besides 
that,  my  soul  was  so  much  distressed,  and  my  heart  so  much 
broken  by  the  sight  of  the  horrors  of  that  fracticidal  war,  that 
my  voice  was  as  stifled.  The  only  thought  which  seemed 
to  occupy  the  mind  of  the  President  was  the  part  which  Rome 
had  in  that  horrible  struggle.     Many  times  he  repeated: 

"  This  war  would  never  have  been  possible  without  the 
sinister  influence  of  the  Jesuits.  We  owe  it  to  Popery  that  we 
now  see  our  land  reddened  with  the  blood  of  her  noblest  sons. 
Though  there  were  great  differences  of  opinion  between  the 
South  and  the  North,  on  the  question  of  slavery ;  neither  Jeff 
Davis  nor  any  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  Confederacy  would 
have  dared  to  attack  the  North,  had  they  not  relied  on  the  prom- 
ises of  the  Jesuits,  that,  under  the  mask  of  Democracy,  the 
money  and  the  arms  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  even  the  arms  of 
France,  were  at  their  disposal,  if  they  would  attack  us.  I  pity 
the  priests,  the  bishops  and  the  monks  of  Rome  in  the 
United  States,  when  the  people  realize  that  they  are,  in  great 
part,  responsible  for  the  tears  and  the  blood  shed  in  this  war; 
the  later  the  more  terrible  will  the  retribution  be.  I  conceal 
what  I  know,  on  that  subject,  from  the  knowledge  of  the  nation; 
for  if  the  people  knew  the  whole  truth,  this  war  would  turn  into 
a  religious  war,  and  it  would,  at  once,  take  a  tenfold  more  savage 
and  bloody  character.  It  would  become  merciless  as  all  relig- 
ious wars  are.  It  would  become  a  war  of  extermination  on 
both  sides.  The  Protestants  of  both  the  North  and  the  South 
would  surely  unite  to  exterminate  the  priests  and  the  Jesuits,  if 
they  could  hear  what  Professor  Morse  has  said  to  me  of  the  plots 
made  in  the  very  city  of  Rome  to  destroy  this  Republic,  and  if 
they  could  learn  how  the  priests,  the  nuns,  and  the  monks,  who 
daily  land  on  our  shores,  under  the  pretext  of  preaching  their 
religion,  instructing  the  people  in  their  schools,  taking  care  of  the 
»iek  in  the  hospitals,  are  nothing   else  but   the  emissaries   of   the 


700  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    RQMB. 

Pope,  of  Napoleon,  and  the  other  despots  of  Europe,  to  iin- 
dermine  our  institutions,  alienate  the  hearts  of  our  people  from 
our  constitution,  and  our  laws,  destroy  our  schools,  and  prepare 
a  reign  of  anarchy  here  as  they  have  done  in  Ireland,  in  Mexico, 
in  Spain,  and  wherever  there  are  any  people  who  want  to  be 
free,  etc." 

When  the  President  was  speaking  thus,  we  arrived  at  the  door 
of  his  mansion.  He  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to  his  study,  and 
said: 

"  Though  I  am  very  busy,  I  must  rest  an  hour  w^ith  you.  I 
am  in  need  of  that  rest.  My  head  is  aching,  I  feel  as  crushed  un- 
der the  burden  of  affairs  which  are  on  my  shoulders.  There  are 
many  important  things  about  the  plots  of  the  Jesuits  that  I  can 
learn  only  from  you.  Please  wait  just  a  moment,  I  have  just  re- 
ceived some  dispatches  from  General  Grant,  to  which  I  must  give 
an  answ^er.  My  secretary  is  waiting  for  me.  I  go  to  him.  Please 
amuse  yourself  with  those  books,  during  my  short  absence." 

Twefity-five  minutes  later,  the  President  had  returned,  with 
his  face  flushed  with  joy. 

"Glorious  news!  General  Grant  has  again  beaten  Lee,  and 
forced  him  to  retreat  towards  Richmond,  where  he  will  have  to 
surrender  before  long.  Grant  is  a  real  hero.  But  let  us  come 
to  the  question  I  want  to  put  to  you.  Have  you  read  the  letter 
of  the  Pope  to  Jeff  Davis,  and  what  do  you  think  of  it?  " 

"My  dear  President,"  I  answered,  "  it  is  just  that  letter 
which  brought  me  to  your  presence  again,  day  before  yesterday. 
I  wanted  to  come  and  see  you,  from  the  very  day  I  read  it.  But 
I  knew  you  were  so  overwhelmed  with  the  affairs  of  your  gov- 
ernment, that  I  -sv'ould  not  be  able  to  see  you.  However,  the 
anxieties  of  my  mind  were  so,  that  I  determined  to  go  over  every 
barrier  to  warn  you  again  against  the  ne\v  dangers  and  plots 
which  I  knew  would  come  out  from  that  perfidious  letter,  against 
your  life. 

"That  letter  is  a  poisoned  arrow  thrown  by  the  Pope,  at  you 
personally;  and  it  will  be  more  than  a  miracle  if  it  be  not  your 
irrevocable  w^arrant  of  death.  Before  reading  it,  it  is  true  that 
every  Catholic  could  see  by  the  unanimity  of  the  bishops  siding^ 


MY    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    LIXCOLN.  70I 

with  rebel  cause,  that  their  church,  as  a  whole,  was  against  this 
free  Republican  government.  However,  a  good  number  of  lib- 
erty-loving Irish,  German  and  French  Catholics,  following  more 
the  instincts  of  their  noble  nature,  than  the  degrading  principles 
of  their  church,  enrolled  themselves  under  the  banners  of  Lib- 
erty, and  they  have  fought  like  heroes.  To  detach  these  men 
from  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Northern  armies,  and  force  them 
to  help  the  cause  of  the  rebellion,  became  the  object  of  the  in- 
trigues of  the  Jesuits.  Secret  and  pressing  letters  were  addressed 
from  Rome  to  the  bishops,  ordering  them  to  weaken  your  armies 
by  detaching  those  men  from  you.  The  bishops  answered,  that 
they  could  not  do  that  without  exposing  themselves  to  be  shot. 
But  they  advised  the  Pope  to  acknowledge,  at  once,  the  legit- 
imacy of  the  Southern  Republic,  and  to  take  Jeff  Davis  under 
his  supreme  protection,  by  a  letter,  which  would  be  read  every- 
where. 

"  That  letter,  then,  tells  logically  the  Roman  Catholics  that 
you  arc  a  bloody  tyrant!  a  most  execrable  being  when  fighting 
against  a  government  which  the  infallible  and  holy  Pope  of  Rome 
recognizes  as  legitimate.  The  Pope,  by  this  letter,  tells  his  blind 
slaves  that  you  are  an  infamous  usuper,  when  considering  your- 
self the  President  of  the  Southern  States;  that  you  are  outrag- 
ing the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  by  continuing  such  a  bloody 
war  to  subdue  a  nation  over  whom  God  Almighty  has  declared, 
through  his  infallible  pontiff,  the  Pope,  that  you  have  not  the 
least  right;  that  letter  means  that  you  will  give  an  account  to 
God  and  man  for  the  blood  and  tears  you  cause  to  flow  in  order 
to  satisfy  your  ambition. 

"By  this  letter  of  the  Pope  to  Jeff  Davis  you  are  not  only  an 
apostate,  as  you  were  thought  before,  whom  every  man  had  the 
right  to  kill,  according  to  the  canonical  laws  of  Rome;  but  you 
are  more  vile,  criminal  and  cruel  than  the  horse  thief,  the  public 
bandit,  and  the  lawless  brigand,  robber  and  murderer,  whom  it 
is  a  duty  to  stop  and  kill,  when  we  take  them  in  their  acts  of 
blood,  and  that  there  is  no  other  way  to  put  an  end  to  their 
jrfunders  and  murders. 

"And,  my  dear  President,  the  meaning  I  give  you  of  this 


702  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

perfidious  letter  of  the  Pope  to  Jeff  Davis,  is  not  a  fancy  imagin- 
ation on  my  part,  it  is  the  unanimous  explanation  given  me  by  a 
great  number  of  the  priests  of  Rome,  with  vv^hom  I  have  had  oc- 
casion to  speak  on  that  subject.  In  the  name  of  God,  and  in  the 
name  of  our  dear  country,  which  is  so  much  in  need  of  3'^our  ser- 
vices, I  conjure  you  to  pay  more  attention  to  protect  your 
precious  life,  and  not  continue  to  expose  it  as  you  have  done  till 
now." 

The  President  listened  to  my  words  with  breathless  attention. 
He  replied: 

"You  confirm  me  in  the  views  I  had  taken  of  the  letter  of 
the  Pope.  Professor  Morse  is  of  the  same  mind  with  you.  It 
is,  indeed,  the  most  perfidious  act  which  could  occur  under  pres- 
ent circumstances.  You  are  perfectly  correct  when  you  say  that 
it  was  to  detach  the  Roman  Catholics  who  had  enrolled  them- 
selves in  our  armies.  Since  the  publication  of  that  letter,  a  great 
number  of  them  have  deserted  their  banners  and  turned  traitors; 
very  few,  comparatively,  have  remained  true  to  their  oath  of 
fidelity.  It  is,  however,  very  lucky  that  one  of  those  few,  Sher- 
idan, is  worth  a  whole  army  by  his  ability,  his  patriotism  and  his 
heroic  courage.  It  is  true,  also,  that  Meade  has  remained  with 
us,  and  gained  the  bloody  battle  of  Gettysburgh.  But  how  could 
he  lose  it,  when  he  was  surrounded  by  such  heroes  as  Howard, 
Reynolds,  Buford,  Wadsworth,  Cutler,  Slocura,  Sickles,  Han- 
cock, Barnes,  etc.  But  it  is  evident  that  his  Romanism  supersed- 
ed his  patriotism  after  the  battle.  He  let  the  army  of  Lee  es- 
cape, when  it  was  so  easy  to  cut  his  retreat  and  force  him  to  sur- 
render, after  having  lost  nearly  the  half  of  his  soldiers  in  the  last 
three  days'  carnage. 

"When  Meade  was  to  order  the  pursuit,  after  the  battle,  a 
stranger  came,  in  haste,  to  the  headquarters,  and  that  stranger 
w^as  a  disguised  Jesuit.  After  a  ten  minutes'  conversation  w^ith 
him,  Meade  made  such  arrangements  for  the  pursuit  of  the  en- 
emy, that  he  escaped  almost  untouched,  with  the  loss  of  only  two 
guns ! 

"You  are  right,"  continued  the  President,  "when  you  say 
that  this  letter  of  the  Pope  has  entirely  changed  the  nature  and 


MY    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM     LINCOLN.  703 

the  ground  of  the  war.  Before  they  read  it,  the  Roman  Cath 
dies  could  see  that  I  was  fighting  against  Jeff  Davis  and  his 
Southern  Confederacy.  But  now,  they  must  beheve  that  it  is 
against  Christ  and  his  holy  vicar,  the  Pope,  that  I  am  raising  my 
sacrilegious  hands ;  we  have  the  daily  proofs  that  their  indigna- 
tion, their  hatred,  their  malice,  against  me,  are  an  hundredfold 
intensified.  New  projects  of  assassination  are  detected  almost 
every  day,  accompanied  with  such  savage  circumstances  that  they 
bring  to  my  memory  the  massacres  of  the  St.  Bartholomew  and 
the  gunpowder  plot.  We  feel,  at  their  investigation,  that  they 
come  from  the  same  masters  in  the  art  of  murder,  the  Jesuits. 

"  The  New  York  riots  were  evidently  a  Romish  plot  from 
beginning  to  end.  We  have  the  proofs  in  hand,  that  they  were 
the  work  of  Bishop  Hughes  and  his  emissaries.  No  doubt  can 
remain  in  the  minds  of  the  most  incredulous  about  that  bloody 
attempt  of  Rome  to  destroy  New  York,  when  he  knows  the  easy 
way  it  was  stopped.  I  wrote  to  Bishop  Hughes,  telling  him  that 
the  whole  country  would  hold  him  responsible  for  it,  if  he  would 
not  stop  it  at  once.  He,  then,  gathered  the  rioters  around  his 
palace,  called  them  his  *  dear  friends,'  invited  them  to  go  back 
home  peacefully,  and  all  was  finished!  so  Jupiter  of  old  used  to 
raise  a  storm,  and  stop  it  with  a  nod  of  his  head! 

"  From  the  beginning  of  our  civil  war,  there  has  been,  not 
a  secret,  but  a  public  alliance,  between  the  Pope  of  Rome  and 
Jeff  Davis;  and  that  alliance  has  followed  the  common  laws  of 
this  world's  affairs.  The  greater  has  led  the  smaller,  the  stronger 
has  guided  the  weaker.  The  Pope  and  his  Jesuits,  have  advised, 
supported,  and  directed  Jeff  Davis  on  the  land,  from  the  first  gun 
shot,  at  Fort  Sumter,  by  the  rabid  Roman  Catholic,  Beauregard. 
They  are  helping  him  on  the  sea,  by  guiding  and  supporting  the 
orther  rabid  Roman  Catholic  pirate,  Semmes,  on  the  ocean.  And 
they  will  help  the  rebellion  when  firing  their  last  gun  to  shed 
the  blood  of  the  last  soldier  of  Liberty,  who  will  fall  in  this  fra- 
tricidal war.  In  my  interview  with  Bishop  Hughes,  I  told  him, 
'that  every  stranger  who  had  sworn  allegiance  to  our  govern- 
ment by  becoming  a  United  States  citizen,  as  himself,  was  liable 
to  be  snot  or  hung  as  a  perjured  traitor,  and   an  armed  spy,  a« 


704  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  sentence  of  the  court  martial  may  direct.  And  he  will  be 
so  shot  and  hanged  accordingly,  as  there  will  be  no  exchange  of 
such  prisoners.'  After  I  had  put  this  flea  in  the  ears  of  the 
Romish  bishop,  I  requested  him  to  go  and  report  my  words  to 
the  Pope.  Seeing  the  dangerous  position  of  his  bishops  and 
priests  when  siding  with  the  rebels,  my  hope  was  that  he  would 
advise  them,  for  their  own  interests,  to  become  loyal  and  true  to 
their  allegiance  and  help  us  through  the  remaining  part  of  the 
war.  But  the  result  has  been  the  very  contrary.  The  Pope  has 
thrown  away  the  mask,  and  shown  himself  the  public  partisan 
and  the  protector  of  the  rebellion,  by  taking  Jeff  Davis  by  the 
hand,  and  impudently  recognizing  the  Southern  States  as  a  legit- 
imate government.  Now,  I  have  the  proof  in  hand  that  that 
very  Bishop  Hughes,  whom  I  had  sent  to  Rome  that  he  might 
induce  the  Pope  to  urge  the  Roman  Catholics  of  the  North  at 
least,  to  be  true  to  their  oath  of  allegiance,  and  whom  I  thanked 
publicly,  when,  under  the  impression  that  he  had  acted  honestly, 
according  to  the  promise  he  had  given  me,  is  the  very  man  who 
advised  the  Pope  to  recognize  the  legitimacy  of  the  Southern 
Republic,  and  put  the  whole  weight  of  his  tiara  in  the  balance 
against  us,  in  favor  of  our  enemies!  Such  is  the  perfidy  of  those 
Jesuits.  Two  cankers  are  biting  the  very  entrails  of  the  United 
States,  to-day:  the  Romish  and  the  Mormon  pi'iests.  Both  are 
quietly  at  work  to  form  a  people  of  the  most  abject,  ignorant 
and  fanatical  slaves,  who  will  recognize  no  other  authority  but 
their  supreme  pontiffs.  Both  are  aiming  at  the  destruction  of  our 
schools,  to  raise  themselves  upon  our  ruins.  Both  shelter  them- 
selves under  our  grand  and  holy  principles  of  liberty  of  con- 
science, to  destroy  that  very  liberty  of  conscience,  and  bind  the 
world  before  their  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke.  The  Mormon 
and  the  Jesuit  priests  are  equally  the  uncompromising  enemies 
of  our  constitution  and  our  laws;  but  the  more  dangerous  of  the 
two  is  the  Jesuit — the  Romish  priest,  for  he  knows  better  how 
to  conceal  his  hatred  under  the  mask  of  friendship  and  public 
good;  he  is  better  trained  to  commit  the  most  cruel  and  diaboli- 
cal deeds  for  the  glory  of  God. 

Till  lately,  I  was  in   favor  of  the   unlimited   liberty  of   con- 


i 


MY    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHEM    LINCOLN.  705 

science,  as  our  constitution  gives  it  to  the  Roman  Catholics.  But 
now,  it  seems  to  me  that,  sooner  or  later,  the  people  will 
be  forced  to  put  a  restriction  to  that  clause  towards  the  Pa- 
pists. Is  it  not  an  act  of  folly  to  give  absolute  liberty  of 
conscience  to  a  set  of  men  who  are  publicly  sworn  to  cut  our 
throats  the  very  day  they  have  their  opportunity  for  doing  it? 
Is  it  right  to  give  the  privilege  of  citizenship  to  men  who  are 
the  sworn  and  public  enemies  of  our  constitution,  our  laws,  our 
liberties,  and  our  lives? 

"  The  very  moment  that  Popery  assumed  the  right  of  life 
and  death  on  a  citizen  of  France,  vSpain,  Germany,  England,  or 
the  United  States,  it  assumed  to  be  the  power,  in  the  government 
of  France,  Spain,  England,  Germany,  and  the  United  States. 
Those  states  then  committed  a  suicidal  act  by  allowing  Popery 
to  put  a  foot  on  their  territory  with  the  privilege  of  citizen- 
ship. The  power  of  life  and  death  is  the  supreme  pozver^ 
and  two  supreme  powers  cannot  exist  on  the  same  territory  with- 
out anarchy^  riots,  bloodshed  and  civil  wars  without  end.  When 
Popery  will  give  up  the  power  of  life  and  death  which  it 
proclaims  as  its  own  divine  power,  in  all  its  theological 
books  and  canon  laws,  then,  alone,  it  can  be  tolerated 
and  can  receive  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  in  a  free 
country. 

"  Is  it  not  an  absurdity  to  give  to  a  man  a  thing  which  he  is 
sworn  to  hate,  curse  and  destroy?  And  does  not  the  Church  of 
Rome  hate,  curse  and  destroy  liberty  of  conscience,  whenever 
«he  can  do  it  safely  ? 

"  I  am  for  liberty  of  conscience  in  its  noblest,  broadest,  high- 
est sense.  But  I  cannot  give  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  Pope 
and  to  his  followers,  the  papists,  so  long  as  they  tell  me,  through 
all  their  councils,  theologians  and  canon  laws,  that  their  con- 
science orders  them  to  burn  mv  wife,  strangle  my  children,  and 
cut  my  throat  when  they  find  the  opportunity ! 

"  This  does  not  seem  to  be  understood  by  the  people,  to-day. 
But  sooner  or  later,  the  light  of  common  sense  will  make  it  clear 
to  every  one,  that  no  liberty  of  conscience  can  be  granted  to 
men   who    are  sworn  to  obey  a    Pope,  who    pretends  to  have 


7o6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

the  right  to  put  to  death  those  who  differ  from  him  in  relig- 
ion. 

You  are  not  the  first  to  warn  me  against  the  dangers  of  as- 
sassination. My  ambassadors  in  Italy,  France  and  England,  as 
well  as  Professor  Morse,  have,  many  times,  warned  me  against 
the  plots  of  the  murderers  whom  they  have  detected  in  those 
different  countries.  But  I  see  no  other  safeguard  against  those 
murderers,  but  to  be  always  ready  to  die,  as  Christ  advises  it. 
As  we  must  all  die  sooner  or  later,  it  makes  very  little  dif- 
ference to  me  whether  I  die  from  a  dagger  plunged  through  the 
heart  or  from  an  inflammation  of  the  lungs.  Let  me  tell  you 
that  I  have,  lately,  read  a  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
has  made  a  profound,  and,  I  hope,  a  salutary  impression  on  me. 
Here  is  that  passage." 

The  President  took  his  Bible,  opened  it  at  the  third  chapter 
of  Deuteronomy,  and  read  from  the  22nd  to  the  28th 
verse. 

"  23.  Ye  shall  not  fear  them ;  for  the  Lord  your  God  shall  fight  foe 
you. 

"  23.     And  I  besought  the  Lord  at  that  time,  saying: 

"  24.  O  Lord  God,  thou  hast  begun  to  show  thy  servant  thy  greatness^ 
and  thy  mighty  hand ;  for  what  God  is  there,  in  heaven  or  in  earth,  that  can 
do  according  to  thy  words,  and  according  to  thy  might! 

"  25.  I  pray  thee,  let  me  go  over  and  see  the  good  land  that  is  beyond 
Jordan,  that  goodly  mountain,  and  Lebanon. 

"  26.  But  God  was  wroth  with  me  for  your  sakes,  and  would  not  hear 
me:  and  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  let  it  suffice  thee:  speak  no  more  unto  me  of 
this  matter: 

"  27.  Get  thee  up  unto  the  top  of  Pisgah,  and  lift  up  thine  eyes  west- 
vrard  and  northward,  and  southward  and  eastward,  and  behold  it  with  thine 
ejes:  for  thou  shalt  not  go  over  this  Jordan." 

After  the  President  had  read  these  words  with  great  solemn- 
ity, he  added: 

"  My  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  let  me  tell  you  that  I  have  read 
these  strange  and  beautiful  words  several  times,  these  last  five  or 
six  weeks.  The  more  I  read  them,  the  more,  it  seems  to  me 
that  God  has  written  them  for  me  as  well  as  for  Moses. 

"  Has  he  not  taken  me  from  my  poor  log  cabin  b}'  the 
hand,  as  he  did  of   Moses  in  the  reeds  of  the  Nile,  to   put  me  at 


MV    FIRST     VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM     LINCOLN.  707 

tlie  head  of  the  greatest  and  the  most  blessed  of  modern  nations^ 
just  as  he  put  that  prophet  at  the  head  of  the  most  blessed  nation 
of  ancient  times?  Has  not  God  granted  me  a  privilege,  which 
was  not  granted  to  any  living  man,  when  I  broke  the  fetters  of 
4,000,000  of  men,  and  made  them  free?  Has  not  our  God  given 
me  the  most  glorious  victories  over  our  enemies?  Are  not  the 
armies  of  the  Confederacy  so  reduced  to  a  handful  of  men,  when 
compared  to  what  they  were  two  years  ago;  that  the  dav  is  fast 
approaching  when  they  will  have  to  surrender. 

"  Now,  I  see  the  end  of  this  terrible  conflict,  with  the  same 
joy  of  Moses,  when  at  the  end  of  his  trying  forty  years  in  the 
wilderness;  and  I  pray  my  God  to  grant  mc  to  see  the  days  of 
peace  and  untold  prosperity,  which  will  follow  this  cruel  war, 
as  Moses  asked  God  to  see  the  other  side  of  Jordan  and  enter 
the  Promised  Land.  But,  do  you  know  that  I  hear  in  my  soul, 
as  the  voice  of  God,  giving  me  the  rebuke  which  was  given  to 
Moses  ? 

"Yes!  every  time  that  my  soul  goes  to  God  to  ask  the  favor 
of  seeing  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  and  eating  the  fruits  of  that 
peace,  after  which  I  am  longing  with  such  an  unspeakable  de- 
sire, do  you  know  that  there  is  a  still  but  solemn  voice,  which 
tells  me  that  I  will  see  those  things  only  from  a  long  distance, 
and  that  I  will  be  among  the  dead,  when  the  nation,  which  God 
granted  me  to  lead  through  those  awful  trials,  will  cross  the  Jor- 
dan, and  dwell  in  that  Land  of  Promise,  where  peace,  industry, 
happiness  and  liberty  will  make  everyone  happy,  and  why  so? 
Because  he  has  already  given  me  favors  which  he  never  gave,  I 
dare  say,  to  any  man  in  these  latter  days. 

"  Why  did  God  Almighty  refuse  to  Moses  the  favor  of  cross- 
ing the  Jordan,  and  entering  the  Promised  Land.  It  was  on  ac- 
count of  his  own  nation's  sins!  That  law  of  divine  retribution 
and  justice,  by  which  one  must  suffer  for  another,  is  surely  a  ter- 
rible mystery.  But  it  is  a  fact  which  no  man  who  has  anv  intelli- 
gence and  knowledge  can  deny.  Moses,  who  knew  that  law, 
though  he  probably  did  not  understand  it  better  than  we  do, 
calmly  says  to  his  people :  'God  was  wroth  with  me  for  your  sakes.' 

' '•  But,  though  we  do  not  understand  that  mysterious  and  ter- 


708  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

rible  law,  we  find  it  written  in  letters  of  tears  and  blood  wherever 
we  go.  We  do  not  read  a  single  page  of  history,  without  find- 
ing undeniable  traces  of  its  existence. 

"  Where  is  the  mother  who  has  not  shed  tears  and  suffered 
real  tortures,  for  her  children's  sake? 

"  Who  is  the  good  king,  the  worthy  emperor,  the  gifted 
chieftain,  who  have  not  suffered  unspeakable  mental  agonies,  or 
even  death,  for  their  people's  sake? 

"  Is  not  our  Christian  religion  the  highest  expression  of  the 
wisdom,  mercy  and  love  of  God!  But  what  is  Christianty  if  not 
the  very  incarnation  of  that  eternal  law  of  divine  justice  in  our 
humanity  ? 

"  When  I  look  on  Moses,  alone,  silently  dying  on  the  Mount 
Pisgah,  I  see  that  law,  in  one  of  its  most  sublime  human  man- 
ifestations, and  I  am  filled  with  admiration  and  awe. 

"  But  when  I  consider  that  law  of  justice,  and  expiation  in 
the  death  of  the  Just,  the  divine  Son  of  Mary,  on  the  mountaitt 
of  Calvary,  I  remain  mute  in  my  adoration.  The  spectacle  of 
the  crucified  one  which  is  before  my  eyes,  is  more  than  sublime, 
it  is  divine!  Moses  died  for  his  people's  sake,  but  Christ  died 
for  the  whole  world's  sake!  Both  died  to  fulfill  the  same  eternal 
law  of  the  divine  justice,  though  in  a  different  measure. 

"  Now,  would  it  not  be  the  greatest  of  honors  and  privileges 
bestowed  upon  me,  If  God,  in  his  infinite  love,  mercy  and  wis- 
dom, would  put  me  between  his  faithful  servant,  Moses,  and  his 
eternal  Son,  Jesus,  that  I  might  die  as  they  did,  for  my  nation's 
sake! 

"  My  God  alone  knows  what  I  have  already  suffered  for  my 
dear  country's  sake.  But  my  fear  is  that  the  justice  of  God  is 
not  yet  paid :  When  I  look  upon  the  rivers  of  tears  and  blood 
drawn  by  the  lashes  ot  the  merciless  masters  from  the  veins  of 
the  very  heart  of  those  millions  of  defenceless  slaves,  these  two 
hundred  years :  When  I  remember  the  agonies,  the  cries,  the 
unspeakable  tortures  of  those  unfortunate  people  to  which  I 
have,  to  some  extent,  connived  with  so  manj^  others,  a  part  of 
my  life,  I  fear  that  we  are  still  far  from  the  complete  expiation. 
For  the  judgments  of  God  are  true  and  righteous. 


MV    FIRST    VISIT    TO    ABRAHAM    LINCOLN. 


7oy 


"It  seems  to  me  that  the  Lord  wants,  to-day,  as  he  wanted 
in  the  days  of  Moses,  another  victim — a  victim  which  he  has 
himself  chosen,  anointed  and  prepared  for  the  sacrifice,  by  rais- 
ing it  above  the  rest  of  his  people.  I  cannot  conceal  from  you 
that  my  impression  is  that  I  am  the  victim.  So  many  plots 
have  already  been  made  against  my  life,  that  it  is  a  real  miracle 
that  they  have  all  failed,  when  we  consider  that  the  great  major- 
ity of  them  were  in  the  hands  of  skillful  Roman  Catholic  mur- 
derers, evidently  trained  by  Jesuits.  But  can  we  expect  that  God 
will  make  a  perpetual  miracle  to  save  my  life?  I  believe  not. 
The  Jesuits  are  so  expert  in  those  deeds  of  blood,  that  Henry  IV. 
said  that  it  was  impossible  to  escape  them,  and  he  became  their 
victim,  though  he  did  all  that  could  be  done  to  protect  himself. 
My  escape  from  their  hands,  since  the  letter  of  the  Pope  to  Jeff 
Davis  has  sharpened  a  million  of  daggers  to  pierce  mv  breast, 
would  be  more  than  a  miracle. 

"  But  just  as  the  Lord  heard  no  murmur  from  the  lips  of 
Moses,  when  he  told  him  that  he  had  to  die,  before  crossing  the 
Jordan,  for  the  sins  of  his  people,  so  I  hope  and  pray  that  he 
will  hear  no  murmur  from  me  when  I  fall  for  my  nation's 
sake. 

"  The  only  two  favors  I  ask  of  the  Lord,  are,  first,  that  I 
may  die  for  the  sacred  cause  in  which  I  am  engaged,  and  when 
I  am  the  standard-bearer  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mv 
country. 

"  The  second  favor  I  ask  from  God,  is  that  my  dear  son, 
Robert,  when  I  am  gone,  will  be  one  of  those  who  lift  up  that 
flag  of  Liberty  which  will  cover  my  tomb,  and  carry  it  with 
honor  and  fidelity,  to  the  end  of  his  life,  as  his  father  did,  sur- 
rounded by  the  millions  who  will  be  called  with  him  to  fight  and 
die  for  the  defence  and  honor  of  our  country." 

Never  had  I  heard  such  sublime  words.  Never  had  I  seen 
a  human  face  so  solemn  and  so  prophet-like  as  the  face  of  the 
President,  when  uttering  these  things.  Every  sentence  had  come 
to  me  as  a  hymn  from  heaven,  reverberated  by  the  echoes  of  the 
mountains  of  Pisgah  and  Calvary.  I  was  beside  myself.  Bathed 
in  tears,  I  tried  to  say  something,  but    I    could  not  utter  a  word. 


^lO  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  knew  the  hour  to  leave  had  come,  I  asked  from  the  Presi- 
dent permission  to  fall  on  my  knees,  and  pray  with  him  that  his 
life  might  be  spared ;  and  he  knelt  with  me.  But  I  prayed  more 
with  my  tears  and  sobs  than  with  my  words. 

Then  I  pressed  his  hand  on  my  lips  and  bathed  it  with  my 
tears,  and  with  a  heart  filled  with  an  unspeakable  desolation,  I 
bade  him  Adieu!     It  was  for  the  last  time! 

For  the  hour  was  fast  approaching  when  he  was  to  fall  by. 
the  hand  of  a  Jesuit  assassin,  for  his  nation's  sake. 


Chapter   LXI. 

ATiTt-ATTAM  LINCOLN  A  TBUB  MAN  OF  GOD,  AND  A  TBUE  DIS- 
CIPLE OF  THE  GOSPEL- HIS  ASSASSINATION  BY  BOOTH- 
THE  TOOL  OF  THE  PRIESTS-MAHY  SURBATT'S  HOUSE-THE 
RENDEZVOUS  AND  DWELLING  PLACE  OF  THE  PRIESTS- 
JOHN  SURRATT  SECRETED  BY  THE  PRIESTS  AFTER  THE 
MURDER  OF  LINCOLN-THB  ASSASSINATION  OF  LINCOLN 
KNOWN  AND  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  TOWN  THREE  HOURS 
BEFORE  ITS  OCCURRENCE. 

EVERY  time  I  met  President  Lincoln,  I  wondered  how  such 
elevation  of  thought  and  such  childish  simplicity  could  be 
found  in  the  same  man.  After  my  interviews  with  him,  many 
times,  I  said  to  myself:  "  How  can  this  rail-splitter  have  so 
easily  raised  himself  to  the  highest  range  of  human  thought  and 
philosophy?" 

The  secret  of  this  was,  that  Lincoln  had  spent  a  great  part 
of  his  life  at  the  school  of  Christ,  and  that  he  had  meditated  his 
sublime  teachings  to  an  extent  unsuspected  by  the  world.  I 
found  in  him,  the  most  perfect  type  of  Christianity  I  ever 
met. 

Professedly,  he  was  neither  a  strict  Presbyterian,  nor  a 
Baptist,  or  a  Methodist;  but  he  was  the  embodiment  of  all 
which  is  more  perfect  and  Christian  in  them.  His  religion  was 
the  very  essence  of  what  God  wants  in  man.  It  was  from 
Christ  himself,  he  had  learned  to  love  his  God  and  his  neighbor, 
as  it  was  from  Christ  he  had  learned  the  dignity  and  the  value 
of  man.  "  Ye  are  all  brethren,  the  children  of  God,"  was  his 
great  motto. 

It  was  from  the  Gospel  that  he  had  learned  his  principles 
of  equality,  fraternity  and  liberty,  as  it  was  from  the  Gospel 
he  had  learned  that  sublime,  childish  simplicity,  which,  alone, 
and    forever,    won    the    admiration    and    affection    of    all   tho8e 

7" 


712  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

who  approached  him.  1  could  cite  many  facts  to  illustrate  this, 
but  I  will  give  only  one,  not  to  be  too  long:  It  is  taken  from 
the  memoirs  of  Mr.  Bateman,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion for  the  State  of  Illinois. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  paused;  for  long  minutes,  his  features  sur- 
charged with  emotion.  Then,  he  rose  and  walked  up  and  down 
the  reception-room,  in  the  effort  to  retain,  or  regain  his  self-pos- 
session. Stopping,  at  last,  he  said,  with  a  trembling  voice,  and 
his  cheeks  wet  with  tears: 

" '  I  know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  hates  injustice  and 
slavery.  I  see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  know  that  His  hand  is 
in  it.  If  He  has  a  place  and  work  for  me,  and  I  think  He  has, 
I  believe  I  am  ready!  I  am  nothing,  but  truth  is  everything!  I 
know  I  am  right, because  I  know  that  liberty  is  right;  for  Christ 
teaches  it,  and  Christ  is  God.  I  have  told  them  that  a  house  di- 
vided against  itself  cannot  stand,  and  that  Christ  and  reason  say 
the  same  thing,  and  they,  will  find  it  so. 

"  '  Douglas  does  not  care  whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  down. 
But  God  cai"es,  and  humanity  cares,  and  I  care.  And  with  God's 
help,  I  will  not  fail.  I  may  not  see  the  end,  but  it  will  come, 
and  I  shall  be  vindicated ;  and  those  men  will  see  that  they  have 
not  read  their  Bible  right! 

"  Does  it  not  appear  strange  that  men  can  ignore  the  moral 
aspect  oi  this  contest.  A  revelation  could  not  make  it  plainer  to 
me  that  slavery,  or  the  Government,  must  be  destroyed.  The 
future  would  be  something  awful,  as  I  look  at  it,  but  for  this 
ROCK  on  which  I  stand  (alluding  to  the  Gospel  book  he  still 
held  in  his  hand).  It  seems  as  if  God  had  borne  with  slavery 
until  the  very  teachers  of  religion  had  come  to  defend  it  from  the 
Bible,  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  character  and  sanction.  And 
now  the  cup  of  iniquity  is  full,  and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be 
poured  out.'  " 

Mr.  Bateman  adds :  "  After  this,  the  conversation  was  con- 
tinued for  a  long  time.  Everything  he  said  was  of  a  very  deep, 
tender  and  religious  tone,  and  all  was  tinged  with  a  touching 
melancholy.  He  repeatedly  referred  to  his  conviction  '  that  the 
day  of  wrath  was  at  hand,'  and  that  he  was  to  be  an  actor  in  the 


THE    ASSASSINATION'    OF    LIXCOLN.  713 

struggle  which  would  end  in  the  overthrow  of  slavery,  though 
he  might  not  live  to  see  the  end. 

"  After  further  reference  to  a  belief  in  Divine  Providence, 
and  the  fact  of  God,  in  history,  the  conversation  turned  upon 
prayer.  He  freely  stated  his  belief  in  the  duty,  privilege  and  ef- 
ficacy of  prayer;  and  he  intimated,  in  no  unmistakable  terms, 
that  he  had  sought,  in  that  way,  the  divine  guidance  and  favor." 

The  effect  of  this  conversation  upon  the  mind  of  Mr.  Bate- 
man,  a  Christian  gentleman,  whom  Mr.  Lincoln  profoundly  re- 
spected, was  to  convince  him  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had,  in  his  quiet 
way,  found  a  path  to  the  Christian  stand-point;  that  he  had 
found  God,  and  rested  on  the  eternal  truth  of  God.  As  the  two 
men  were  about  to  separate,  Mr.  Bateman  remarked: 

"  I  had  not  supposed  that  you  were  accustomed  to  think  so 
much  upon  this  class  of  subjects ;  certainly  your  friends,  general- 
ly, aj-e  ignorant  of  the  sentiments  you  have  expressed  to  me." 

He  quicklv  replied:  "I  know  thev  are,  but  I  think  more  on 
these  subjects  than  upon  all  others,  and  I  have  done  so  for  years; 
and  I  am  willing  you  should  know  it." — The  Inner  Life  of  Lin- 
coln^ by  Carpenter,  pages  193-195. 

More  than  once,  I  felt  as  if  I  were  in  the  presence  of  on  old 
prophet,  when  listening  to  his  views  about  the  future  destinies 
of  the  United  States.  In  one  of  my  last  interviews  with  him,  I 
vras  filled  with  an  admiration  which  it  would  be  diflncult  to  ex- 
press, when  I  heard  the  following  views  and  predictions: 

"  It  is  with  the  southern  leaders  of  this  civil  war,  as  with  the 
big  and  small  wheels  of  our  railroad  cars.  Those  who  ignore  the 
laws  of  mechanics  are  apt  to  think  that  the  large,  strong  and 
noisy  wheels  that  they  see,  are  the  motive  power,  but  they  are 
mistaken.  The  real  motive  power  is  not  seen;  it  is  noiseless  and 
well  concealed  in  the  dark,  behind  its  iron  walls.  The  motive 
power  are  the  few  well  concealed  pails  of  water  heated  into 
steam,  which  is  itself  directed  by  the  noiseless,  small,  but  uner- 
ring engineer's  finger. 

"The  common  people  see  and  hear  the  big,  noisy  wheels  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy's  cars,  they  call  them  Jeff  Davis,  Lee, 
Toombs,  Beauregard,  Semmes,  etc.,  and  they  honestly  think  that 


714  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

they  are  the  motive  power,  the  first  cause  of  our  troubles.  But 
it  is  a  mistake.  The  true  motive  power  is  secreted  behind  the 
thick  walls  of  the  Vatican,  the  colleges  and  schools  of  the  Jesuits, 
the  convents  of  the  nuns  and  the  confessional  boxes  of  Rome. 

"  There  is  a  fact  which  is  too  much  ignored  by  the  American 
people,  and  with  which  I  am  acquainted  only  since  I  became 
President;  it  is  that  the  best,  the  leading  families  of  the  South, 
have  received  their  education  in  great  part,  if  not  in  whole,  from 
the  Jesuits  and  the  nuns.  Hence  those  degrading  principles  of 
slavery,  pride,  cruelty,  which  are  as  a  second  nature  among  so 
many  of  those  people.  Hence  that  strange  want  of  fair  play, 
humanity;  that  implacable  hatred  against  the  ideas  of  equality 
and  liberty,  as  we  find  them  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  You  do 
not  ignore  that  the  first  settlers  of  Louisiana,  Florida,  New  Mex- 
ico, Texas,  South  California  and  Missouri,  were  Roman  Cath- 
olics, and  that  their  first  teachers  were  Jesuits.  It  is  true  that 
those  states  have  been  conquered  or  bought  by  us  since.  But 
Rome  had  put  the  deadly  virus  of  her  anti-social  and  anti-chris- 
tian  maxims  into  the  veins  of  the  people  before  they  became 
American  citizens.  Unfortunately  the  Jesuits  and  the  nuns  have 
in  great  part  remained  the  teachers  of  those  people  since.  They 
have  continued,  in  a  silent,  but  most  efficacious  way,  to  spread 
their  hatred  against  our  institutions,  our  laws,  our  schools,  our 
rights  and  our  liberties,  in  such  a  way,  that  this  terrible  conflict 
became  unavoidable,  between  the  North  and  the  South.  As  I 
told  you  before,  it  is  to  Popery  that  we  owe  this  terrible  civil  war. 

"  I  would  have  laughed  at  the  man  who  would  have  told  me 
that,  before  I  became  the  President.  But  Professor  Morse  has 
opened  my  eyes  on  that  subject.  And,  now,  I  see  that  mystery; 
I  understand  that  engineering  of  hell  which,  though  not  seen, 
nor  even  suspected  by  the  country,  is  putting  in  motion  the  large, 
heavy  and  noisy  wheels  of  the  state  cars  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. 

"  Our  people  is  not  yet  ready  to  learn  and  believe  those  things, 
and  perhaps  it  is  not  the  proper  time  to  initiate  them  to  those 
dark  mysteries  of  hell;  it  would  throw  oil  on  a  fire  which  is  al- 
ready sufficient! V  destructi\c. 


THE    ASSASSINATION'    OF    LINCOLN'.  715 

"You  are  almost  the  only  one  with  whom  I  speak  freely  on 
that  subject.  But  sooner  or  later,  the  nation  will  know  the  real 
origin  of  those  rivers  of  blood  and  tears,  which  are  spreading 
desolation  and  death  everywhere.  And,  then,  those  who  have 
caused  those  desolations  and  disasters  will  be  called  to  give  an 
account  of  them. 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  a  prophet.  But  though  not  a  prophet, 
I  see  a  very  dark  cloud  on  our  horizon.  And  that  dark  cloud  is 
coming  from  Rome.  It  is  filled  with  tears  of  blood.  It  will 
rise  and  increase,  till  its  flanks  will  be  torn  by  a  flash  of  light- 
ning, followed  by  a  fearful  peal  of  thunder.  Then  a  cyclone 
such  as  the  world  has  never  seen,  will  pass  over  this  country, 
spreading  ruin  and  desolation  from  north  to  south.  After  it  is 
over,  there  will  be  long  days  of  peace  and  prosperity:  for  Popery, 
with  its  Jesuits  and  merciless  Inquisition,  will  have  been  forever 
swept  away  from  our  country.  Neither  I  nor  you,  but  our  chil- 
dren, will  see  those  things." 

Many  of  those  who  approached  Abraham  Lincoln  felt  that 
there  was  a  prophetic  spirit  in  him,  and  that  he  was  continually 
walking  and  acting  with  the  thought  of  God  in  his  mind,  and  had 
only  in  view  to  do  his  will  and  work  for  his  glory.  Speaking  of 
the  slaves,  he  said,  one  day,  before  the  members  of   his  cabinet: 

"  I  have  not  decided  against  a  proclamation  of  liberty  to  the 
slaves,  but  I  hold  the  matter  under  advisement.  And  I  can 
assure  you  that  the  subject  is  on  my  mind,  by  dav  and  by  night, 
more  than  any  other.  Whatever  shall  appear  to  be  God's  will, 
I  will  do." — Six  Months  in  the  White  House,  by  Carpenter, 
page  86. 

A  few  days  before  that  proclamation,  he  said,  before  several 
of  his  counsellors: 

"  I  made  a  solemn  vow  before  God,  that  if  General  Lee  was 
driven  back  from  Pennsylvania,  I  would  crown  the  result  by  the 
declaration  of  freedom  to  the  slaves." — Six  Months  in  the  White 
House. 

But  I  would  have  volumes  to  write,  instead  of  a  short  chap- 
ter, were  I  to  give  all  the  facts  I  have  collected  of  the  sincere 
and  profound  piety  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 


7l6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  cannot,  however,  omit  his  admirable  and  solemn  act  of  faith 
in  the  eternal  justice  of  God,  as  expressed  in  the  closing  words 
of  his  last  inaugural  address  of  the  4th  of  March,  1865. 

"  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty 
scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that 
it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's  250  years 
of  unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood 
drawn  by  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another  drawn  by  the  sword, 
as  was  said  3,000  years  ago,  so,  still,  it  must  be  said:  'The 
judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether,' " 

These  sublime  words,  falling  from  the  lips  of  the  greatest 
Christian  whom  God  ever  put  at  the  head  of  a  nation,  only  a  few 
days  before  his  martyrdom,  sent  a  thrill  of  wonder  through  the 
whole  world.  The  God-fearing  people  and  the  upright  of  every 
nation  listened  to  them  as  if  they  had  just  come  from  the  golden 
harp  of  David,  Even  the  infidels  remained  mute  with  admira- 
tion and  awe.  It  seemed  to  all  that  the  echoes  of  heaven  and 
earth  were  repeating  that  last  hymn,  falling  from  the  heart  of 
the  noblest  and  truest  Gospel  man  of  our  days:  "The  judg- 
ments of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether," 

The  6th  of  April,  1865,  President  Lincoln  was  invited  by 
General  Grant  to  enter  Richmond,  the  capital  of  the  rebel  states, 
which  he  had  just  captured.  The  ninth,  the  beaten  army  of  Lee, 
surrounded  by  the  victorious  legions  of  the  soldiers  of  Liberty, 
were  forced  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  their  banners  at  the  feet 
of  the  generals  of  Lincoln.  The  tenth,  the  victorious  President 
addressed  an  immense  multitude  of  the  citizens  of  Washington, 
to  invite  them  to  thank  God  and  the  armies  for  the  glorious  vic- 
tories of  the  last  few  days,  and  for  the  blessed  peace  which  was 
to  follow  these  five  years  of  slaughter. 

But  he  was  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  Pisgah,  and  though 
he  had  fervently  prayed  that  he  might  cross  the  Jordan,  and 
enter  with  his  people  into  the  Land  of  Promise,  after  which  he 
had  so  often  sighed,  he  was  not  to  see  his  request  granted.  The 
answer  had  come  from  heaven:  "You  will  not  cross  the  Jordan, 
and  you  will  not  enter  that  Promised  Land,  which  is  there,  so 
near.      You   must  die    for    your    nation's    sake!"    the    lips,  the 


THE    ASSASSINATION'    OF    LIXCOLV.  "JfJ 

heart  and  soul  of  the  New  Moses  were  still  repeating 
the  sublime  words:  "The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true 
and  righteous  altogether,"  when  the  Jesuit  assassin,  Booth, 
murdered  him,  the  14th  of  April,  1865,  at  10  o'clock 
P.M. 

Let  us  hear  the  eloquent  historian,  Abbott,  on  that  sad 
event: 

"In  the  midst  of  unparalleled  success,  and  while  all  the  bells 
of  the  land  were  ringing  with  joy,  a  calamity  fell  upon  us  which 
overwhelmed  the  country  in  consternation  and  awe.  On  Fri- 
day evening,  April  14th,  President  Lincoln  attended  Ford's 
Theatre,  in  Washington.  He  was  sitting  quietly  in  his  box,  lis- 
tening to  the  drama,  when  a  man  entered  the  door  of  the  lobby 
leading  to  the  box,  closing  the  door  behind  him.  Drawing  near 
to  the  President,  he  drew  from  his  pocket  a  small  pistol,  and  shot 
him  in  the  back  of  the  head.  As  the  President  fell,  senseless 
and  mortally  wounded,  and  the  shriek  of  his  wife,  who  was  seat- 
ed at  his  side,  pierced  every  ear,  the  assassin  leaped  from  the  box, 
a  perpendicular  height  of  nine  feet,  and,  as  he  rushed  across  the 
stage,  bare-headed,  brandished  a  dagger,  exclaiming, '  5/'c  semper 
tyrannis  .f  and  disappeared  behind  the  side  scenes.  There  was  a 
moment  of  silent  consternation.  Then  ensued  a  scene  of  con- 
fusion which  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to  describe. 

"  The  dying  President  was  taken  into  a  house  near  by,  and 
placed  upon  a  bed.  What  a  scene  did  that  room  present!  The 
chief  of  a  mighty  nation  lay,  there,  senseless,  drenched  in  blood, 
his  brains  oozing  from  his  wounds!  Sumner,  Farwell  and  Col- 
fax and  Stanton,  and  many  others  were  there,  filled  with  grief 
and  consternation. 

"  The  surgeon,  General  Barnes,  solemnly  examined  the 
wound.  There  was  silence  as  of  the  grave,  the  life  and  death  of 
the  nation  seemed  dependent  on  the  result.  General  Barnes 
looked  up  sadly  and  said:     'The  wound  is  mortal!' 

"'Oh!  No!  General,  no!  no!   cried   out  Secretary  Stanton, 
and  sinking  into   a  chair,  he   covered    his   face,  and  wept  like  1 
child.     Senator  Sumner  tenderly  held   the  head  of   the   uncon 
scious  martyr. 


7l8  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  Though  all  unused  to  weep,  he  sobs  as  though  his  great 
heart  would  break.  In  his  anguish,  his  head  falls  upon  the  blood- 
stained pillow,  and  his  black  locks  blend  with  thcfse  of  the  dying 
victim,  which  care  and  toil  has  rendered  gray,  and  which  blood 
has  crimsoned.  What  a  scene!  Sumner,  who  had  lingered 
through  months  of  agony,  having  himself  been  stricken  down  by 
the  bludgeon  of  slavery,  now  sobbing  and  fainting  in  anguish 
over  the  prostrate  form  of  his  friend,  whom  slavery  had  slain ! 
This  vile  rebellion,  after  deluging  the  land  with  blood,  has  cul- 
minated in  a  crime  which  appals  all  nations. 

"  Noble  Abraham,  true  descendant  of  the  father  of  the  faith- 
ful; honest  in  every  trust,  humble  as  a  child,  tender-hearted  as  a 
woman,  who  could  not  bear  to  injure  even  his  most  envenomed 
foes;  who  in  the  hour  of  triumph,  was  saddened  lest  the  feelings 
of  his  adversaries  should  be  wounded  by  their  defeat,  with  '  chari- 
ty for  all,  malice  towards  none,'  endowed  with  '  common  sense,' 
intelligence  never  surpassed,  and  w^ith  power  of  intellect  which 
enabled  him  to  grapple  with  the  most  gigantic  opponents  in  de- 
bates, developing  abilities  as  a  statesman,  which  won  the  grati- 
tude of  his  country  and  the  admiration  of  the  world,  and  with 
graces  and  amiabilities  which  drew  to  him  all  generous  hearts; 
dies  by  the  bullet  of  the  assassin !  " — -History  of  the  Civil  War^ 
by  Abbott,  vol.  ii.,  page  594. 

But  w'ho  was  that  assassin?  Booth  was  nothing  but  the  tool 
of  the  Jesuits.  It  was  Rome  who  directed  his  arm,  after  cor- 
rupting his  heart  and  damning  his  soul. 

After  I  had  mixed  my  tears  with  those  of  the  grand  country 
of  my  adoption,  I  fell  on  my  knees  and  asked  my  God  to  grant 
me  to  show  to  the  world  what  I  knew  to  be  the  truth,  viz.:  that 
that  horrible  crime  was  the  work  of  Popery.  And,  after  twenty 
years  of  constant  and  most  difhcult  researches,  I  come  fearlessly, 
to-day,  before  the  American  people,  to  say  and  prove  that  the 
President,  Abraham  Lincoln,  was  assassinated  by  the  priests  and 
the  Jesuits  of  Rome. 

In  the  book  of  the  testimonies  given  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
assassin  of  Lincoln,  published  by  Ben.  Pitman,  and  in  the  two 
volumes  of   the  trial  of  John  Surratt  in  1867,  we  have   the  legal 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    LINCOLM. 


719 


and  irrefutable  proof  that  the  plot  of  the  assassins  of  Lincoln 
was  matured,  if  not  started,  in  the  house  of  Mary  Surratt,  No. 
c6i  H  Street,  Washington  City,  D.  C.  But  who  were  living  in 
that  house,  and  who  were  visiting  that  family?  The  legal  answer 
says:  "The  most  devoted  Catholics  in  the  city!"  The  sworn 
testimonies  show  more  than  that.  They  show  that  it  was  the 
common  rendezvous  of  the  priests  of  Washington.  Several 
priests  swear  that  they  were  going  there  "  some  times,"  and  when 
pressed  to  answer  what  they  meant  by  "some  times,"  they  were 
not  sure  if  it  was  not  once  a  week,  or  once  a  month.  One  of 
them,  less  on  his  guard,  swore  that  he  seldom  passed  before  that 
house  without  entering ;  and  he  said  he  never  passed  less  than 
once  a  week.  The  devoted  Roman  Catholic  (an  apostate  from 
Protestantism)  called  L.J.  Weichman,  who  was  himself  living 
in  that  house,  swears  that  Father  Wiget  was  very  often  in  that 
house,  and  Father  Lahiman  swears  that  he  was  living  with  Mrs. 
Surratt,  in  the  same  house !  #  #  *  # 

What  does  the  presence  of  so  many  priests,  in  that  house, 
reveal  to  the  world?  No  man  of  common  sense,  who  knows 
anything  about  the  priests  of  Rome,  can  entertain  any  doubt 
that,  not  only  they  knew  all  that  was  going  on  inside  those 
w^alls,  but  that  they  were  the  advisers,  the  counselors,  the  verv 
soul  of  that  infernal  plot.  Why  did  Rome  keep  one  of  her 
priests  under  that  roof,  from  morning  till  night,  and  from  night 
till  morning?  Why  did  she  send  many  others,  almost  every  day 
of  the  week,  into  that  dark  nest  of  plotters  against  the  very  ex- 
istence of  the  great  republic,  and  against  the  life  of  her  President, 
her  principal  generals  and  leading  men,  if  it  were  not  to  be  the 
advisers,  the  rulers,  the  secret  motive  power  of  the  infernal 
plot. 

No  one,  if  he  is  not  an  idiot,  will  think  and  sav  that  those 
priests,  who  were  the  personal  friends  and  the  father  confessors 
of  Booth,  John  Surratt,  Mrs.  and  Misses  Surratt,  could  be  con- 
stantly there  without  knowing  what  was  going  on,  particularly 
when  we  know  that  every  one  of  those  priests,  was  a  rabid 
rebel  in  heart.  Every  one  of  those  priests,  knowing  that  his 
infallible  Pope  had  called  Jeff  Davis  his  dear  son,  and  had  taken 


720 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


the  Southern  Confederacy  under  his  protectioa,  was  bound  to 
beUeve  that  the  most  holy  thing  a  man  could  do,  was  to  fight 
for  the  Southern  cause,  by  destroying  those  who  were  its  ene- 
mies. 

Read  the  history  of  the  assassination  of  Admiral  Coligny, 
Henry  III.  and  Henry  IV.,  and  William  the  Taciturn,  by  the 
hired  assassins  of  the  Jesuits ;  compare  them  with  the  assassination 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  you  will  find  that  one  resembles  the 
other  as  one  drop  of  water  resembles  another.  You  will  under- 
stand that  they  all  come  from  the  same  source,  Rome ! 

In  all  those  murders,  you  will  find  that  the  murderers,  selected 
and  trained  by  the  Jesuits,  were  of  the  most  exalted  Roman 
Catholic  piety,  living  in  the  company  of  priests,  going  to  con- 
fess very  often,  receiving  the  communion  the  day  before,  if  not 
the  very  day  of  the  murder.  You  will  see  in  all  those  horrible 
deeds  of  hell,  prepared  behind  the  dark  walls  of  the  holy  inquis- 
ition, that  the  assassins  were  considering  themselves  as  the  chosen 
instruments  of  God,  to  save  the  nation  by  striking  its  tyrant; 
that  they  firmly  believed  that  there  was  no  sin  in  killing  the 
enemy  of  the  people,  of  the  holy  church,  and  of  the  infallible 
Pope! 

Compare  the  last  hours  of  the  Jesuit  Ravaillac,  the  assassin 
of  Henry  VI.,  who  absolutely  refuses  to  repent,  though  suffer- 
ing the  most  horrible  tortures  on  the  rack,  with  Booth,  who,  suf- 
fering also  the  most  horrible  tortures  from  his  broken  leg,  writes 
in  his  daily  memorandum,  the  very  day  before  his  death:  "I 
can  never  repent,  though  we  hated  to  kill.  Our  country  owed 
all  our  troubles  to  him  (Lincoln),  and  God  simply  made  me  the 
instrument  of  his  punishment.  "  —  Trial  of  Surratt^  vol.  i., 
page  310. 

Yes!  Compare  the  bloody  deeds  of  those  two  assassins,  and 
you  will  see  that  they  had  been  trained  in  the  same  school;  they 
had  been  taught  by  the  same  teachers.  Evidently  the  Jesuit  Rav- 
aillac, calling  all  the  saints  of  heaven  to  his  help,  at  his  last 
hour;  and  Booth  pressing  the  medal  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ou  his 
breast,  when  falling  mortally  wounded  (  Trial  of  Surrait^  page 
310),    both  came  from  the  same  Jesuit  mould. 


THE    ASSASSINATION-    OF    LINCOLN.  ^21 

Who  has  lost  his  common  sense  enough  to  suppose  that  it 
was  Jeff  Davis  who  had  filled  the  mind  and  the  heart  of  Booth 
with  that  religious  and  so  exalted  fanaticism!  Surely  Jeff  Davis 
could  have  promised  the  money  to  reward  the  assassins  and  nerve 
their  arms  by  the  hope  of  becoming  rich.  The  testimonies  on 
that  account  says  that  one  million  dollars  had  been  asked  from 
him,     {^Assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln^  p.  51-52.) 

The  arch-rebel  could  give  the  money;  but  the  Jesuits  alone 
could  select  the  assassins,  train  them,  and  show  them  a  crown  of 
glory  in  heaven,  if  they  would  kill  the  author  of  the  bloodshed, 
the  famous  renegade  and  apostate — the  enemy  of  the  Pope  and 
of  the  Church — Lincoln. 

Who  does  not  see  the  lessons  given  by  the  Jesuits  to  Booth, 
in  their  daily  intercourse  in  Mary  Surratt's  house,  when  he  reads 
those  lines  written  by  Booth  a  few  hours  before  his  death:  "  1 
can  never  repent,  God  made  me  the  instrument  of  his  punish- 
ment!" Compare  these  words  with  the  doctrines  and  principles 
taught  by  the  councils,  the  decrees  of  the  Pope,  and  the  laws  of 
holy  inquisition,  as  you  find  them  in  chapter  55  of  this  volume, 
and  you  will  find  that  the  sentiments  and  belief  of  Booth  flow 
from  those  principles,  as  the  river  flows  from  its  source. 

And  that  pious  Miss  Surratt  who,  the  very  next  day  after 
the  murder  of  Lincoln,  said,  without  being  rebuked,  in  the 
presence  of  several  other  witnesses:  "  The  death  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  no  more  than  the  death  of  any  nigger  in  the  army," 
where  did  she  get  that  maxim,  if  not  from  her  church!  Had 
not  that  church  recently  proclaimed,  through  her  highest  legal 
and  civil  authority,  the  devoted  Roman  Catholic,  Judge  Tanev, 
in  his  Dred- Scott  decision,  that  negroes  have  no  right,  which 
the  white  is  bound  to  respect!  By  bringing  the  President  on  a 
level  with  the  lowest  nigger,  Rome  was  saying  that  he  had  no 
right,  even  to  his  life;  for  this  was  the  maxim  of  the  rebel 
priests,  who,  everywhere,  had  made  themselves  the  echoes  of  the 
sentence  of  their  distinguished  co-religionist — Taney. 

It  was  from  the  very  lips  of  the  priests,  who  were  constantly 
coming  in  and  going  out  of  their  house,  that  those  young  ladies 
had  learned  those  anti-social  and  anti-christian   doctrines.     Read 


722  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

in  the  testimony  concerning  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt,  (p.  122-123) 
how  the  Jesuits  had  perfectly  drilled  her  in  the  art  of  perjuring 
herself.  In  the  very  moment  when  the  government  officer  orders 
her  to  prepare  herself,  with  her  daughter,  to  follow  him  as  pris- 
oners, at  about  10  p.  m.,  Payne,  the  would-be  murderer  of  Sew- 
ard, knocks  at  the  door  and  wants  to  see  Mrs.  Surratt.  But 
instead  of  having  Mrs.  Surratt  to  open  the  door,  he  finds  himself 
confronted,  face  to  face,  with  the  government  detective,  Major 
Smith,  who  swears: 

"  I  questioned  him  in  regard  to  his  occupation,  and  what  bus- 
iness he  had  at  the  house,  at  this  late  hour  of  the  night.  He 
stated  that  he  was  a  laborer,  and  had  come  to  dig  a  gutter,  at  the 
request  of  Mrs.  Surratt. 

"I  went  to  the  parlor  door,  and  said:  '  Mrs.  Suraatt,  will  you 
step  here  a  minute  ? '  She  came  out,  and  I  asked  her :  '  Do  you 
know  this  man,  and  did  you  hire  him  to  come  and  dig  a  gutter 
for  you?'  She  answered,  raising  her  right  hand;  '  Before  God,, 
sir,  I  do  not  know  this  man,  I  have  never  seen  him,  and  I  did 
not  hire  him  to  dig  a  gutter  for  me.' " — Assassination  of  Lin- 
coln^ p.  122. 

But  it  was  proved  after,  by  several  unimpeachable  witnesses, 
that  she  knew^  very  well  that  Payne  was  a  personal  friend  of  her 
son,  who,  many  times,  had  come  to  her  house,  in  company  of 
his  friend  and  pet.  Booth,  She  had  received  the  communion 
just  two  or  three  days  before  that  public  perjury.  Just  a  moment 
after  making  it,  the  officer  ordered  her  to  step  out  into  the  car- 
riage. Before  doing  it,  she  asked  permission  to  kneel  down  and 
pray;  which  was  granted  (page  123.) 

I  ask  it  from  any  man  of  common  sense,  could  Jeff  Davis 
have  imparted  such  a  religious  calm,  and  self-possession  to  that 
woman,  when  her  hands  were  just  reddened  with  the  blood  of 
the  President,  and  she  was  on  her  way  to  trial! 

No!  such  sang  froid^  such  calm  in  that  soul,  in  such  a  terrible 
and  solemn  hour,  could  only  come  from  the  teachings  of  those 
Jesuits  who,  for  more  than  six  months,  were  in  her  house, 
showing  her  a  crown  of  eternal  glory,  if  she  would  help  to  kill 
the  monster  .ipostate — Lincoln — the  only  cause   of  that  horrible 


■am. 


THE     ASSASSINATION     OF     LINCOLN. 


7^3 


civil  war!  There  is  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  priests  had  per- 
fectly succeeded  in  persuading  Mary  Surratt  and  Booth  that  the 
killing  of  Lincoln  was  a  most  holy  and  deserving  work,  for  which 
God  had  an  eternal  reward  in  store. 

There  is'  a  fact  to  which  the  American  people  have  not  yet 
given  a  sufficient  attention.  It  is,  that,  without  a  single  excep- 
tion, the  conspirators  were  Roman  Catholics.  The  learned  and 
great  patriot,  General  Baker,  in  his  admirable  report,  struck 
and  bewildered  by  that  strange,  mysterious  and  portentous 
fact,  said: 

"I  mention,  as  an  exceptional  and  remarkable  fact,  that  every 
conspirator  in  custody,  is,  by  education,  a  Catholic." 

But  those  words  which,  if  well  understood  by  the  United 
States,  would  have  thrown  so  much  light  on  the  true  causes  of 
their  untold  and  unspeakable  disasters,  fell  as  if  on  the  ears  of 
deaf  men.  Very  few,  if  any,  paid  attention  to  them.  As  Gen- 
eral Baker  says,  all  the  conspirators  were  attending  Catholic 
Church  services,  and  were  educated  Roman  Catholics.  It  is  true 
that  some  of  them,  ds  Atzeroth,  Payne  and  Harold,  asked  for 
Protestant  ministers,  when  they  were  to  be  hung.  But  they  had 
been  considered,  till  then,  as  converts  to  Romanism.  At  page 
436,  of  The  Trial  of  jfohn  Surratt,  Louis  Weichman  tells  us 
that  he  was  going  to  St.  Aloy sin's  Churoh  with  Atzeroth,  and 
that  it  was  there  that  he  introduced  him  to  Mr.  Brothv  (another 
Roman  Catholic). 

It  is  a  well  authenticated  fact,  that  Booth  and  Weichman, 
who  were  themselves  Protestant  perverts  to  Romanism,  had 
proselytized  a  good  number  of  semi-Protestants  and  infidels  who, 
either  from  conviction,  or  from  hope  of  the  fortunes  promised  to 
the  successful  murderers,  were  themselves  very  zealous  for  the 
Church  of  Rome.  Payne,  Atzeroth  and  Harold  were  among 
those  proselytes.  But  when  those  murderers  were  to  appear 
before  the  country,  and  receive  the  just  punishment  of  their  crime, 
the  Jesuits  were  too  shrewd  to  ignore  that  if  they  were  all 
coming  on  the  scaffold  as  Roman  Catholics,  and  accompanied 
by  their  father  confessors,  it  would,  at  once,  open  the  eyes  of 
the  American  people,  and  clearly  show  that  this  was  a  Roman 


724 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 


Catholic  plot.  They  persuaded  three  of  their  proselytes  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  theological  principles  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
that  a  man  is  allow^ed  to  conceal  his  religion,  nay,  that  he  may 
say  that  he  is  an  heretic,  a  Protestant,  though  he  is  a  Roman 
Catholic,  when  it  is  for  his  own  interest  or  the  best  interests  of 
his  church  to  conceal  the  truth  and  deceive  the  people.  Here  is 
the  doctrine  of  Rome  on  that  subject: 

"  Soepe  melius  est  ad  dei  honorem,  et  utiliatatem  proximi, 
tegere  fidem  quam  frateri,  ut  si  latens  inter  herticos,  plus  boni 
facis;  vel  si  ex  confessione  fidci,  plus  mali  sequeretur,  verbi  gratia 
turbatio,  neces,  exacerbotiotyrannis." — Ligouri  Theologia^h.  ii., 
chap,  iii.,  p.  6. 

"  It  is  often  more  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  our 
neighbor  to  conceal  our  religious  faith,  as  when  we  live  among 
heretics,  we  can  more  easily  do  them  good  in  that  way ;  or  if  by 
declaring  our  religion,  we  cause  some  disturbances,  or  deaths,  or 
even  the  wrath  of  the  tyrant." 

It  is  evident  that  the  Jesuits  had  never  had  better  reasons 
to  suspect  that  the  declaration  of  their  religion  would  damage 
them  and  excite  the  wrath  of  their  tyrant,  viz:  the  American 
people. 

Lloyd's,  in  whose  house  Mrs.  Surratt  concealed  the  carbine 
which  Booth  wanted  for  protection,  when  just  after  the  murder 
he  was  to  flee  towards  the  Southern  States,  was  a  firm  Roman 
Catholic. 

Dr.  Nudd,  at  whose  place  Booth  stopped,  to  have  his  broken 
leg  dressed,  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  so  was  Garrett,  in  whose 
bam  Booth  was  caught  and  killed.  Why  so?  Because,  as  Jeff 
Davis  was  the  only  man  to  pay  one  million  dollars  to  those  who 
would  kill  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Jesuits  were  the  only  men  to 
select  the  murderers  and  prepare  everything  to  protect  them 
after  their  diobolical  deed,  and  such  murderers  could  not  be  found 
except  among  their  blind  and  fanatical  slaves. 

The  great,  the  fatal  mistake  of  the  American  Government  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  assassins  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  to  con- 
stantly keep  out  of  sight  the  religious  element  of  that  terrible 
drama.       Nothing    would  have  been   more  easy,  then,  than  to 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    LINCOLN.  •]  e^^ 

find  out  the  complicity  of  the  priests,  who  were  not  only  coming 
every  week  and  every  day,  but  who  were  even  living  in  that 
den  of  murderers.  But  this  was  carefully  avoided  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  trial.  When,  not  long  after  the  execu- 
tion of  the  murderers,  I  went,  incognito,  to  Washington  to  begin 
my  investigation  about  its  real  and  true  authors,  I  was  not  a  little 
surprised  to  see  that  not  a  single  one  of  the  government  men,  to 
whom  I  addressed  myself,  would  consent  to*have  any  talk  with 
me  on  that  matter,  except  after  I  had  given  my  word  of  honor 
that  I  would  never  mention  their  names  in  connection  with  the 
result  of  my  investigation.  I  saw,  with  a  profound  distress,  that 
the  influence  of  Rome  was  almost  supreme  in  Washington.  I 
could  not  find  a  single  statesman  who  would  dare  to  face  that 
nefarious  influence  and  fight  it  down,  except  General  Baker. 

Several  of  the  government  men,  in  whom  I  had  more  confi- 
dence, told  me: 

"  We  had  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  Jesuits  were  at  the 
bottom  of  that  great  iniquity;  we  even  feared,  sometimes,  that 
this  would  come  out  so  clearly  before  the  military  tribunal,  that 
there  would  be  no  possibility  of  keeping  it  out  of  the  public 
sight.  This  was  not  through  cowardice,  as  you  think,  but 
through  a  wisdom  which  you  ought  to  approve,  if  you  can  not 
admire  it.  Had  we  been  in  days  of  peace,  we  know  that  with  a 
little  more  pressure  on  the  witnesses,  many  priests  would  have 
been  compromised;  for  Mrs.  Surratt's  house  was  their  common 
rendezvous;  it  is  more  than  probable  that  several  of  them  might 
have  been  hung.  But  the  civil  war  was  hardly  over.  The  Con- 
federacy, though  broken  down,  was  still  living  in  millions  of 
hearts;  murderers  and  formidable  elements  of  discord  were  still 
seen  everywhere,  to  which  the  hanging  or  exiling  of  those  priests 
would  have  given  a  new  life.  Riots  after  riots  would  have  accom- 
panied and  followed  their  execution.  We  thought  we  had  had 
enough  of  blood,  fires,  devastations  and  bad  feelings.  We  were 
all  longing  after  days  of  peace;  the  country  w^as  in  need  of  them. 
We  concluded  that  the  best  interests  of  humanity  was  to  punish 
only  those  who  were  publicly  and  visibly  guilty ;  that  the  verdict 
might  receive  the  approbation  of   all,  without  creating   any  new 


726  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

bad  feelings.  Allow  us  also  to  tell  you  that  this  policy  was  that 
of  our  late  President.  For  you  know  it  well,  there  was  nothing 
which  that  great  and  good  man  feared  so  much  as  to  arm  the 
Protestants  against  the  Catholics  and  the  Catholics  against  the 
Protestants." 

But  if  any  one  has  still  any  doubts  of  the  complicity  of  the 
Jesuits,  in  the  murder  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  let  them  give  a 
moment  of  attentio!*  to  the  following  facts,  and  their  doubts  will 
be  forever  removed.  It  is  only  from  the  very  Jesuit  accom- 
plice's lips  that  I  take  my  sworn  testimonies. 

It  is  evident  that  a  very  elaborate  plan  of  escape  had  been 
prepared  by  the  priests  of  Rome,  to  save  the  lives  of  the  assas- 
sins and  the  conspirators.  It  would  be  too  long  to  follow  all  the 
murderers  when,  Cain-like,  they  were  fleeing  in  every  direction 
to  escape  the  vengeance  of  God  and  man.  Let  us  fix  our  eyes 
on  John  Surratt,  who  was  in  Washington  on  the  14th  of  April, 
helping  Booth  in  the  perpetration  of  the  assassination.  Who 
will  take  care  of  him?  Who  will  protect  and  conceal  him.''  Who 
will  press  him  on  their  bosoms,  put  their  mantles  on  his  shoulders 
to  conceal  him  from  the  just  vengeance  of  the  human  and  divine 
laws?  The  priest,  Charles  Boucher  {^Trial  of  yohn  Surratt^ 
vol.  ii.,  page  904-912),  swears  that  only  a  few  days  after  the 
murder,  John  Surratt  was  sent  to  him  by  Father  Lapierre,  of 
Montreal;  that  he  kept  him  concealed  in  his  parsonage  of  St. 
Liboire,  from  the  end  of  April  to  the  end  of  July,  then  he  took 
him  back,  secretly,  to  Father  Lapierre,  who  kept  him  secreted 
in  his  own  father's  house,  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  Montreal 
bishop's  palace.  He  swears  (p.  905-914)  that  Father  Lapierre 
visited  him  (Surratt)  often,  when  secreted  at  St.  Liboire,  and 
that  he  (Father  Boucher)  visited  him,  at  least  twice  a  week,  from 
the  end  of  July  to  September,  when  concealed  in  Father  La- 
pierre's  house  in  Montreal. 

That  same  Father  Charles  Boucher  swears  that  he  accom- 
panied John  Surratt  in  a  carriage,  in  the  company  of  Father 
Lapierre,  to  the  steamer  "  Montreal,"  when  starting  for  Quebec. 
That  Father  Lapierre  kept  him  (John  Surratt)  under  lock,  during 
the  voyage  from   Montreal   to   Quebec,  and  that  he  accompan- 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    LIMCOLN.  727 

iod  him,  disguised,  from  the  Montreal  steamer  to  the  ocean 
steamer,  "  Peruvian." — Trial  of  John  Surratt^  p.  910. 

The  doctor  of  the  steamer  "Peruvian,"  L.  I,  A.  McMillan, 
swears  (vol.  i.,  p.  460)  that  Father  Lapierre  introduced  him  to 
John  Surratt,  under  the  false  name  of  McCarthy,  whom  he  was 
keeping  locked  in  his  state  room,  and  whom  he  conducted  dis- 
guised to  the  ocean  steamer  "Peruvian,"  and  with  whom  he  re- 
mained till  he  left  Quebec  for  Europe,  the  15th  of  September, 
1865. 

But  who  is  that  Father  Lapierre  who  takes  such  a  tender,  I 
dare  say  a  paternal  care  of  Surratt?  It  is  not  less  a  personage 
than  the  canon  of  Bishop  Bourget,  of  Montreal.  He  is  the  con- 
fidential man  of  the  bishop.  He  lives  with  the  bishop,  eats  at 
bistable,  assists  him  with  his  counsel,  and  has  to  receive  his  ad- 
vice in  every  step  of  life.  According  to  the  laws  of  Rome,  the 
canons  are  to  the  bishop  what  the  arms  are  to  the  body. 

Now,  I  ask:  Is  it  not  evident  that  the  bishops  and  the 
priests  of  Washington  have  trusted  this  murderer  to  the  tender 
care  of  the  bishops  and  priests  of  Montreal,  that  they  might  con- 
ceal, feed  and  protect  him  for  nearly  six  months,  under  the  very 
shadow  of  the  bishop''s  palace?  Would  they  have  done  that  if 
they  were  not  his  accomplices?  Why  did  they  so  continually 
remain  with  him,  da}'^  and  night,  if  they  were  not  in  fear  that  he 
might  compromise  them  by  an  indiscreet  word?  Why  do  we 
see  those  priests  (I  ought  to  sav,  those  two  ambassadors  and  ap- 
pointed representatives  of  the  Pope)  alone  in  the  carriage,  which 
takes  that  great  culprit  from  his  house  of  concealment  to  the 
steamer?  Why  do  they  keep  him  there,  under  lock,  till  they 
transfer  him,  under  a  disguised  name,  to  the  oceanic  steamer,  the 
*' Peruvian,"  the  15th  of  July,  1865?  Why  such  tender  sympa- 
thies for  that  stranger?  Why  go  through  such  trouble  and 
expense  for  that  young  American,  among  the  bishops  and  priests 
of  Canada?  There  is  only  one  answer.  He  was  one  of  their 
tools,  one  of  their  selected  men  to  strike  the  great  Republic  of 
Equality  and  Liberty  to  the  heart.  For  more  than  six  months 
before  the  murder,  the  priests  had  lodged,  eaten,  conversed, 
slept   with    him    under   the   same    roof    in   Washington.      They 


728  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

had  trained  him  to  his  deed  of  blood,  by  promising  him  pro- 
tection on  earth,  and  a  crown  of  glory  in  heaven,  if  he  -would 
only  be  true  to  their  designs  to  the  end.  And  he  had  been  true 
to  the  end. 

Now  the  great  crime  is  accomplished  I  Lincoln  is  murdered! 
Jeff  Davis,  the  dear  son  of  the  Pope,  is  avenged!  The  great 
republic  has  been  struck  to  the  heart!  The  soldiers  of  Liberty 
all  over  the  world  are  weeping  over  the  dead  form  of  the  one 
who  had  led  them  to  victory ;  a  cry  of  desolation  goes  from  earth 
to  heaven. 

It  seems  as  if  we  heard  the  death-knell  of  the  cause  of  free- 
dom, equality  and  fraternity  among  men.  It  was  many  centuries 
since  the  implacable  enemies  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  men 
had  struck  such  a  giant  foe:  their  joy  %vas  as  great  as  their 
victory  complete. 

But  do  you  see  that  man  fleeing  from  Washington  toward  the 
north?  He  has  the  mark  of  Cain  on  his  forehead,  his  hands  are 
reddened  with  blood,  he  is  pale  and  trembling,  for  he  knows  it; 
a  whole  outraged  nation  is  after  him  for  her  just  vengeance;  he 
hears  the  thundering  voice  of  God:  "  Where  is  thy  brother?" 
Where  will  he  find  a  refuge?  Where,  outside  of  hell,  will  he 
meet  friends  to  shelter  and  save  him  from  the  just  vengeance  of 
God  and  men? 

Oh  I  He  has  sure  refuge  in  the  arms  of  that  church  which,  for 
more  than  a  thousand  years,  is  crying:  "Death  to  all  heretics' 
death  to  all  the  soldiers  of  Liberty  I "  He  has  devoted  friends 
among  the  very  men  who,  after  having  prepared  the  massacre 
of  Admiral  Colign\'  and  his  75,000  Protestant  countrymen,  rang 
the  bells  of  Rome  to  express  their  joy  when  they  heard  that,  at 
last,  the  King  of  France  had  slaughtered  them  all. 

But  where  will  those  bishops  and  priests  of  Canada  send 
John  Surratt,  when  they  find  it  impossible  to  conceal  him  any 
longer  from  the  thousands  of  detectiv'es  of  the  United  States, 
\vho  are  ransacking  Canada  to  find  out  his  retreat?  Who  will 
conceal,  feed,  lodge  and  protect  him  after  the  priests  of  Canada 
pressed  his  hand  for  the  last  time,  on  board  of  the  "  Peruvian,'* 
the  15th  of  September,  1S65. 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    LINCOLN, 


729 


Who  can  have  any  doubt  about  that?  Who  can  suppose  that 
any  one  but  the  Pope  himself  and  his  Jesuits  will  protect  the 
murderer  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  Europe? 

If  you  want  to  see  him,  after  he  has  crossed  the  ocean,  go  to 
Vitry,  at  the  door  of  Rome,  and  there,  you  will  find  him  en- 
rolled under  the  banners  of  the  Pope,  in  the  9th  company  of  his 
Zouaves,  under  the  false  name  of  Watson  (  Ti-'ial  of  yohn  Sur- 
ratt^  vol.  i.,  p.  492).  Of  course,  the  Pope  was  forced  to  with- 
draw his  protection  over  him,  after  the  government  of  the  United 
States  had  found  him  there,  and  he  was  brought  back  to  Wash- 
ington to  be  tried. 

But  on  his  arrival  as  a  prisoner  in  the  United  States,  his 
Jesuit  father  confessor  whispered  in  his  ear:  "  Fear  not,  you  will 
not  be  condemned!  Through  the  influence  of  a  high  Roman 
Catholic  lady,  two  or  three  of  the  jurymen  will  be  Roman  Cath- 
olics, and  you  will  be  safe.'' 

Those  who  ha\'e  read  the  two  volumes  of  the  trial  of  John 
Surratt,  know,  that  never  more  evident  proofs  of  guilt  were 
brought  against  a  murderer  than  in  that  case.  But  the  Roman 
Catholic  jurymen  had  read  the  Theology  of  .St.  Thomas,  a  book 
which  the  Pope  had  ordered  to  be  taught  in  every  college, 
academy  and  university  of  Rome,  they  had  learned  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  Roman  Catholics  to  exterminate  all  the  heretics. — 
St.  Thomas'  Theology^  vol.  iv.,  p.  90. 

They  had  read  the  decree  of  the  councils  of  Constance,  that 
no  faith  was  to  be  kept  with  heretics.  They  had  read  in  the 
council  of  Lateran,  that  the  Catholics  who  arm  themselves  for 
the  extermination  of  heretics  have  all  their  sins  forgiven,  and  re- 
ceive the  same  blessings  as  those  who  go  and  fight  for  the  rescue 
of  the  Holy  Land. 

Those  jurymen  were  told  by  their  father  confessors  that  the 
most  holy  Father,  the  Pope  Gregory  VIL,  had  solemnly  and  in- 
falliby  declared  that  "the  killing  of  an  heretic  was  no  murder." 
—  yure   Canonico. 

After  such  teachings,  how  could  the  Roman  Catholic  jury- 
men find  John  Surratt  guilty  of  murder,  for  killing  the  heretic 
Lincoln?     The  jury  having  disagreed,  no  verdict  could  be  given. 


730  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  government  was  forced  to  let  the  murderer  go  unpunished. 

But  when  the  irreconcilable  enemies  of  all  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  men  were  congratulating  themselves  on  their  success- 
ful efforts  to  save  the  life  of  John  Surratt,  the  God  of  heaven 
was  stamping  again  on  their  faces,  the  mark  of  murder,  in  such 
a  way  that  all  eyes  will  see  it. 

"  Murder  will  out,"  is  a  truth  repeated  by  all  nations  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world.  It  is  the  knowledge  of  that  truth 
w'hich  has  sustained  me  in  my  long  and  difficult  researches  of 
the  true  authors  of  the  assassination  of  Lincoln,  and  which  en- 
ables me  to-day,  to  present  to  the  world  a  fact,  which  seems 
almost  miraculous,  to  show  the  complicity  of  the  priests  of  Rome 
in  the  murder  of  the  martyred  President. 

Some  time  ago,  I  providentially  met  the  Rev.  Mr.  F.  A. 
Conwell,  at  Chicago.  Having  known  that  I  was  in  search  of 
facts  about  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  he  told  me  he 
knew  one  of  those  facts,  which  might  perhaps  throw  some  light 
on  the  subject  of  my  researches. 

"The  very  day  of  the  murder,"  he  said,  "  he  was  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  village  of  St.  Joseph,  Minnesota  State,  when, 
at  about  six  o'clock,  in  the  afternoon,  he  was  told  by  a  Roman 
Catholic  of  the  place,  who  was  a  purveyor  of  a  great  number  of 
priests  who  lived  in  that  town,  where  they  have  a  monastery, 
that  the  State  Secretary  Seward  and  the  President  Lincoln  had 
just  been  killed.  This  was  told  me,"  he  said,  "  in  the  presence 
of  a  most  respectable  gentleman,  called  Bennett,  who  was  not 
less  puzzled  than  me.  As  there  were  no  railroad  lines  nearer 
than  40  miles,  nor  telegraph  offices  nearer  than  80  miles,  from 
that  place,  we  could  not  see  how  such  news  was  spread  in  that 
town.  The  next  day,  the  15th  of  April,  I  was  at  St.  Cloud,  a 
town  about  twelve  miles  distant,  where  there  are  neither  railroad 
nor  telegraph,  I  said  to  several  people  that  I  had  been  told  in  the 
priestly  village  of  St.  Joseph,  by  a  Roman  Catholic,  that  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  the  Secretary  Seward  had  been  assassinated.  They 
antewered  me  that  they  had  heard  nothing  about  it.  But  the  next 
Sabbath,  the  i6th  of  April,  when  going  to  the  church  of  St. 
Cloud,  to  preach,  a  friend  gave  me  a  copy  of  a  telegram   sent  to 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    LINCOLN.  73I 

him  on  the  Saturday,  reporting  that  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Sec- 
retary Seward  had  been  assassinated,  the  verj'  day  before,  which 
was  Friday,  the  14th,  at  10  p.  m.  But  how  could  the  Roman 
Catholic  purveyor  of  the  priests  of  St.  Joseph,  have  told  me  the 
same  thing,  before  several  witnesses,  just  four  hours  before  its 
occurrence?  I  spoke  of  that  strange  thing  to  many,  the  same 
day,  and  the  very  next  day,  I  wrote  to  the  'St.  Paul  Press,'  under 
the  heading  of  'A  Strange  Coincidence.'  Sometime  later,  the 
editor  of  'The  St.  Paul  Pioneer,'  having  denied  what  I  had 
written  on  that  subject,  I  addressed  him  the  following  note, 
which  he  had  printed,  and  which  I  have  kept.  Here  it  is,  you 
may  keep  it  as  an  infallible  proof  of  my  veracity:" 

"To  THE  Editor  of  The  St.  Paul  Pioneer. 
"  You   assume  the  non-truth   of  a  short  paragraph  addressed  bj  me  te 
the  St.  Paul  '  Press,'  viz : 

"  .\    STRANCE    COINCIDKNCE! 

"  At  6:30  p.  M.,  Friday  last,  April  14th,  I  was  told  as  an  item  of  newt, 
8  miles  west  of  this  place,  that  Lincoln  and  Seward  had  been  assassinated. 
This  was  three  hours  after  I  had  heard  the  news." 

"  St.  Cloud,  i7lh  of  April,  1865. 
"  The  integrity  of  hi.story  requires  that  the  above  coincidence  be  estab- 
lished.    And  if  anyone  calls  it  in   question,   then  proofs  more  ample  than 
reared  their  sanguinary  shadows  to  comfort  a  traitor  can  now  be  given. 

"  Respectfully, 

"  F.  A.  CONWELL." 

I  asked  that  gentleman  if  he  would  be  kind  enough  to  give 
me  the  fact  under  oath,  that  I  might  make  use  of  it  in  the  report 
I  intended  to  publish  about  the  assassination  of  Lincoln.  And 
he  kindly  granted  my  request  in  the  following  form : 

State  of  Illinois,  ) 
Cook  County.     )        '    ' 

Rev.  F.  A.  Conwell,  being  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  seventy- 
one  years  old,  that  he  is  a  resident  of  North  Evanston,  in  Cook  County, 
State  of  Illinois,  that  he  has  been  in  the  ministry  for  fifty-six  years,  and  is 
now  one  of  the  chaplains  of  the  "Seamen's  Bethel  Home,"  in  Chicago;  that 
he  was  chaplain  of  the  First  Minnesota  Regiment,  in  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion. That,  on  the  14th  day  of  April,  A.  D.,  1865,  he  was  in  St.  Joseph, 
Minnesota,  and  reached  there  as  early  as  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Bennett,  who,  then  and  now,  is  a  resident  of  St.  Cloud,  Min- 
nesota.    That  on  that  date,  there  wa«  no  telegraph  nearer  than  Minneapolis, 


732  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

about  80  miles  from  St.  Joseph ;  and  there  was  no  railroad  communicAtitMi 
nearer  th«n  Avoka,  Minnesota,  about  40  miles  distant.  That  when  he  reached 
St.  Joseph,  on  the  14th  day  of  April,  1865,  one  Mr.  Linneman,  who,  then, 
kept  the  hotel  of  St.  Joseph,  told  affiant  that  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary 
Seward  were  assassinated,  that  it  was  not  later  than  half-past  six  o'clock, 
»n  Friday,  April  14th,  1865,  when  Mr.  Linneman  told  me  this.  Shortly 
thereafter,  Mr.  Bennett  came  in  the  hotel,  and  I  told  him  that  Mr.  Linneman 
said  the  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward  were  assassinated ;  and  then 
the  same  Mr.  Linneman  reported  the  same  conversation  to  Mr.  Bennett  in 
my  presence.  That  during  that  time,  Mr.  Linneman  told  me  that  he  had 
the  charge  of  the  friary  or  college  for  young  men,  under  the  priests,  who 
■were  studying  for  the  priesthood  at  St.  Joseph.  That  there  was  a  large  mul- 
titude of  this  kind  at  St.  Joseph,  at  this  time.  Affiant  says  that,  on  Saturday 
morning,  April  15th,  1865,  he  wient  to  St.  Cloud,  a  distance  of  about  10 
miles,  and  reached  there  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  That  there 
was  no  railroad  nor  telegraph  communication  to  St.  Cloud.  When  he  ar- 
rived at  St.  Cloud  he  told  Mr.  Haworth,  the  hotel-keeper,  that  he  had  been 
told  that  President  Lincoln  and  Secretary  Seward  had  been  assassinated,  and 
asked  if  it  was  true.  He  further  told  Henry  Clay,  Wait,  Charles  Oilman, 
who  was  afterwards  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Minnesota,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Tice, 
the  same  thing,  and  inquired  of  them  if  they  had  any  such  views;  and  they 
replied  that  they  had  not  heard  anything  of  the  kind. 

Affiant  says  that,  on  Sunday  morning,  April  16th,  1865,  he  preached  in 
St.  Cloud,  and  on  the  way  to  the  church,  a  copy  of  a  telegram  was  handed 
him,  stating  that  the  President  and  Secretary  were  assassinated  Friday  eve- 
ning, at  about  9  o'clock.  This  telegram  had  been  brought  to  St.  Cloud  by 
Mr.  Gorton,  who  had  reached  St.  Cloud  by  stage ;  and  this  was  the  first  in- 
telligence that  had  reached  St.  Cloud  of  the  event. 

Affiant  says  further  that,  on  Monday  morning,  April  17th,  1865,  he  fur- 
nished the  "  Press,"  a  paper  of  St.  Paul,  a  statement  that  three  hours  before 
the  event  took  place,  he  had  been  informed  at  St.  Joseph,  Minnesota,  that 
the  President  had  been  assassinated,  and  this  was  published  in  the  "  Press." 

FRANCIS  ASBURY  CONWELL. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  by  Francis  A.  Conwell,  before  me,  a  Notary 
Public  of  Kankakee  County,  Illinois,  at  Chicago,  Cook  County,  the  6th  day 
of  September,  1883. 

Stephen  R.  Moore,  Notary  Public. 


Though  this  document  was  very  important  and  precious  to 
me,  I  felt  that  it  would  be  much  more  valuable  if  it  could  be 
corroborated  by  the  testimonies  of  Messrs.  Bennett  and  Linne- 
man, themselves,  and  I  immediately  sent  a  magistrate  to  find  out 
if  they  were  still  living,  and  if  they  remembered  the  facts  of  the 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OF    LINCOLN,  733 

sworn  declaration  of  Rev.  Mr.  Conwell.  By  the  good  provi- 
dence of  God,  both  of  these  gentlemen  were  found  living,  and 
both  gave  the  following  testimonies: 

State  of  Minnesota, 

Sterns  County,  City 

of  St.  Cloud. 

Horace  B.  Bennett,  being  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  aged  sixty- 
four  years;  that  he  is  a  resident  of  St.  Cloud,  Minnesota,  and  has  resided  In 
this  county  since  1S56;  that  he  is  acquainted  with  the  Rev.  F.  A.  Conwell, 
who  was  chaplain  of  the  First  Minnesota  Regiment  in  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion; that  on  the  14th  of  April,  1865,  he  was  in  St.  Joseph,  Minnesota,  in 
company  with  Mr.  Francis  A.  Conwell;  that  they  reached  St.  Joseph  about 
sundown  of  said  April  14th;  that  there  was  no  railroad  or  telegraph  commu- 
nication with  St.  Joseph  at  that  time,  nor  nearer  than  Avoka,  about  40  miles 
distant.  That  affiant,  on  reaching  the  hotel  kept  by  Mr.  Linneman,  went 
to  the  barn,  while  Rev.  F.  Conwell  entered  the  hotel ;  and  shortly  afterward, 
affiant  had  returned  to  the  hotel,  Mr.  Conwell  told  iiini  that  Mr.  Linneman 
had  reported  to  him  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln ;  that  Linneman 
was  present  and  substantiated  the  statement. 

That  on  Saturday  morning,  April  15th,  affiant  and  Rev.  Conwell  came 
to  St.  Cloud,  and  reported  that  they  had  been  told  at  St.  Joseph,  about  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  that  no  one  at  St.  Cloud  had  heard  of 
the  event  at  this  time,  that  the  first  news  of  the  event  which  reached  St. 
Cloud  was  on  Sunday  morning,  April  i6th,  when  the  news  was  brought  by 
Leander  Gorton,  who  had  just  come  up  from  Avoka,  Minnesota;  that  they 
^x)ke  to  several  persons  of  St.  Cloud  concerning  the  matter,  when  they 
reached  there,  on  Sunday  morning,  but  affiant  does  not  now  remember  who 
those  different  persons  were,  and  further  affiant  says  not. 

HORACE  P.  BENNETT'. 

Sworn  before  me,  and  subscribed  in  my  presence,  this  iSth  of  October 
A.  D.,  1883. 

Andrew  C.  Robertson,  Notary  Public. 

Mr.  Linneman  having  refused  to  swear  on  his  written  de- 
claration, which  I  have  in  my  possession,  I  take  only  from  it 
what  refers  to  the  principal  fact,  viz :  that  three  or  four  hours 
before  Lincoln  was  assassinated  at  Washington,  the  14th  of 
April,  1865,  the  fact  was  told  as  already  accomplished,  in  the 
priestly  village  of  St.  Joseph,  Minnesota. 

"  He  (Lirmeman)  remembers  the  time  that  Messrs.  Conwell  and 
Bennett  came  to  this  place  (St.  Joseph,  Minnesota)  on  Friday  evening,  before 
the  President  was  killed,  and    he   asked  them    if   they   had   heard  he  wa» 


734  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

dead,  and  they  replied  they  had  not.     He  heard  this  rumor  in  his  store 
from  people  who  came  in  and  out     But  he  cannot  remember  from  whom. 
October  20th,  1883. 

J.  H.  LINNEMAN. 

I  present  here  to  the  world  a  fact  of  the  greatest  gravity, 
and  that  fact  is  so  well  authenticated  that  it  cannot  allow  even 
the  possibility  of  a  doubt. 

Three  or  four  hours  before  Lincoln  was  murdered  in  Wash- 
ington, the  14th  of  April,  1865,  that  murder  was  not  only  known 
by  some  one,  but  it  w^as  circulated  and  talked  of  in  the  streets, 
and  in  the  houses  of  the  priestly  and  Romish  town  of  St. 
Joseph,  Minnesota.  The  fact  is  undeniable;  the  testimonies  are 
unchallengeable,  and  there  were  no  railroad  nor  any  telegraph 
communication  nearer  than  40  or  80  miles  from  the  nearest 
station  to  St.  Joseph. 

Naturally  every  one  asked  :  "  How  could  such  news  spread  ? 
Where  is  the  source  of  such  a  rumor.''  "  Mr.  Linneman,  who  is 
a  Roman  Catholic,  tells  us  that  though  he  heard  this  from  many 
in  his  store,  and  in  the  streets,  he  does  not  remember  the  name 
of  a  single  one  who  told  him  that.  And  when  we  hear  this 
from  him,  we  understand  why  he  did  not  dare  to  swear  upon  it, 
and  shnmk  from  the  idea  of  perjuring  himself. 

For  everyone  feels  that  his  memory  cannot  be  so  poor  as 
that,  when  he  remembers  so  well  the  name  of  the  two  strangers, 
Messrs.  Conwell  and  Bennett,  to  whom  he  had  announced  the 
assassination  of  Lincoln,  just  seventeen  years  before.  But  if  the 
memory  of  Mr.  Linneman  is  so  deficient  on  that  subject,  we  can 
help  him,  and  tell  him  with  mathematical  accuracy: 

"You  got  the  news  from  your  priests  of  St.  Joseph!  The 
conspiracy  which  cost  the  life  of  the  martyred  President  was 
prepared  by  the  priests  of  Washington  in  the  house  of  Mary 
Surratt,  No.  541  H.  Street.  The  priests  of  St.  Joseph  were 
often  visiting  Washington,  and  boarding,  probably,  at  Mrs.  Sur- 
ratt's  as  the  priests  of  Washington  were  often  visiting  their 
brother  priests  at  St.  Joseph. 

"  Those  priests  of  Washington  were  in  daily  communication 
with  their  co-rebel  priests  of  St.  Joseph  ;  they  were  their  intimate 
friends.     There  w^ere  no   secrets  among   them,  as   there  are  no 


THE    ASSASSINATION    OK    LINCOLN.  ^35 

secrets  among  priests.  They  are  the  members  of  the  same  body, 
the  branches  of  the  same  tree.  The  details  of  the  murder,  as  the 
day  selected  for  its  commission  were  as  well  known  among  the 
priests  of  St.  Joseph,  as  they  were  among  those  of  Washington. 
The  death  of  Lincoln  was  such  a  glorious  event  for  those  priests! 
That  infamous  apostate,  Lincoln,  who,  baptized  in  the  Holy 
Church,  had  rebelled  against  her,  broken  his  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Pope,  taken  the  very  day  of  his  baptism,  and  liveil  the 
life  of  an  apostate!  That  infamous  Lincoln,  who  had  dared  to 
fight  against  the  Confederacy  of  the  South  after  the  Vicar  of 
Christ  had  solemnly  declared  that  their  cause  was  just,  legiti- 
mate and  holy!  That  bloody  tyrant,  that  godless  and  infamous 
man  was  to  receive,  at  last,  the  just  chastisement  of  his  crimes, 
the  14th  of  April!  What  glorious  news!  How  could  the  priests 
conceal  such  a  joyful  event  from  their  bosom  friend,  Mr.  Linne- 
man?  He  was  their  confidential  man:  he  was  their  purveyor: 
he  was  their  right  hand  man  among  the  faithful  of  St.  Joseph. 
They  thought  that  they  would  be  guilty  of  a  want  of  confidence 
in  their  bosom  friend,  if  they  did  not  tell  him  all  about  the  glori- 
ous event  of  that  great  day.  But,  of  course,  they  requested  him 
not  to  mention  their  names,  if  he  would  spread  the  joyful  news 
among  the  devoted  Roman  Catholics  who,  almost  exclusively, 
formed  the  people  of  St.  Joseph.  Mr.  Linneman  has  honora- 
bly and  faithfully  kept  his  promise  never  to  reveal  their  names, 
and  to-day,  we  have,  in  our  hand,  the  authentic  testimonies 
signed  by  him  that,  though  somebody,  the  14th  of  April,  told 
him  that  President  Lincoln  w^as  assassinated,  he  does  not  know 
who  told  him  that! 

But  there  is  not  a  man  of  sound  judgment  who  will  have  anv 
doubt  about  that  fact.  The  4th  of  April,  1865,  the  priests  of 
Rome  knew  and  circulated  the  death  of  Lincoln  four  hours  be- 
fore its  occurrence  in  their  Roman  Catholic  town  of  St.  Joseph, 
Minnesota.  But  they  could  not  circulate  it  without  knowing  it, 
and  they  could  not  know  it,  without  belonging  to  the  band  of 
conspirators  who  assassinated  President  Lincoln. 


Chapter  LXII. 


I>KPXJTATION  OF  TW^O  PRIESTS  SENT  BY  THE  PEOPLE  AND 
TKE  BISHOPS  OF  CANADA  TO  PERSUADE  US  TO  SUBMIT  TO 
THE  "WILL  OF  THE  BISHOP— THE  DEPUTIES  ACKNOWIiEDGE 
PUBLICLY  THAT  THE  BISHOP  IS  WRONG  AND  THAT  WE  ARE 
RIQHT^FOR  PEACE  SAKE,  I  CONSENT  TO  WTTHDRAW  FROM 
THE  CONTEST  ON  CERTAIN  CONDITIONS  ACCEPTED  BY  THE 
DEPUTIES-ONE  OF  THOSE  DEPUTIES  TURNS  FALSE  TO  HIS 
PROMISES  AND  BETRAYS  US,  TO  BE  PUT  AT  THE  HEAD  OF 
MY  COLONY— MY  LAST  INTERVIEW  WITH  HIM  AND  MR. 
BRASSARD. 


WHEN  alone,  on  my  knees,  in  the  presence  of  God,  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1S55,  I  took  the  resolution  of  opposing  the 
acts  of  simony  and  tyranny  of  Bishop  O'Regan,  I  was  far  from 
understanding  the  logical  consequences  of  my  struggle  with  that 
high  dignitary.  My  only  object  was  to  force  him  to  be  honest, 
just  and  Christian  towards  my  people.  That  people,  with  me, 
had  left  their  country  and  had  bid  an  eternal  adieu  to  all  that 
w^as  dear  to  them  in  Canada,  in  order  to  live  in  peace  in  Illinois, 
under  what  we,  then,  considered  the  holy  authority  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  But  we  were  absolutely  unwilling  to  be 
slaves  of  any  man,  in  the  land  of  Liberty. 

If  any  one,  at  that  hour,  could  have  shown  me  that  this  strug- 
gle would  lead  me  to  a  complete  separation  from  the  Church  of 
Rome,  I  would  have  shrank  from  the  task.  My  only  ambition 
was  to  purify  my  church  from  the  abuses  which,  one  after  the 
other,  had  crept  everywhere  about  her,  as  noxious  weeds.  I  felt 
that  those  abuses  were  destroying  the  precious  truths  which 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  have  revealed  to  us.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  ^vas  a  duty  imposed  upon  every  priest  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  blot  from  the  face  of  our  church  the  scandals  w^hich  were  the 
fruits  of  the  iniquities  and  tyranny  of  the  bishops.  I  had  most 
aincerely  offered  myself  to  God  for  this  work. 

736 


THE      BISHOP     IS     WRONf,.  73^ 

From  the  beginning,  however,  I  had  a  presentiment  that  the 
power  of  the  bishops  would  be  too  much  for  me,  and  that, 
sooner  or  later,  they  w^ould  crush  me.  But  my  hope  was  that 
when  I  should  have  fallen,  others  would  take  my  place  and  fight 
the  battles  of  the  Lord,  till  a  final  victoiy  would  bring  the 
church  back  to  the  blessed  days  when  she  was  the  spotless  spouse 
of  the  Lamb. 

The  great  and  providential  victory  I  had  gained  at  Urbana, 
had  strengthened  my  conviction  that  God  was  on  my  side,  and 
that  he  would  protect  me,  so  long  as  my  only  motives  were  in 
the  interest  of  truth  and  righteousness.  It  seemed,  in  a  word, 
that  I  could  not  fail  so  long  as  I  should  fight  against  the  oflficial 
lies,  tyrannies,  superstitions  and  deceits  which  the  bishops  hatl 
ever}' where  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  substituted  in  the 
place  of  the  Gospel,  the  primitive  laws  of  the  church,  and  the 
teachings  of  the  holy  fathers. 

In  the  autumn  of  1S56,  our  struggle  against  the  Bishop  of 
Chicago  had  taken  proportions  which  could  not  have  been  an- 
ticipated either  by  me  or  by  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  of 
America.  The  whole  press  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
both  political  and  religious,  were  discussing  the  causes  and  the 
probable  results  of  the  c0nte.1t. 

At  first,  the  bishops  were  indignant  at  the  conduct  of  my  lord 
O'Regan.  They  had  seen  with  pleasure,  that  a  priest  from  his 
own  diocese  would  probably  force  him  to  be  more  cautious  and 
less  scandalous  in  his  public  and  private  dealings  with  the  clergy 
and  the  people.  But,  they  also  hoped  that  I  should  be  par- 
alyzed by  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  and  that  the  people, 
frightened  by  these  fulminations,  would  withdraw  the  support 
they  had,  at  first,  given  me.  They  were  assurred  by  Spink,  that 
I  would  lose  my  suit,  at  Urbana,  and  should,  when  lodged  in 
the  penitentiary,  become  powerless  to  do  any  mischief  in  the 
church. 

But  their  confidence  was  soon  changed  into  dismay  when 
they  saw  that  the  people  laughed  at  the  excommunication;  that 
I  had  gained  my  suit,  and  that  I  was  triumphing  on  that  very 
battle-field  from  which   no  jjriest,  since   Luther  and   Knox,  had 


738  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

come  out  unscathed.  Everywhere,  the  sound  of  alarm  was  heard,, 
and  I  was  denounced  as  a  rebel  and  schismatic.  The  whole  body 
of  the  bishops  prepared  to  hurl  their  most  terrible  fulminations 
at  my  devoted  head.  But  before  taking  their  last  measure  to 
crush  me,  a  supreme  effort  was  made  to  show^  us  what  they  con- 
sidered our  errors.  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Brassard,  curate  of  Long- 
ueuil,  and  Rev.  Isaac  Desaulnier,  President  of  St.  Hyacinthe 
college,  were  sent  by  the  people  and  bishops  of  Canada  to  show 
me  what  they  called  the  scandal  of  my  proceedings,  and  press 
me  to  submit  to  the  will  of  the  bishop,  by  respecting  the  so- 
called  sentence  of  excommunication. 

The  choice  of  those  two  priests  was  very  wise.  They 
were  certainly  the  most  influential  that  could  be  sent.  Mr.  Bras- 
sard had  not  only  been  my  teacher  at  the  college  of  Nicolet,  but 
my  benefactor,  as  I  have  already  said.  When  the  want  of  means, 
in  1825,  had  forced  me  to  leave  the  college  and  bid  adieu  to  my 
mother  and  my  young  brothers,  in  order  to  go  to  a  very  distant 
land,  in  search  of  a  position ;  he  stopped  me  on  the  road  of  exile 
and  bi-ought  me  back  to  the  college:  and  along  with  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Leprohon,  he  paid  all  my  expenses  to  the  end  of  my  studies.. 
He  had  loved  me  since,  as  his  own  child,  and  I  cherished  and  re- 
spected him  as  my  own  father.  The  other,  Mons.  I.  Desaulnier, 
had  been  my  class-mate  in  the  college,  from  1822  to  1829,  and 
we  had  been  united  during  the  whole  of  that  period,  as  well  as 
since,  by  the  bonds  of  the  sincerest  esteem  and  friendship!  They 
arrived  at  St.  Anne  on  November  24th,  1856. 

I  heard  of  their  coming  only  a  few  minutes  before  their  ar- 
rival; and  nothing  can  express  the  joy  I  felt  at  the  news.  The 
confidence  I  had  in  their  honesty  and  friendship,  gave  me,  at 
once,  the  hope  that  they  would  soon  see  the  justice  and  holiness 
of  our  cause,  and  they  would  bravely  take  our  side  against  our 
aggressor.  But  they  had  very  different  sentiments.  Sincerely 
believing  that  I  was  an  unmanageable  schismatic,  who  was  cre- 
ating an  awful  scandal  in  the  church,  they  had  not  only  been 
forbidden  by  the  bishops  to  sleep  in  my  house,  but  also  have  any 
frienaly  and  Christian  communication  with  me.  With  no  hatred 
against  me,  they  were  yet  filled  with  horror  at  the  thought  that 


THE     BISHOP    IS    WRONG. 


739 


I  should  be  so  scandalous  a  priest,  and  so  daring,  as  to  trouble 
the  peace  and  destroy  the  unity  of  the  church. 

On  their  way  from  Canada  to  St.  Anne,  they  had  often  been 
told  that  I  was  not  the  same  man  as  they  knew  me  formerly  to  be, 
and  that  I  had  become  sour  and  gloomy,  abusive,  insolent 
and  haughty;  that  also,  I  would  insult  them,  and  perhaps  advise 
the  people  to  turn  them  away  from  my  premises,  as  men  who 
had  no  business  to  meddle  in  our  affairs.  They  were  pleasantlv 
disappointed,  however,  when  they  saw  me  running  to  meet 
them,  as  far  as  I  could  see  them,  to  press  them  to  my  heart,  with 
the  most  sincere  marks  of  affection  and  joy.  I  told  them  that 
all  the  treasures  of  California  brought  to  my  house,  would 
not  make  me  half  so  happy  as  I  was  made  by  their  pres- 
ence. 

I,  at  once,  expressed  my  hope  that  they  were  the  messengers, 
sent  by  God,  to  bring  us  peace  and  put  an  end  to  the  deplorable 
state  of  things  which  was  the  cause  of  their  long  journey.  Re- 
marking that  they  were  covered  with  mud,  I  invited  them  to  go 
to  their  sleeping  rooms,  to  wash  and  refresh  themselves. 

"Sleeping  rooms!  sleeping  rooms!!"  said  Mr.  Desaulnier, 
"but  our  written  instructions  from  the  bishops  who  sent  us,  for- 
bid us  to  sleep  here,  on  account  of  your  excommunication." 

Mr.  Brassard  answered:  "I  must  tell  you,  my  dear  Mr. 
Desaulnier,  a  thing  which  I  have  kept  secret  till  now.  After 
reading  that  prohibition  of  sleeping  here,  I  said  to  the  bishop 
that  if  he  would  put  such  a  restraint  upon  me,  he  might  choose 
another  one  to  come  here.  I  requested  him  to  let  us  both  act 
according  to  our  conscience  and  common  sense,  when  we  should 
be  with  Chiniquy. 

"And,  to-day,  my  conscience  and  common  sense  tells  me  that 
we  cannot  begin  our  mission  of  peace  by  insulting  a  man  who 
gives  us  such  a  friendly  and  Christian  reception.  The  peo- 
ple of  Canada  have  chosen  us  as  their  deputies,  because  we 
are  the  most  sincere  friends  of  Chiniquy.  It  is  by  keeping 
that  character  that  we  will  best  fulfill  our  sacred  and  solemn 
duties.       I    accept   with    pleasure,  the    sleeping    room    offered 


740  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Mr.  Desaulnier  rejoined:  "I  accept  it  also,  for  I  did  not 
come  here  to  insult  my  best  friend,  but  to  save  him." 

These  kind  words  of  my  guests  added  to  the  joy  I  experi- 
enced at  their  coming.      I  told  them : 

"  If  you  are  here  to  obey  the  voice  of  your  conscience  and 
the  dictates  of  your  common  sense,  there  is  a  glorious  task  before 
you.  You  will  soon  find  that  the  people  and  priest  of  St.  Anne, 
have  also  done  nothing,  but  listened  to  the  voice  of  their  honest 
conscience,  and  followed  the  laws  of  common  sense  in  their  con- 
duct towards  the  bishop.  But,"  I  added,  "this  is  not  the  time  to 
explain  my  position,  but  the  time  to  wash  your  dusty  faces  and 
refresh  yourselves.  Here  are  your  rooms,  make  yourselves  at 
home." 

After  supper,  which  had  been  spent  in  the  most  pleasant  way, 
and  without  any  allusion  to  our  troubles,  they  handed  me  the 
letters  addressed  to  me  by  the  bishops  of  Montreal,  London  and 
Toronto,  to  induce  me  to  submit  to  my  superior,  and  offer  me 
the  assurance  of  their  most  sincere  friendship  and  devotedness,  if 
I  would  obey. 

Mr.  Desaulnier  then  said:  "Now,  my  dear  Chiniquj',  we 
have  been  sent  here  b}^  the  people  and  bishops  of  Canada  to 
take  you  away  from  the  bottomless  abyss  into  which  you  have 
fallen  with  your  people.  We  have  only  one  day  and  two  nights  to 
spend  here,  we  must  lose  no  time,  but  begin  at  once,  to  fulfill  our 
solemn  mission." 

I  answered:  "If  I  have  fallen  into  a  bottomless  abyss  as 
you  say,  and  that  you  will  draw  me  out  of  it,  not  only  God 
and  men  will  bless  you;  but  I  will  also  forever  bless  you  for 
your  charit}-.  The  first  thing,  however,  you  have  to  do  here,  is 
to  see  if  I  am  really  fallen,  with  mv  people,  into  that  bottomless 
abyss  of  which  you  speak." 

"  But  are  you  not  excommunicated,"  quickly  rejoined  Mr. 
Desaulnier,  "  and,  notwithstanding  that  excommunication,  have 
vou  not  continued  to  say  your  mass,  preach  and  hear  the  confes- 
sions of  your  people  ?  Are  you  not  then  fallen  into  that  state  of 
irregularity  and  schism  which  separate  you  entirely  from  the 
church,  and  to  which  the  Pope  alone  can   restore  you?" 


THE    BISHOP    IS    WRONG. 


7^- 


"No,  my  clear  Desaulnier,  "  I  answered,  "I  am  nor  more  ex- 
communicated than  you  are.  For  the  simple  reason  that  an  act 
of  excommunication  which  is  not  signed  and  certified,  is  a  public 
nullity,  unworthy  of  any  attention.  Here  is  the  act  of  the  so- 
called  excommunication,  which  makes  so  much  noise  in  the 
world!  Examine  it  yourself;  look  if  it  is  signed  by  the 
bishop,  or  any  one  else  you  know;  consider  with  attention 
if  it  is  certified  by  anybody."  And  I  handed  him  the  docu- 
ment. 

After  he  had  examined  it,  and  turned  it  every  way,  for  more 
than  half  an  hour,  with  Mr.  Brassard,  without  saying  a  word, 
he  at  last  broke  the  silence,  and  said: 

"  If  I  had  not  seen  it  with  my  own  eyes,  I  could  never  have 
believed  that  a  bishop  can  play  such  a  sacrilegious  comedy  in  the 
face  of  the  world.  You  have,  several  times,  published  it  in  the 
press,  but  I  confess  that  your  best  friends,  and  I  among  the  rest, 
did  not  believe  you.  It  could  not  enter  our  minds  that  a  bishop 
should  be  so  devoid,  I  do  not  say  of  every  principle  of  religion, 
but  of  the  most  common  honesty,  as  to  have  proclaimed  before 
the  whole  world  that  you  were  excommunicated,  when  he  had 
to  offer  us  only  that  ridiculous  piece  of  rag,  to  support  his  asser- 
tion. But,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  why  is  it  that  he  has 
not  signed  his  sentence  of  excommunication,  or  got  it  signed  and 
countersigned  by  some  authorized  people,  when  it  is  so  evident 
that  he  wanted  to  excommunicate  you?" 

"  His  reason  for  not  putting  his  name,  nor  the  name  of  any 
known  person  at  the  bottom  of  that  so-called  excommunication 
is  very  clear,"  I  answered:  "though  our  bishop  is  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  rogues  of  Illinois,  he  is  still  more  a  coward 
than  a  rogue.  I  had  threatened  to  bring  him  before  the  civil 
court  of  the  country,  if  he  dared  to  destroy  my  character  by  a 
sentence  of  inderdict  or  excommunication;  and  he  found  that  the 
only  way  to  save  himself,  in  the  same  time  that  he  was  outraging 
me,  was  not  to  sign  that  paper;  he  thereby  took  away  from  me 
the  power  of  prosecuting  him.  For,  the  first  thing  I  would 
have  to  do  in  a  prosecution,  in  that  case,  would  be  to  prove  the 
signature  of    the  bishop.     Where  could   I  find  a  witness  who 


74^  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

would  swear  that  this  is  his  signature?  Would  you  swear  it 
yourself,  my  dear  Desaulnier?" 

"Oh!  no,  for  surely,  it  is  not  his  signature,  nor  that  of  his 
grand  vicar  or  secretary.  But  without  going  any  further,"  added 
he,  "we  must  confess  to  you  that  ^ve  have  talked  to  the  bishop 
when  passing  through  Chicago,  asking  him  if  he  had  made  any 
public  or  private  inquest  against  you,  and  if  he  had  found  you 
guilty  of  any  crime.  As  he  felt  embarrassed  by  our  questions, 
we  told  him  that  it  was  in  our  public  character  as  deputies  of  the 
bishops  and  people  of  Canada  towards  you,  that  we  were 
putting  to  him  those  questions.  That  it  was  necessary  for  us  to 
know  all  about  your  public  and  private  character,  w^hen  we 
were  coming  to  press  you  to  reconcile  yourself  to  your 
bishop. 

"  He  answered  that  he  had  never  made  any  inquest  about 
you,  though  you  had  requested  him,  several  times,  to  do  it,  for 
the  simple  reason  that  he  was  persuaded  that  you  were  one  of 
his  best  priests.  Your  only  defect,  he  said,  was  a  spirit  of  stub- 
bornness, and  want  of  respect  and  obedience  to  your  superior, 
and  your  meddling  with  the  dealings  of  his  diocesans,  with 
which  you  had  no  business.  He  told  us  also  that  you  refused 
to  go  to  Kahokia.  But  his  face  became  so  red  and  his  tongue 
w^as  so  strangely  lisping  when  he  said  that,  that  I  suspected  that 
it  w^as  a  falsehood ;  and  Ave  have  noAV,  before  our  eyes,  that  doc- 
ument, signed  by  four  unimpeachable  witnesses,  that  it  was  more 
than  a  falsehood — it  was  a  lie.  He  proffered  another  lie,  also, 
we  see  it  now,  when  he  said  that  he  had  signed  himself,  the  act 
of  excommunication. 

"  For,  surely,  this  is  not  his  handwriting.  Such  conduct 
from  a  bishop  is  very  strange.  If  you  would  appeal  to  the  Pope, 
and  go  to  Rome  with  such  documents  in  hand  against  that 
bishop,  you  would  have  an  easy  victory  over  him.  For  the 
canons  of  the  church  are  clear  and  unanimous  on  that  subject. 
A  bishop  who  pronounces  such  a  grave  sentence  against  a  priest, 
and  makes  use  of  false  signatures  to  certify  his  sentences,  is  him- 
self suspended  and  excommunicated,  ipso  facto^  for  a  whole 
year." 


THE    BISHOP    IS    WRONG. 


7+3 


Mr.  Brassard  added:  "Cannot  we  confess  to  Chiniquy  that 
the  opinion  of  the  bishops  of  Canada  is,  that  Bishop  O'Regan  is 
a  perfect  rogue,  and  that  if  he  (Chiniquy)  would  submit,  at 
once,  under  protest,  to  those  unjust  sentences,  and  appeal  to  the 
Pope,  he  would  gain  his  cause,  and  soon  be  reinstated  by  a  pub- 
lic decree  of  his  holiness." 

Our  discussion  about  the  troubles  1  had  had ;  and  the  best 
way  to  put  an  end  to  them,  having  kept  us  up  till  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning  without  being  able  to  come  to  any  satisfactory 
issue,  we  adjourned  to  the  next  day,  and  went  to  take  some  rest, 
after  a  short  prayer. 

The  25th  of  November,  at  10  A.  m.,  after  breakfast  and  a 
short  walk  in  our  public  square,  to  breathe  the  pure  air  and  enjoy 
the  fine  scenery  of  our  beautiful  hill  of  St.  Anne,  we  shut  our- 
selves up  in  my  study,  and  resumed  the  discussion  of  the  best 
plans  of  putttng  an  end  to  the  existing  difficulties. 

To  show  them  my  sincere  desire  of  stopping  those  noisy  and 
scandalous  struggles  without  compromising  the  sacred  principles 
which  had  guided  me  from  the  beginning  of  our  troubles,  I  con- 
sented to  sacrifice  my  position  as  pastor  of  St.  Anne,  provided 
Mr.  Brassard  would  be  installed  in  my  place.  It  was  decided, 
however,  that  I  should  remain  with  him,  as  his  vicar,  and  help  in 
the  management  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs  of  the  col- 
ony. The  promise  was  given  me  that  on  that  condition,  the 
bishop  would  withdraw  his  so-called  sentence,  give  back  to  the 
French- Canadians  of  Chicago  the  church  he  had  taken  away 
from  them,  put  a  French-speaking  priest  at  the  head  of  the  con- 
gregation, and  forget  and  forgive  what  he  might  consider  our 
irregular  conduct  towards  him,  after  we  should  have  signed  the 
following  document: 

To  HIS  Lordship  O'Regan,  Bishop  of  Chicago. 

My  Lord: — As  my  writings  and  actions  in  opposition  to  jour  orders 
have,  since  a  few  months,  given  some  scandals,  and  caused  some  people  to 
think  that  I  would  rather  prefer  to  be  separated  from  our  holy  church,  than 
to  submit  to  vour  authority,  I  hasten  to  express  the  regret  I  feel  for  such 
acts  and  writings.  And  to  show  to  the  world,  and  to  you,  my  bishop,  my 
firm  desire  to  live  and  die  a  Catholic,  I  hasten  to  write  to  your  lordship  that 
I  submit  to  your  sentence,  and  that   I  promise,  hereafter,   to  exercise  the 


744  FIFTY     YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

holy  ministry  only  with  your  permission.  In  consequence,  I  respectfully 
request  your  lordship  to  withdraw  the  censures  and  interdicts  you  have  pro- 
nounced against  me  and  those  who  have  had  any  spiritual  communicatioa 
with  me.     I  am,  my  lord,  your  devoted  son  in  Christ. 

C.  CHINIQUY. 

It  was  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  when  I  consented  to  sign  this 
document,  w^hich  was  to  be  handed  to  the  bishop  and  have  any 
value,  only  on  the  above  conditions.  The  two  deputies  were 
besides  themselves  with  joy,  at  the  success  of  their  mission,  and 
at  my  readiness  to  sacrifice  myself  for  the  sake  of  peace.  Mons. 
Desaulnier  said: 

"  Now  we  see,  evidently,  that  Chiniquy  has  been  right  with 
his  people  from  the  beginning,  that  he  never  meant  to  create  a 
schism  and  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  rebellious  party,  to 
defy  the  authority  of  the  church.  If  the  bishop  does  not  want  to 
live  in  peace  with  the  people  and  pastor  of  St.  Anne,  after  such 
a  sacrifice,  we  will  tell  him  that  it  is  not  Chiniquy,  but  Bishop 
O'Regan,  vv^ho  wants  a  schism— we  will  appeal  to  the  Pope — I 
w^ill  go  with  Chiniquy,  and  we  will  easily  get,  there,  the  re- 
moval of  that  Bishop  from  the  diocese  of  Chicago." 

Mr.  Brassard  confirmed  that  sentence,  and  added  that  he, 
also,  vv^ould  accompany  me  to  Rome  to  be  the  witness  of  my  in- 
nocence and  the  bad  conduct  of  the  bishop.  He  added  that  it 
■would  not  take  him  a  week  to  raise  twice  the  amount  of  money 
in  Montreal,  we  would  require  to  go  to  Rome. 

After    thanking  them    for   what   they   had    done  and  said,  I 
asked  Mr.  Desaulnier  if   he   would   be   brave   enough  to    repeat 
before  my  \vhole  people  what  he  had  just  said   before  me  and  - 
Mr.  Brassard,  in  the  presence  of  God. 

"  Surelv,  I  would  be  most  happy  to  repeat  berore  your 
"whole  people,  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  fault  with  you  in  what 
you  have  done  till  now.  But  you  knoNV  very  well,  I  will  never 
have  such  an  opportunity,  for  it  is  now  1 1  o'clock  at  night, 
your  people  are  soundly  sleeping,  and  I  must  start  to-morrow 
morning,  at  six  o'clock,  to  take  the  Chicago  train  at  Kankakee 
at  8  A.  M. 

I  answered:  "  All  right!  " 


THE    BISHOP    IS    WRONG.  745 

We  knelt  together  to  make  a  short  prayer,  and  I  led  them 
to  their  rooms,  wishing  them  refreshing  sleep,  after  the  hard 
work  of  the  day. 

Ten  minutes  later  I  was  in  the  village,  knocking  at  the  doors 
of  six  of  my  most  respectable  parishioners,  and  telling  them: 

"  Please  do  not  lose  a  moment,  go  with  your  fastest  horse  to 
such  and  such  a  part  of  the  colony ;  knock  at  every  door  and  tell 
the  people  to  be  at  the  church  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  hear 
with  their  own  ears  what  the  deputies  from  Canada  have  to  say 
about  past  struggles  with  the  Bishop  of  Chicago.  Tell  them  to 
be  punctual  at  5  o'clock  in  their  pews,  where  the  deputies  will 
address  them  words  which  they  must  hear  at  any  cost." 

A  little  before  five,  the  next  morning,  Mr.  Desaulnier,  full 
of  surprise  and  anxiety,  knocked  at  my  door,  and  said : 

"  Chiniquy,  do  you  not  hear  the  strange  noise  of  buggies 
and  carnages,  which  seem  to  be  coming  from  every  quarter  of 
the  globe?  What  does  it  mean?  Has  your  people  become 
crazy,  to  come  to  church  at  this  dark  hour,  so  long  before  the 
dawn  of  day  ?  " 

"What!  what!"  I  answered,  "I  was  sleeping  so  soundly 
that  I  have  heard  nothing  yet.  What  do  you  mean  by  this 
noise  of  carriages  and  buggies  around  the  chapel?  Are  you 
dreaming  ?  " 

"  No,  I  am  not  dreaming,"  he  answered,  "  not  only  do  I  hear 
the  noise  of  a  great  many  carriages,  wagons  and  buggies;  but 
though  it  is  pretty  dark,  I  see  several  hundred  of  them  around 
the  chapel.  I  hear  the  voices  of  a  great  multitude  of  men, 
women,  and  even  children,  putting  questions  to  each  other,  and 
giving  answers  which  I  cannot  understand.  They  make  such 
a  noise  by  their  laughing  and  jokes!  Can  you  tell  me  what 
this  means?     I  have  never  been  so  puzzled  in  my  life." 

I  answered  him:  "Do  you  not  see  that  you  are  dreaming. 
Let  me  dress  myself  that  I  may  go  and  see  something  of  that 
strange  and  awful  dream !  " 

Mr.  Brassard,  though  a  little  more  calm  than  Desaulnier. 
was  not,  himself,  without  some  anxiety  at  the  strange  noise  of 
that  multitude  of  carriages,  horses   and  people  around  my  house 


746  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

and  chapel,  at  such  an  hour.  Knocking  at  my  door,  he  said: 
"  Please,  Chiniquy,  explain  that  strange  mystery.  Do  that  peo- 
ple come  to  play  us  some  bad  trick,  and  punish  us  for  intruding 
in  their  affairs  ?  " 

"  Be  quiet,"  I  answered,  "my  dear  friends.  You  have  nothing 
to  fear  from  that  good  and  intelligent  people.  Do  you  not  re- 
member that,  last  night,  a  few  minutes  before  1 1  o'clock,  Des- 
aulnier  said  that  he  would  be  honest  and  brave  enough  to  repeat 
before  my  whole  people  what  he  had  said  before  you  and  me, 
and  in  the  presence  of  God.  I  suppose  that  some  of  the  angels 
of  heaven  have  heard  those  words,  and  have  carried  them,  this 
night,  to  every  family,  inviting  them  to  be  here  at  the  chapel, 
that  they  might  hear  from  your  own  lips,  what  you  think  of  the 
o-rand  and  glorious  battle  they  are  fighting  in  this  distant  land, 
for  the  principles  of  truth  and  justice,  as  the  gospel  secures  them 
to  every  disciple  of  Christ." 

"  Well !  well  I "  said  Desaulnier,  "  there  is  only  one  Chiniquy 
in  the  world  to  take  me  in  such  a  trap,  and  there  is  only  one 
people  under  heaven  to  do  what  this  people  is  doing  here.  I 
would  never  have  given  you  that  answer,  had  I  not  been  mor- 
ally sure  that  I  would  never  have  had  an  opportunity  to  fulfill 
It.  Who  would  think  you  would  play  me  such  a  trick?  But," 
he  added,  "  though  I  know  that  this  will  terribly  compromise 
me  before  certain  pailies,  it  is  too  late  to  retract,  and  I  will  ful- 
fill my  promise." 

It  is  impossible  to  express  my  own  joy  and  the  joy  of  that 
noble  people  when  they  heard,  from  the  very  lips  of  those  depu- 
ties that,  after  spending  a  whole  day  and  two  nights  in  exam- 
ining all  that  had  been  done  by  their  pastor  and  by  them  in  that 
solemn  and  fearful  contest,  they  declared  that  they  had  not  broken 
any  law  of  God,  nor  of  his  holy  church;  and  that  they  had  kept 
themselves  in  the  very  way  prescribed  by  the  canons. 

Tears  of  joy   were    rolling  down   every   cheek    when  they 

heard  Mr.  Desaulnier  telling  them,  which  Mr.  Brassard  confirmed 

after,  that  the  bishop   had  no  possible  right  to   interdict   their 

oastor,  since   he   had    told  them   that   he   was   one  of    his    best 

)riests;  and  that  they  had  done  well  not  to  pay  any  attention  to 


THE     BISHOP    IS    WRONG.  747 

an  act  of  excommunication  which  was  a  sham  and  a  sacrilegious 
comedy,  not  having  been  signed  nor  certified  by  any  known 
p>erson.     Both  deputies  said: 

"Mr.  Brassard  will  be  your  pastor,  and  Mr.  Chiniquy,  as  his 
vicar,  will  remain  in  your  midst.  He  has  signed  an  act  of  sub- 
mission, which  we  have  found  sufficient,  on  the  condition  that 
the  bishop  will  let  you  live  in  peace,  and  withdraw  the  sentence 
he  says  he  has  fulminated  against  you.  If  he  does  not  accept 
those  conditions,  we  will  tell  him,  it  is  not  Mr.  Chiniquy,  but 
you,  who  wants  a  schism,  and  we  will  go  with  Mr.  Chiniquy  to 
Rome,  to  plead  his  cause  and  prove  his  innocence  before  his 
holiness." 

After  this,  we  all  knelt  to  thank  and  bless  God;  and  never 
people  went  back  to  their  homes  with  more  cheerful  hearts  than 
the  people  of  St.  Anne,  on  that  morning  of  the  25th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1856. 

At  six  o'clock  A.  M.,  Mr.  Desaulnier  was  on  his  way  back  to 
Chicago,  to  present  my  conditional  act  of  submission  to  the 
bishop,  and  press  him,  in  the  name  of  the  Bishop  of  Canada,  and 
in  the  name  of  all  the  most  sacred  interests  of  the  church,  to  ac- 
cept the  sacrifice  and  the  submission  of  the  people  of  St.  Anne, 
and  to  give  them  the  peace  they  wanted  and  were  purchasing  at 
such  a  price.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  had  remained  with  me, 
w^aiting  for  a  letter  from  the  bishop  to  accompany  me  and  put 
the  last  seal  to  our  reconciliation. 

The  next  day  he  received  the  following  note  from  Mr. 
Desaulnier: 

Bishopric  of  Chicago,  Nov.  26th,  1856. 
The  Rkv.  Mr.  Brassard,  Monsieur: — 

It  is  advisable  and  indispensable  that  you  should  come  here,  with  Mr. 
Chiniquy,  as  soon  as  possible.  In  consequence,  I  expect  vou  both  day  after 
to-morrow,  in  order  ro  settle  that  matter  definitely. 

Respectfully  yours.  ISAAC  DESAULNIER. 

After  reading  that  letter  with  Mr.  Brassard,  I  said: 

"  Do  you  not  feel  that  these  cold  words  mean  nothing  good? 

I  regret  that  you  have  not  gone   with  Desaulnier  to  the  bishop. 

You   know   the  levity  and    weakness   of  his  character,   always 


748  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    T*HE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

bold  with  his  words,  but  soft  as  wax  at  the  least  pressure  which 
he  feels.  My  fear  is  that  the  bulldog  tenacity  of  my  lord 
O'Regan  has  frightened  him,  and  all  his  courage  and  bravados 
have  melted  away  before  the  fierce  temper  of  the  Bishop  of 
Chicago.  But  let  us  go.  Be  sure,  however,  my  dear  Mr. 
Brassard,  that  if  the  Bishop  does  not  accept  you  to  remain  at 
the  head  of  this  colony,  to  protect  and  guide  it,  no  consideration 
whatever  will  induce  me  to  betray  my  people  and  let  them 
become  the  prey  of  the  wolves  which  want  to  devour 
them." 

We  arrived  at  the  Illinois  Central  depot  of  Chicago,  the  aSth, 
at  about  10  A.  M.  Mr.  Desaulnier  was  there  waiting  for  us. 
He  was  as  pale  as  a  dead  man.  The  marks  of  Cain  and  Judas 
were  on  his  face.  Having  taken  him  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  crowd,  I  asked  him: 

"What  news?" 

He  answered:  "The  news  is,  that  you  and  Mr.  Brassar'd 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  take  your  bags  and  go  away  from  St. 
Anne,  to  Canada.  The  bishop  is  unwilling  to  make  any  ar- 
rangements with  you.  He  wants  me  to  be  the  pastor  of  St. 
Anne,  fro  tempore^  and  he  wants  you  with  Mr.  Brassard,  to  go 
quietly  back  to  Canada,  and  tell  the  bishops  to  mind  their  own 
business." 

"  And  what  has  become  of  the  promise  you  have  given  me 
and  to  my  people,  to  go  with  me  and  Mr.  Brassard  to  Rome,  if 
the  bishop  refused  the  proposed  arrangements  you  had  fixed 
yourselves?" 

"Tat!  tat!  tat!"  answered  he,  "the  bishop  does  not  care  a 
straw  about  your  going  or  not  going  to  Rome.  He  has  put  me 
as  his  grand  vicar  at  the  head  of  the  colony  of  St.  Anne,  from 
which  you  must  go  in  the  shortest  time  possible." 

"  Now,  Desaulnier,"  I  answered, "  you  are  a  traitor,  and  a 
Judas,  and  if  you  want  to  have  the  pay  of  Judas,  I  advise  you 
to  go  to  St.  Anne.  There  you  will  receive  what  you  deserve. 
The  beauty  and  i(mportance  of  that  great  colony  has  tempted 
f  ou,  and  you  have  sold  me  to  the  bishop,  in  order  to  become  a 
grand  vicar  and  eat  the  fruits  of  the  vine    I   have  planted  there. 


THE    BISHOP    IS    WRONG.  749 

But  you  will  soon  see  your  mistake.  If  you  have  any  pity  for 
yourself,  I  advise  you  never  to  put  your  feet  into  that  place  any 
more." 

Desaulnier  answered :  "  The  bishop  will  not  make  any  ar- 
rangements with  you  unless  you  retract  publicly  what  you  have 
written  against  him  on  account  of  his  taking  possession  of  the 
church  of  the  French-Canadians  of  Chicago,  and  you  must  pub- 
lish, in  the  press,  that  he  was  right  and  honest  in  what  he  did  in 
that  circumstance." 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Brassard,"  I  said,  "can  I  make  such  a  declar- 
ation conscientiously  and  honorably?"  That  venerable  man 
answered  me: 

"You  cannot  consent  to  such  a  thing. 

"Desaulnier,"  I  said,  "do  you  hear?  Mr.  Brassard  and  your 
conscience,  if  you  have  any,  tell  you  the  same  thing.  If  you 
take  sides  against  me  with  a  man  whom  you  have  yourself  de- 
clared, yesterday,  to  be  a  sacrilegious  thief,  you  are  not  better 
than  he  is.     Go  and  work  with  him. 

"  As  for  me,  I  go  back  into  the  midst  of  my  dear  and  noble 
people  of  St.  Anne." 

"What  will  you  do  there,"  answered  Mr.  Desaulnier,  "when 
the  bishop  has  forbidden  you  to  remain?" 

"What  will  I  do?"  I  answered,  "  I  will  teach  those  true  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  Christ  to  shun  and  despise  the  tyrants  and  the 
traitors,  even  though  wearing  a  mitre  or  a  square  bonnet  (un 
bonnet  quarre).  Go,  traitor!  and  finish  your  Judas  work! 
Adieu!" 

I  then  threw  myself  into  the  arms  of  Mr.  Brassard,  who  was 
almost  speechless,  suffocated  in  his  sobs  and  tears.  I  pressed 
him  to  my  heart,  and  said : 

"Adieu!  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard.  Go  back  to  Canada  and  tell 
my  friends  how  the  cowardice  and  ambition  of  that  traitor  has 
ruined  the  hopes  we  had  of  putting  an  end  to  this  deplorable 
state  of  affairs.  I  go  back  among  my  brethren  of  St.  Anne, 
with  more  determination  than  ever  to  protect  them  against  the 
tyranny  and  impiety  of  our  despotic  rulers.  It  will  be  more  easy 
than  ever  to  show  them  that  the  Son  of  God  has  not  redeemed 


750  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

US  on  the  cross,  that  we  might  be  the  slaves  of  those  heartless 
traders  in  souls. 

"  I  will  more  earnestly  than  ever,  teach  my  people  to  shun 
the  modern  gospel  of  the  bishops,  in  order  to  follow  the  old 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  only  hope  and  life  of  our  poor 
fallen  humanity." 

Mr.  Brassard  wanted  to  say  something;  but  his  voice  was 
suffocated  by  his  sobs.  The  only  words  he  could  utter,  when 
pressing  me  to  his  heart,  were:  "  Adieu,  dear  friend,  Adieu!" 


Chapter  LXIII. 

DESAULNIEB  IS  NAMED  VIOAB  QENERAIi  OP  CHIOAGK) 
TO  CRUSH  US— OUR  PEOPLE  MORE  UNITED  THAN  EVER  TO 
DEFEND  THEIR  BIGHTS- LETTERS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF 
CHICAGO  TO  THE  BISHOPS  AND  TO  THE  POPE-  LETTERS  OP 
THE  BISHOP  OF  MONTREAL  AGAINST  ME,  AND  MY  ANSWER- 
MR.  BRASSARD  FORCED,  AGAINST  HIS  CONSCIENCE,  TO 
CONDEMN  US-MY  ANSWER  TO  MR.  BRASSARD-HE  WRITES 
TO  BEG  MY  PARDON. 

IT  was  evident  that  the  betrayal  of  Mr.  Desaulnier  would  be 
followed  by  new  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  bishop  to  crush 
us.  Two  new  priests  were  sent  from  Canada,  Mr.  Mailloux, 
vicar  general,  and  Mr.  Campo,  to  strengthen  his  hands,  and  press 
the  people  to  submit.  Mr.  Brassard  wrote  me  from  Canada  in 
December: 

"  All  the  bishops  are  preparing  to  hurl  their  thunders  against 
you,  and  your  people,  on  account  of  your  heroic  resistance  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  bishop  of  Chicago. 

"  I  have  told  them  the  truth,  but  they  don't  want  to  know 
it.  My  lord  Bourget  told  me  positively,  that  you  must  be  forced, 
at  any  cost,  to  yield  to  the  authority  of  your  bishop;  and  he  has 
threatened  to  excommunicate  me,  if  I  tell  the  people  what  I 
know  of  the  shameful  conduct  of  Desaulnier.  If  I  were  alone 
I  would  not  mind  his  excommunication,  and  would  speak  the 
truth,  but  such  a  sentence  against  me  would  kill  my  poor  old 
mother.  I  hope  you  will  not  find  fault  with  me,  if  I  remain 
absolutely  mute.  I  pray  you  to  consider  this  letter  confidential. 
You  know  very  well  the  trouble  you  would  put  me  into,  by  its 
publication." 

The  French  Canadians  of  Chicago  saw,  at  once,  that  their 
bishop,  strengthened  by   the   support  of   Desaulnier,   would  be 


752  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

more  than  ever,  obstinate  in  his  determination  to  crush  them. 
They  thought  that  the  best  way  to  force  him  to  do  them  justice, 
was  to  publish  a  manifesto  of  their  grievances  against  him,  and 
make  a  pubUc  appeal  to  all  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States  and 
even  to  the  Pope. 

On  the  22nd  of  January,  1857,  The  Chicago-  Tribune  was 
requested  by  them  to  publish  the  following  document: 

At  a  public  meeting  of  the  French  and  Canadian  Catholics  of  Chicago 
held  in  the  hall  of  Mr.  Bodicar,  on  the  22nd  of  January,  1857,  Mr.  Rofinot 
being  called  to  preside,  and  Mr.  Franchere,*  acting  as  a  Secretary,  the  follow- 
ing addresses  and  resolutions,  being  read,  have  been  unanimously  approved : 

"Editors  of  the  Tribune: — Will  you  allow  a  thousand  voices  from 
the  dead  to  speak  to  the  public,  through  your  valuable  paper. 

"  Everybody  in  Chicago  knows,  that  a  few  years  ago,  there  was  a  flour- 
ishing congregation  of  French  people  coming  from  France  and  Canada  in 
this  city.  They  had  their  priest,  their  church,  their  religious  meeting.  All 
that  is  now  dispersed  and  destroyed.  The  present  Bishop  of  Chicago  has 
breathed  his  deadly  breath  upon  us.  Instead  of  coming  to  us  as  a  father, 
he  canne  as  a  savage  enemy:  instead  of  helping  us  as  a  friend,  he  has  put  us 
down  as  a  revengeful  foe.  He  has  done  the  very  contrary  to  which  was 
commanded  him  by  the  gospel.  '  The  bruised  reed  he  shall  not  break,  and 
the  smoking  flash  he  shall  not  extinguish.'  Instead  of  guiding  us  with  the 
cross  of  the  meek  Jesus,  he  has  ruled  over  us  with  an  iron  rod. 

"  Every  Sunday,  the  warm-hearted  and  generous  Irish  go  to  their 
church  to  hear  the  voice  of  their  priest,  in  their  English  language.  The  intelli- 
gent Germans  have  their  pastors  to  address  them  in  their  mother  tongue. 

"  The  French  people  are  the  only  ones  now  who  have  no  priest  and  no 
church.  They  are  the  only  ones  whose  beautiful  language  is  prohibited, 
and  which  is  not  heard  from  any  pulpit  in  Chicago.  And  is  it  from  lack  of 
zeal  and  liberality  "i  Ah !  no,  we  take  the  whole  city  of  Chicago  as  a  wit- 
ness of  what  we  have  done.  There  was  not  in  Chicago  a  better- looking 
little  church  than  the  French  Canadian  Church  called  St.  Louis.  But, 
alas !  we  have  been  turned  out  of  it  by  our  very  bishop.  As  he  is  now 
publishing  many  stories  to  contradict  that  fact,  we  owe  to  ourselves  and  to 
our  children  to  raise  from  the  tomb,  where  Bishop  O'Regan  has  buried  us, 
a  voice  to  tell  the  truth. 

"  As  soon  as  Bishop  O'Regan  came  to  Chicago,  he  was  told  that  the 
French  priest  was  too  popular,  that  his  church  was  attended  not  only  by  his 
French  Canadian  people,  but  that  many  Irish  and  Germans  were  going 
daily  to  him,  for  their  religious  duties.  It  was  whispered  in  the  ears  of  his 
Rt.  Reverence,  that  on  account  of  this,  many  dollars  and  cents  were  going 
*  These  two  gentlemen  are  still  living  in  Chicago,  1886. 


DKSAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  753 

to  the  French  priest,  which  would  be  better  stored  in  his  Rt.  Reverence's 
purse. 

"  Till  that  time,  the  bishop  was  not,  in  appearance,  taking  much  trouble 
about  us.  But  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  there  were  dollars  and  cents  at  stake, 
we  had  the  honor  to  occupy  his  thoughts  day  and  night.  Here  are  the 
facts,  the  undeniable  public  facts.  He  (the  bishop)  began  by  sending  for 
our  priest,  and  telling  him  that  he  had  to  prepare  himself  to  be  removed 
from  Chicago  to  some  other  place.  As  soon  as  we  knew  that  determination,  a 
deputation  was  sent  to  his  Rt.  Reverence,  to  get  the  promise  that  we  would 
get  another  French  priest,  and  we  received  from  him  the  assurance  that  our 
just  request  would  be  granted.  But  the  next  Sunday,  an  Irish  priest,  having 
been  sent  to  officiate,  instead  of  a  French  one,  we  sent  a  deputation  to  ask 
him  where  the  French  priest  was  that  he  had  promised  us.'  He  answered: 
<That  we  ought  to  take  any  priest  we  could  get,  and  be  satisfied.*  This 
short  and  sharp  answer  raised  our  French  blood,  and  we  began  speaking 
more  boldly  to  his  Reverence,  who  got  up  and  walked  through  the  room, 
in  a  rage,  saying  some  half  dozen  times:  '  You  insult  me! '  But  seeing  that 
M'e  were  a  fearless  people,  and  determined  to  have  no  other  priest  but  one 
whom  we  could  understand,  he,  at  last  promised  us  again,  a  French  priest, 
if  we  were  ready  to  pay  the  debt  of  our  church  and  priest-house.  We  said 
we  would  pay  them,  but,  our  verbal  promise  was  nothing  to  his  Reverence. 
He  immediately  wrote  an  agreement,  though  it  was  Sunday,  and  we  signed 
it.  But  to  attain,  sooner  or  later,  his  object,  he  imposed  upon  that  unfortu- 
nate priest,  a  condition  that  he  knew  no  Christian  could  obey. 

"  This  condition  was  that  he  should  not  receive,  in  his  church,  any  one 
but  the  French.  This  was  utterly  impossible,  as  many  Irish,  Germans  and 
American  Catholics  had  been  in  the  habit,  for  years  past,  of  coming  to  our 
church ;  it  was  impossible  to  turn  them  out  at  once. 

"  We  did  everything  in  our  power  to  help  our  priest  in  the  matter,  by 
taking  all  the  seats  in  the  church  against  the  will  of  the  respectable  people 
of  the  different  nations  who  had  occupied  them  for  years.  Finding  them- 
selved  turned  out  of  the  church,  and  unable  to  conceive  the  reason  of  so 
gross  an  insult  from  a  fellow-Christian  people,  they  said  to  us:  'Have  we 
not  paid  for  our  seats  in  your  church  till  this  day .'  Double  the  rent  if  you 
like ;  we  are  ready  to  pay  for  it ;  but,  for  God's  sake  permit  us  to  come  and 
pray  with  you  at  the  foot  of  the  same  altars. 

"  We  explained  to  them  the  tyrannical  orders  of  the  bishop,  and  they, 
too,  commenced  cursing  the  bishop  and  the  ship  that  brought  him  over. 

"  They  continued,  however,  to  come  to  our  church,  though  they  had 
no  seat.  They  attended  divine  service  in  the  aisles  of  the  church,  and  we 
did  not  like  to  disturb  them ;  but  our  feelings  were  too  Christian  for  the 
bishop.  He  kept  a  watch  over  our  priest,  and,  of  course  found  out  that  he  was 
receiving  many  who  were  forbidden,  by  him,  to  attend  our  religious  meet- 
ings. 


754  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  The  bishop,  then,  thought  once  more  of  his  dear  French  priest ;  so  he 
came  in  person  to  his  house,  and  asked  him  if  he  had  kept  his  orders.  The 
priest  answered,  that  it  was  quite  impossible  to  obey  such  orders,  and  re- 
main a  Christian.  He  acknowledged  that,  in  many  instances,  he  had  been 
obliged,  by  the  laws>  of  charity,  to  give  religious  help  to  some  who  were 
not  French  people. 

"  'WelV  then,'  answered  the  bishop,  '  from  this  very  moment ;  I  silence 
you,  and  I  forbid  you  the  functions  of  priest  in  my  diocese.' 

"  The  poor  trembling  priest,  thunderstruck,  could  not  say  a  word. 

"  He  went  to  some  friends  to  relate  what  had  just  happened  him;  and 
he  was  advised  by  them  to  go  back  to  the  bishop  immediately  to  beg  the 
privilege  of  remaining  at  the  head  of  his  congregation  till  Lent  was  over. 
The  bishop  said: 

" '  I  will  consent  to  your  request,  if  you  pay  me  one  hundred  dol- 
lars.' 

" '  I  will  give  you  the  sum  as  soon  as  I  can  collect  it,  and  will  give  you 
my  note  for  thirty  days,'  answered  the  priest. 

"'I  want  the  inoney  cash  down,'  said  the  bishop;  'go  to  some  of  your 
friends ;  you  can  easily  collect  that  amount.' 

"  The  poor  priest  went  away  in  search  of  the  almighty  dollars ;  but  he 
could  not  find  them  as  soon  as  he  wished,  and  did  not  return  to  his  lordship, 
that  day.  The  bishop  started  that  night  for  St.  Louis,  but  he  did  not  forget 
his  dear  French  people  in  his  long  journey.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  St. 
Louis,  he  wrote  to  his  grand  vicar.  Rev.  Mr.  Dunn,  that  the  French  priest 
pay  him  $too  or  remain  suspended. 

•'  This  goodwill  of  the  bishop  for  our  spiritual  welfare,  and  his  paternal 
love  for  our  purses,  did  not  fail  to  strike  us.  Our  priest  made  a  new  effort 
that  very  day ;  he  went  to  see  an  old  friend  who  had  been  absent  from  town 
for  some  time,  and  related  to  him  his  sad  position.  This  old  friend  (P.  F. 
Rofinot)  seeing  that  he  could  redeem  a  priest  for  so  little  a  sum,  (for  the 
priest  had  collected  part  of  it  himself)  immediately  proceeded  with  the  priest 
to  the  house  of  very  Reverend  Dunn,  with  the  money  in  hand  to  satisfy 
the  bishop. 

"  But  alas !  that  bargain  did  not  last  very  long ;  for  as  soon  as  the  bishop 
returned,  the  watch  that  he  had  left  behind  him  performed  his  duty  well 
and  told  him  that  the  French  priest  was  going  on  as  before.  So  the  poor 
priest  had  to  go  again  to  the  bishop  to  explain  his  conduct.  But  this  time 
he  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  officiating  any  longer  under  such  a 
tyrant.  He  left  us  to  fight  the  hardest  battles  ourselves,  against  the 
bishop. 

"  As  the  church  and  the  house  of  our  priest  were  on  leased  grounds, 
the  lease  had  to  be  renewed  or  the  buildings  removed.  We  went  to  the 
bishop,  who  advised  us  to  buy  a  lot  and  remove  the  church  on  it,  and 
sell  the  house  to  help  pay  for  the  lot.     Suspecting  nothing  wrong  in  that 


DESAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  755 

advice,  we  followed  it.  We  bargained  for  a  lot,  agreed  to  sell  the  house  and 
went  to  report  our  progress. 

"  But  we  were  going  too  fast.  The  bishop  must  stop  us,  or  he  would 
be  frustrated  in  his  calculations,  for  he  had  a  lot  himself,  to  put  tbe  church 
on,  he  opposed  our  remoring  our  church,  by  telling  us  that  there  wa& 
another  lot  adjoining  the  one  we  had  bargained  for;  and  that  we  must  buy 
it  also.  We  went  immediately  and  bought  the  lot  on  ninety  days  time. 
But  he  objected  to  this  again,  saying  that  he  would  not  allow  us  to  touch 
the  church,  unless  we  had  the  whole  lot  paid'for,  and  put  the  deed  in  hi& 
hands,  and  that  the  deed  should  be  made  to  himself  personally. 

"  This  had  the  effect  desired  by  the  bishop.  We  had  collected  all  the 
money  that  could  be  collected  then,  in  our  small  congregation ;  it  was  im- 
possible for  us  to  do  any  more,  so  we  concluded  to  give  up  the 
battle.  The  bishop  then,  went  on,  took  the  money  we  had  sold  the  house 
for  ($1,200).  A  Catholic  lady,  whose  husband  had  bought  the  house,  had 
subscribed  one  hundred  dollars  for  removing  the  church,  providing  the 
bishop  would  promise  that  it  would  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  French,  and 
attended  by  a  French  priest.  The  bishop  proffered  again  to  that  lady  the 
lie,  which  he  had  so  often  uttered  to  us,  everywhere,  even  from  the  altar,  that 
upon  his  word  of  bishop,  it  should  remain  a  French  Church,  and  that  they 
should  have  a  French  priest.  (This  we  should  call  lie  number  one).  He 
then  moved  the  church  to  another  lot  of  his  own,  sent  an  Irish  priest  to 
officiate  in  it,  put  the  money  in  his  pocket,  and  made  the  congregation 
which  is  now  Irish,  pay  for  the  lot,  the  moving  and  repairing  of  the  church, 
and  he  takes  quarterly  the  revenues  which  are  no  less  than  $2,000  a 
year. 

"This  is  the  way  we  have  been  swindled  out  of  our  church,  of  the 
house  of  our  priest,  and  of  our  all,  by  the  tyrant.  Bishop  O'Regan :  and 
when  a  French  priest  visits  our  city,  he  forbids  him  to  address  us  in  our 
mother  tongue.  This  is  the  way  we,  French  Catholics,  as  a  society,  have 
been  blotted  out  of  the  book  of  the  living! 

"And  when  Rev.  Father  Chiniquy  has  publicly  accused  Bishop  O'Regan 
of  having  deprived  us  most  unjustly  of  our  church,  he  has  proffered 
a  truth  which  has  as  many  witnesses  as  there  are  Catholics  and  Protestants- 
in  Chicago. 

"  We  know  well  that  Bishop  O'Regan  is  proclaiming  that  he  has  not 
deprived  us  of  our  church,  that  if  it  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Irish,  it  is  because 
the  Irish  and  not  the  French  built  it.  'This  is  lie  number  two,  which  can 
be  proven  by  more  than  a  thousand  witnesses.' 

"  We  would  like  to  know  if  he  has  forgotten  the  agreement  (mentioned 
above)  which  he  made  us  sign  in  bargaining  for  a  French  priest  He  has 
the  receipts  for  every  cent  that  was  due  up  to  the  time  he  took  possession 
of  our  church.  He  then  proffered  these  words  to  the  French  gentlemen 
who  brought  him  the  receipts:  •  It  takes  the  French  to  collect  money  quick 
these  hard  times,'  (being  in  the  winter). 


"JcS  FIJFTV    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"  We  must  also  add  that  we,  French  people,  have  paid  for  the  very 
restmentB  that  the  bishop  uses  in  his  Cathedral,  which  he  has  taken  from 
r>ur  church.  But  he  uses  them  only  on  some  high  feasts,  thinking  too 
much  of  stolen  property,  to  use  them  on  a  common  day. 

"  Will  it  be  out  of  place,  here,  to  say  that  the  cathedral  of  Chicago 
VSLB  built  by  the  French,  and  that  the  lot  which  it  is  built  on  was  given  by  a 
Frenchman.^  It  is  very  reluctantly  that  we  expose  all  these  facts  before  the 
eyes  of  the  public ;  but  having  waited  patiently,  during  two  long  years,  and 
having  used  all  the  influence  we  could  command  in  France  and  Canada,  to 
no  purpose,  we  must  resort  to  the  sympathy  of  the  public  for  justice,  through 
the  free  press  of  the  United  States. 

"Resolutions. 

>*  Resolved,  ist.  That  the  Right  Rev.  O'Regan,  Bishop  of  Chicago, 
has  entirely  lost  the  confidence  of  the  French  and  Canadian  population  of 
Chicago  since  he  has  taken  away  from  us  our  church. 

"  Resolved,  and.  That  the  Right  Rev.  O'Regan  has  published  a  base 
slander  against  the  French  and  Canadian  population  of  Chicago,  when  he 
said  he  took  our  church  from  our  hands  on  the  pretence  that  we  could  not 
pay  for  it. 

^'■Resolved,  3rd.  That  the  Right  Rev.  O'Regan,  having  said  to  our 
deputies,  who  went  to  inquire  from  him  by  what  right  he  was  taking  our 
church  from  us  to  give  it  to  another  congregation :  '  I  have  the  right  to 
do  what  I  like  with  your  church,  and  your  church  properties ;  I  can  sell 
them  and  put  the  money  in  my  pocket,  and  go  where  I  please  with  it,'  has 
assumed  a  power  too  tyrannical  to  be  obeyed  bv  a  Christian  and  a  free 
people. 

"  Resolved,  4th.  That  the  nature  of  the  different  suits  which  the  Right 
Rev.  O'Regan  has  had  before  the  civil  courts  of  this  state,  and  which  he 
has  almost  invariably  lost,  have  proved  to  the  whole  people  of  Illinois  that 
he  is  quite  unworthy  of  the  position  he  holds  in  the  Catholic  Church. 

"Resolved,  5th.  That  the  P.ight  Rev.  O'Regan  it  here  publicly  accused 
of  being  guilty  of  simony  for  having  extorted  $100  from  a  priest  to  give  him 
permission  to  officiate  and  administer  the  sacraments  among  us. 

"  Resolved^  6th.  That  the  Right  Rev.  O'Regan,  in  forbidding  the  Irish 
and  German  Catholics  to  communicate  with  the  French  Catholic  Church, 
and  allowing  the  French  and  Canadians  to  communicate  with  the  Irish  and 
German  Churches,  has  acted  with  a  view  ro  deprive  the  French  Church  of 
religious  fees  and  other  donations,  which  acts  we  consider  unjust  and  against 
ths  spirit  of  the  church,  and  more  resembling  a  mercantile  transaction  than 
a  Christian  work, 

"Resolved,  7th.  That  the  French  and  Canadian  people  of  Illinois  have 
«een  with  feelings  of  grief  and  surprise  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Desaulnier  has 
made  himself  the  humble  valet  of  the  merciless  and  shameless  persecutor 
of  his  countrymen. 


DESAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  757 

"  Resolvad,  8th.  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chiniquy,  pastor  ot  St.  Amne,  de- 
serves the  gratitude  of  every  Catholic  of  Illinois,  fpr  having  the  first,  put  a 
stop  to  the  rapacious  tyranny  of  the  bishop  of  Chicago. 

"  Resolved,  9th.  That  the  French  Catholics  of  Chicago  are  determined 
to  give  all  support  in  their  power  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chiniquy,  in  his  struggle 
against  the  bishop  of  Chicago. 

"Resolved,  loth.  That  a  printed  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to 
every  bishop  and  archbishop  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  that  they  may 
see  the  necessity  of  giving  to  the  church  of  Illinois  a  bishop  more  worthy  of 
that  high  position. 

"Resolved,  nth.  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  His  Holi- 
ness Pius  IX.,  that  he  may  be  incited  to  make  inquiries  about  the  humili- 
ated position  of  the  church  in  Illinois,  since  the  present  bishop  is  among  us. 

"  Resolved,  I2th.  That  the  independence  and  liberty  loving  press  of  the 
United  States  be  requested  to  publish  the  above  address  and  resolutions  all 
over  the  country. 

"P.  F.  ROFINOT,  President. 
"DAVID  FRANCHERE,  Secretary." 

That  cry  of  more  than  two  thousand  Roman  Catholics  of 
Chicago,  which  was  reproduced  by  almost  the  whole  press  of 
Illinois,  and  the  United  States,  fell  as  a  thunderbolt  upon  the 
head  of  my  lord  O'Regan  and  Desaulnier.  They  wrote  to  all 
bishops  of  America,  to  hasten  to  their  rescue,  and  for  several 
months  the  pulpits  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches  had  no 
other  mission  than  to  repeat  the  echoes  of  the  Episcopal  fulmin- 
nations  hurled  against  my  devoted  head.  Many  bishop's  letters 
and  mandements  were  published,  demouncing  me  and  my  people 
as  infamous  schismatics,  whose  pride  and  obstinancy  were  troub- 
ling the  peace  of  the  church.  But  the  most  bitter  of  all  these, 
was  a  letter  from  my  lord  Bourget,  bishop  of  Montreal,  who 
thought  the  best,  if  not  the  only  way,  to  force  the  people  to 
desert  me,  was  by  forever  destroying  my  honor.  But  he  had 
the    misfortune    to  fall    into    the   pit    he    had   dug    for  me,  in 

The  miserable  girl  he  had  associated  with  himself,  to  satisfy 
his  implacable  hatred,  was  dead.  But,  he  had  still  in  hand  the 
lying  accusations  obtained  from  her,  against  me.  Having  proba- 
bly destroyed  her  sworn  recantation,  written  by  the  Jesuit  Father 
Schneider,  and  not  having  the  least  idea  that  I  had  kept  three 


■758  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

other  sworn  copies  of  the  recantations — he  thought  he  could 
safely  publish  that  I  was  a  degraded  man,  who  had  been  driven 
from  Canada,  by  him,  after  being  convicted  of  some  enormous 
crime,  and  interdicted. 

This  declaration  was  brought  before  the  public,  for  the  first 
time,  by  him,  with  an  hypocritical  air  of  compassion  and  mercy 
for  me,  which  added  much  to  the  deadly  effect  he  expected  to 
produce  by  it.  Here  are  his  own  words,  addressed  to  the  people 
of  Bourbonnais,  and  through  them,  to  the  whole  world: 

"I  must  tell  you  that  on  the  27th  of  September,  1851,  I 
w^ithdrew  all  his  powers,  and  interdicted  him,  for  reasons  which 
I  gave  him  in  my  letter  addressed  to  him;  a  letter  which  he  has 
probably  kept.  Let  him  publish  that  letter  if  he  finds  that  I 
have  persecuted  him  unjustly." 

I  could  hardly  believe  my  eyes  when  I  read  this  ignomini- 
ous act  of  perfidy  on  the  part  of  that  high  dignitar}^ :  it  seemed 
incredible,  and  surpassed  anything  I  had  ever  seen,  even  in 
Bishop  O'Regan.  I  can  not  say,  however,  that  it  took  me  en- 
tirely by  surprise,  for  I  had  anticipated  it.  When  Father 
Schneider  asked  me  why  I  had  taken  four  sworn  copies  of  the 
recantation  of  tha  unfortunate  girl  whose  tears  of  regret  were 
flowing  before  us,  I  told  him  that  I  knew  so  much  of  the  mean- 
ness and  perfidy  of  Bishop  Bourget,  that  I  thought  he  might  de- 
stroy the  copy  we  were  sending  him,  in  order  to  pierce  me  again 
with  his  poisonous  arrows,  whilst,  if  I  kept  three  other  copies, 
one  for  him,  one  for  Mr.  Brassard  and  one  for  myself,  I  would 
have  nothing  to  fear.  I  am  convinced  that  my  merciful  God 
knew  the  malice  of  that  bishop  against  me,  and  gave  me  that 
wisdom  to  save  me. 

I  immediately    sent   him,  through  the  press,  the  following 
answer: 
To  MoNsiGNOR  Bourget: 

St.  Anne,  April  iS,  1857. 

My  Lord:— In  your  letter  of  the  19th  of  March,  you  as- 
sure the  public  that  you  have  interdicted  me,  a  few  days  before 
my  leaving  Canada  for  the  United  States,  and  you  invite  me  to 
^ive  the  reasons  of  that  sentence.     I  will  satisfy  you.     On  the 


DESAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  759 

28th  of  September,  1851,  I  found  a  letter  on  my  table  from  you, 
telling  me  that  you  had  suspended  me  from  my  ecclesiastical 
offices,  on  account  of  a  great  crime  that  I  had  committed,  and  of 
which  1  was  accused.  But  the  name  of  the  accuser  was  not 
given,  nor  the  nature  of  the  crime.  I  immediately  went  to  see 
you,  and  protesting  my  innocence,  I  requested  you  to  give  me 
the  name  of  my  accusers,  and  allow  me  to  be  confronted  by 
them,  promising  that  I  would  prove  my  innocence.  You  refused 
to  grant  my  request. 

Then  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  with  tears,  in  the  name  of 
God,  I  requested  you  again  to  allow  me  to  meet  my  accusers  and 
prove  my  innocence.  You  remained  deaf  to  my  prayer  and  un- 
moved by  my  tears;  you  repulsed  me  with  a  malice  and  air  of 
tyranny  which  I  thought  impossible  in  you. 

During  the  twenty-four  hours  after  this,  sentiments  of  an  in- 
expressible wrath  crossed  my  mind.  I  tell  it  to  you  frankly,  in 
that  terrible  hour,  I  would  have  preferred  to  be  at  the  feet  of  a 
heathen  priest,  whose  knife  would  have  slaughtered  me  on  his 
altars,  to  appease  his  infernal  gods,  rather  than  be  at  the  feet  of 
a  man  who,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  under  the  mask  of 
the  gospel,  should  dare  to  commit  snch  a  cruel  act.  You  had 
taken  away  my  honor — you  had  destroyed  me  with  the  most  in- 
famous calumny  —  and  you  had  refused  me  every  means  of 
justification!  You  had  taken  under  your  protection  the  cowards 
who  were  stabbing  me  in  the  dark! 

Though  it  is  hard  to  repeat,  I  must  tell  it  here  publicly,  I 
cursed  you  on  that  horrible  day. 

With  a  broken  heart,  I  went  to  the  Jesuit  college,  and  I 
showed  the  wounds  of  my  bleeding  soul  to  the  noble  friend  who 
was  generally  my  confessor,  the  Rev.  Father  Schneider,  the  di- 
rector of  the  college. 

After  three  days,  having  providentially  got  some  reasons  to 
!<uspect  who  was  the  author  of  my  destruction,  I  sent  some  one 
to  ask  her  to  come  to  the  college,  without  mentioning  my 
name. 

When  she  was  in  the  parlor,  I  said  to  Father  Schneider: 

"You  know  the   horrible  iniquity  of  the  bishop  against  me; 


760  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

with  the  lying  words  of  a  prostitute,  he  has  tried  to  destroy  me ; 
but  please  come  and  be  the  witness  of  my  innocence." 

When  in  the  presence  of  that  unfortunate  female,  I  told  her: 

"  You  are  in  the  presence  of  God  Almighty,  and  two  of  his 
priests.  They  will  be  the  witnesses  of  what  you  say!  Speak 
the  truth.  Say  in  the  presence  of  God  and  this  venerable  priest, 
if  I  have  ever  been  guilty  of  what  you  have  accused  me  to  the 
bishop." 

At  these  words,  the  unfortunate  female  burst  into  tears;  she 
concealed  her  face  in  her  hands,  and  with  a  voice  half  suffocated 
with  her  sobs,  she  answered: 

"  No,  sir,  you  are  not  guilty  of  that  sin!  " 

"  Confess  here  another  truth,"  I  said  to  her;  "  Is  it  not  true 
you  have  come  to  confess  to  me  more  with  the  desire  to  tempt 
me  than  to  reconcile  yourself  to  God  ?" 

She  said,  "Yes,  sir,  that  is  the  truth."  Then  I  said  again, 
"Continue  to  say  the  truth,  and  I  will  forgive  you,  and  God  also 
will  forgive  your  iniquity.  Is  it  not  through  revenge  for  having 
failed  in  your  criminal  designs,  that  you  have  tried  to  destroy  me 
by  false  accusation  to  the  bishop?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  it  was  the  only  reason  which  has  induced  me  to 
accuse  you  falsely. 

"  And  all  I  say  here,  at  least  in  substance,  has  been  heard» 
written  and  signed  by  the  Right  Rev.  Schneider,  one  of  your 
priests,  and  the  present  director  of  the  Jesuit  college.  That  ven- 
erable priest  is  still  living  in  Montreal;  let  the  people  of  Canada 
go  and  interrogate  him.  Let  the  people  of  Canada  also  go  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  who  has  in  his  hands  an  authenticated 
copy  of  that  declaration. 

"  Your  lordship  gives  the  public  to  understand  that  I  was 
disgraced  by  that  sentence  some  days  before  I  left  Canada  for 
Illinois.  Allow  me  to  give  you  my  reasons  for  differing  from 
you  in  this  matter. 

There  is  a  canon  law  of  the  church  which  says: 

"  If  a  censure  is  unjust  and  unfounded,  let  the  man  against 
whom  the  sentence  has  been  passed  pay  no  attention  to  it.  For, 
before  God  and  his  church,  no  unjust  sentence  can  bring  any  in- 


DESAULNIEU    NAMED    VICTOR    GENERAL.  761 

jury  against  anyone.  Let  the  one  against  whom  such  unfounded 
and  unjust  judgment  has  been  pronounced  even  take  no  step  to 
annul  it,  for  it  is  a  nullity  by  itself." 

You  know  very  well  that  the  sentence  you  had  passed  against 
me  was  null  and  void,  for  many  good  reasons;  that  it  was  founded 
on  a  false  testimony.  Father  Schneider  Is  there,  ready  to  prove 
it  to  you,  if  you  have  any  doubt. 

The  second  reason  I  have  to  believe  that  you  had  vourself 
considered  your  sentence  a  nullity,  and  that  I  was  not  suspended 
by  it  from  my  ecclesiastical  dignity  and  honor,  is  founded  on  a 
good  testimony,  I  hope — the  testimony  of  your  lordship  himself. 

A  few  hours  before  my  leaving  Canada  for  the  United 
States,  I  went  to  ask  your  benediction,  which  you  gave  me  with 
every  mark  of  kindness.  I  then  asked  your  lordship  to  tell  me 
frankly  if  I  had  to  leave  with  the  impression  that  I  was  disgraced 
in  his  mind.''     You  gave  me  the  assurance  of  the  contrary. 

Then  I  told  you  that  I  wanted  to  have  a  public  and  irrefuta- 
ble testimony  of  your  esteem,  written  with  vour  own  hand,  and 
you  gave  me  the  following  letter: 

Montreal,  Canada, 'Ocotober  13,1851. 
Sir:^ — You  ask  nie  permission  to  leave  my  diocese  to  go  and  offer  your 
services  to  the  bishop  of  Chicago.     As  you  belong  to  the  diocese  of  Quebec, 
I  think  it  belongs  to  my  lord  the  archbishop  to  give  you  the  exeat  you  wish. 
As  for  me,  I  can  not  but  thank  you  for  your  labours  among  us,  and  I  wish 
you  in  return,  the  most  abundant  blessings  from  heaven.     You  shall  ever 
be  in  my  remembrance  and  in  my  heart,  and  I  hope  that  divine  providence 
will  permit  me,  at  a  future  time,  to  testify  all  the  gratitude  I  owe  you. 
Meanwhile,  I  remain  your  very  humble  and  obedient  ser%'ant, 
,j,Ignatiis,  Bishop  of  Montreal. 
Mr.  CniNiQiv,   Priest. 

1  then  asked  you  to  give  me  some  other  tangible  token  ol 
your  esteem,  which  I  might  show  everywhere  I  should  go. 

You  answered  that  you  would  be  happy  to  give  me  one,  and 
you  said:  "What  do  you  wish.^  "  "  I  wish,"  1  said,  "to  have  a 
chalice  from  your  hands  to  offer  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass 
the  rest  of  my  life." 

Y"ou  answered :  "I  will  do  that  with  pleasure,"  and  you  gave  an 
order  to  one  of  your  priests  to  bring  you  a  chalice,  that  you  might 


762  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME, 

give  it  to  me.  But  that  priest  had  not  the  key  of  the  box  con- 
taining the  sacred  vases;  that  key  was  in  the  hands  of  another 
priest,  who  was  absent  for  a  few  hours. 

I  had  not  the  time  to  wait;  the  hour  of  the  departure  of  the 
trains  had  come;  I  told  you:  "Please,  my  lord,  send  that  chalice 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  of  Longueuil,  who  will  forward  it  to  me 
in  a  few  days,  to  Chicago."  And  the  next  day,  one  of  your  sec- 
retaries went  to  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  and  gave  him  the  chalice  you 
had  promised  me,  which  is  still  in  my  hands.  And  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brassard  is  there  still  living,  to  be  the  witness  of  what  I  say,  and 
to  bring  that  fact  to  your  memory,  if  you  have  forgotten  it. 

Well,  my  lord,  I  do  believe  that  a  bishop  will  never  give  a 
chalice  to  a  priest  to  say  mass,  when  he  knows  that  that  priest 
is  interdicted.  And  the  best  proof  that  you  know  very  well  that 
I  was  not  interdicted  by  your  rash  and  unjust  sentence,  is  that 
you  gave  me  that  chalice  as  a  token  of  your  esteem  and  of  my 
honesty,  etc.  Respectfully, 

C.  CHINIQUY. 

Ten  thousand  copies  of  this  exposure  of  the  depravity  of  the 
bishop  Avere  published  in  Montreal.  I  asked  the  whole  people 
of  Canada  to  go  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneider  and  to  the  Rev.  Mr, 
Brassard,  to  know  the  truth,  and  many  went.  The  bishop  re- 
mained confounded.  It  was  proved  that  he  had  committed 
against  me  a  most  outrageous  act  of  tyranny  and  perfidy;  and 
that  I  was  perfectly  innocent  and  honest,  and  that  he  knew  it,  in 
the  very  hour  that  he  tried  to  destroy  my  character.  Probably 
the  bishop  of  Montreal  had  destroyed  the  copy  of  the  declara- 
tion of  the  poor  girl  he  had  employed,  and  thinking  that  this 
was  the  only  copy  of  her  declaration  of  my  innocence  and  hon- 
esty, he  thought  he  could  speak  of  the  so-called  interdict,  after  I 
was  a  Protestant.  But  in  that  he  was  cruelly  mistaken,  for,  as  I 
have  already  said,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  three  other  authen- 
ticated copies  had  been  kept;  one  by  the  Rev,  Mr,  Schneider  him- 
self, another  by  the  Rev,  Mr.  Brassard,  another  by  one  whom  it 
is  not  necessai-y  to  mention,  and  then  he  had  no  suspicion  that 
ihe  revelation   of   his  unchristian  conduct    and    of   his  determina- 


DESAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  763 

tion  to  destroy  me  with  the  false  oath  of  a  prostitute,  were  in  the 
hands  of  too  many  people  to  be  denied. 

The  bishop  of  Chicago,  whom  I  met  a  few  days  after,  told 
me  what  I  was  well  aware  of  before: 

"  That  such  a  sentence  was  a  perfect  nullity  in  every  way, 
and  it  was  a  disgrace  only  for  those  who  were  blind  enough  to 
trample  under  their  feet  the  laws  of  God  and  men  to  satisfy  their 
bad  passions." 

A  few  days  after  the  publication  of  that  letter  in  Canada, 
Mr.  Brassard  wrote  me: 

"Your  last  letter  has  completely  unmasked  our  poor  bishop, 
and  revealed  to  the  world  his  malice,  injustice  and  hypocrisy. 
He  felt  so  confounded  by  it,  that  he  has  been  three  days  without 
being  able  to  eat  or  drink  anything,  and  three  nights  without 
sleeping.  Every  one  says  that  the  chastisement  you  have  given 
him  is  a  terrible  one,  when  it  is  in  the  face  of  the  whole  world; 
but  he  deserved  it." 

When  I  received  that  last  friendly  letter  from  Mr.  Brassard, 
on  the  1st  of  April,  1S57,  I  was  far  from  suspecting  that  on  the 
15th  of  the  same  month,  I  should  read  in  the  press  of  Canada, 
teh  following  lines  from  him : 

St.  Roch   UK  l'Achioan,  le  y  auvril,  1857. 

Messieurs: — I  request  you  to  insert  the  following  lines  in  your  jour- 
nal: As  some  people  suspect  that  I  am  favoring  the  schism  of  Mr. 
Chiniquy,  I  think  it  is  my  duty  to  say  that  I  have  never  encouraged  him  by 
my  words  or  writings  in  that  schism.  I  must  say  that,  last  November,  when 
I  went  to  St.  Anne,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Desaulnier,  Superior  of  St 
Hyacinthe  College,  my  only  object  was  to  persuade  that  old  friend  to  leave 
the  bad  ways  in  which  he  was  walking.  And  in  Chicago  1  pressed  him  to 
put  himself  in  a  canonical  way. 

I,  more  than  any  one  else,  deplore  the  fall  of  a  man  whom,  I  confess,  I 
loved  much,  but  for  the  sake  of  whom  I  will  not  sacrifice  the  sacred  ties  of 
Catholic  unity.  I  hope  that  all  the  Canadians  who  were  attached  to  Mr. 
Chiniquy  when  he  was  united  to  the  church,  will  withdraw  from  him  in 
horror  of  his  schism.  For  before  anything  else,  we  must  be  truly  and  faith- 
fully Catholic. 

However,  we  have  a  duty  to  perform  towards  the  man  who  has  fulfilled 
such  a  holy  mission  in  our  midst,  by  establishing  the  society  of  temperance. 
It  is  to  call  back,  with  our  prayers,  that  stray  sheep  who  ha«  left  the  trae 
Pastor's  fold. 


764  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  request  all  journals  to  reproduce  this  declaration. 
Truly  yours, 

Moses  Brassard,  Pastor. 
M.  M.,  the  Editors  of  the  Courrier  du  Canada. 

I  felt  that  there  was  not  a  Hue,  not  a  sentiment  of  Mr.  Bras- 
sard in  that  letter.  It  smelt  Bishop  Bourget's  hand,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end.  I  thought,  however,  it  was  my  duty  to 
address  him  the  following  answer : 

St.  Anne,  Kankakee  County,  Illinois,  April  13,  1857. 

My  Dear  Mr.  Brassard: — I  have  just  received  your  letter  of  the  9th 
inst.,  but  no  !  I  will  not  cull  it  a  letter,  it  will  be  better  named  a  bitter  tear, 
and  a  sad  wail  of  a  heart  as  good  as  it  is  noble  and  generous. 

You  have  been  a  witness  how  the  people  and  missionary  of  St.  Anne 
have  been  betrayed  by  Mr.  Desaulnier.  You  were  at  my  side,  as  my  friend 
and  father,  when  this  traitor  said  to  me,  as  well  as  to  my  brethren :  "  Sign 
this  act  of  submission  to  the  bishop  of  Chicago ;  this  act  alone  is  enough  to 
make  him  withdraw  the  sentence  which  fills  your  Canadian  friends  with 
anxiety.  If  the  bishop  does  not  give  you  the  place  you  want,  and  if  he  doe> 
not  withdraw  the  excommunication  after  having  been  presented  with  thi» 
act,  I  will  tell  him : 

"  It  is  neither  the  pastor,  nor  the  people  of  St.  Anne  who  wish  a  schism, 
they  have  done  that  which  religion  and  honor  commanded,  to  pi-ove  it;  it  is 
you  who  wish  it." 

Your  tears  were  mingled  with  inine,  and  the  incense  of  your  prayer 
ascended  with  those  of  my  brethren,  when  on  the  26th  of  November,  Mr. 
Desaulnier  said  to  the  people  of  St.  Anne : 

"  You  cannot  be  blamed  for  what  you  have  done  since  the  beginning 
of  your  difficulties  with  your  bishop." 

You  were  a  witness  that  our  first  condition  to  the  signing  of  the  act 
which  you  and  Mr.  Desaulnier  presented  to  us,  was  that  you  should  be  the 
pastor  of  St.  Anne,  and  that  I  should  remain  with  you  as  long  as  you  would 
find  it  to  the  interest  of  my  colony.  You  know  that  he  gave  me  his  word 
of  honor,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  people,  that  if  the  bishop  would  not  give  us 
|>eace  after  the  signing  of  the  act,  he  (Mr.  Desaulnier)  would  go  with  us  to 
St.  Louis,  and  even  to  Rome,  to  plead  my  cause,  and  show  the  iniquity  and 
unbearable  tyranny  of  the  bishop  of  Chicago.  Did  he  not  assure  us  that, 
••  in  case  the  bishop  should  refuse  to  accept  the  act  of  submission,  we  had 
signed,  your  mission  to  St.  Anne  was  finished,  and  that  j'ou  both  would  re- 
turn to  Canada,  after  your  voyage  to  St.  Louis  }  Is  it  not  true  that  when  in 
Chicago,  in  reply  to  our  question :  "  What  news  't  "    Mr.  Desaulnier  said: 

"  You  have  only  to  take  your  bags  ;md  both  return  to  Canada  at  once." 

Mr.  Desaulnier  denies  all  those  facts,  with  an  impudence  of  which  he 
alone  is  capable.  You  are  my  only  witness  before  our  Canada,  which 
wishes  and  has  a  right  to  know  the  truth  in  this  matter. 


DESAULNIEK     NAMED    VICAK    GENERAL.  765 

I  took  jou  as  my  witness,  and  you  replied  in  many  of  your  letters,  that 
you  could  not  say  the  truth  without  compromising  yourself. 

Is  not  this  an  acknowledgment  that  we,  priests  of  Jesus  Christ,  are 
groaning  under  the  weight  of  the  most  frightful  tyranny  ?  and  that  we  are 
in  the  power  of  men  who  threaten  our  honor  and  life  if  we  dare  speak  the 
truth  in  favor  of  an  oppressed  brother  ?  And  this  is  the  systen  that  pro- 
claims itself  as  the  divine  and  ineffable  news  which  the  Messiah  brought  to 
the  world  !  And  this  abominable  oppression,  this  system  of  deceit,  is  the 
religion  which  the  Son  of  the  God  of  truth,  justice  and  mercy,  has  estab- 
lished to  save  the  world  ?  This  is  the  foundation-stone  of  the  church  of 
Christ  !  !  1  No  !  You<lo  not  believe  that,  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard.  Neither 
do  I.     I  never  did,  and  never  will  believe  it. 

They  tell  us  it  is  for  the  greater  good  of  the  church  that  they  act  thus; 
that  it  is  to  preserve  the  respect  which  is  due  to  the  Holy  Catholic  Hier- 
archy, that  they  take  those  extreme  measures  against  the  people  of  St.  Anne! 
But  I  have  carefully  studied  the  laws  of  the  church  upon  these  great 
questions,  and  I  see  they  say  precisely  the  contrary.  I  see  that  the  Catholic 
Church  said  to  us: 

1st.     "  In  the  church  there  is  no  arbitrary  power." 

2nd.  "  The  censures  are  null  when  they  have  been  pronounced  against 
sins  which  have  not  been  committed." 

3rd.  "  Never  receive  any  accusation  against  a  priest,  which  has  not 
been  proven  by  two  or  three  witnesses. 

4th.  "  If  a  sentence  is  visibly  unjust,  the  condemned  must  not  pay  any 
attention  to  it;  for  before  God  and  His  church,  no  unjust  sentence  can  injure 
any  one. 

5th.  "  The  unjust  excommunication  is  not  binding,  neither  before  God 
nor  the  people,  when  that  people  know  its  injustice,  because  the  Holv  Gho«t 
can  not  abandon  those  who  have  not  deserved  it." 

You  wish  me  to  act  according  to  the  canons  of  the  church.  I  have  al- 
ready told  you  that  if  I  had  been  interdicted  on  the  19th  of  August,  I  would 
have  been  able  to  appeal  from  that  sentence,  but  I  had  not.  I  had  fifteeo 
days  to  consider.  How  could  I  have  appealed  from  a  sentence  which  had 
not  been  pronounced  ?  What  witness  could  I  bring  against  a  fact  which,  I 
knew,  had  never  taken  place.^ 
But  you  will  say: 

"  The  excommunication  .'     Should  it  not  give  you  some  anxiety  ?  " 
"  Not  the  least." 

St.  Thomas  said  positively  that   no  excommunication  of  which  the  In- 
justice is  known  by  the  people,  ought  not  to  prevent  a  priest  from  exercising 
hk  ministry  among  them. 
They  will  perhaps  say: 
"  But  where  did  the  people  get  the  right  to  judge  in  such  thing*?  "     St 


766  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Thomas  must  have  believed  that  the  people  had  that  right,  since  he  said  it. 
St.  Thomas  was  neither  a  heretic  nor  a  schismatic  for  believing  these  things? 

Why,  then,  should  I  be  one,  for  having  a  thought,  spoken  and  acted  ac- 
cording to  the  doctrine  of  hiiii  whom  the  church  has  named  the  angel  of  the 
school.  Besides  that,  you  know  that  the  excommunication  was  a  nullity 
from  want  of  being  signed. 

The  reason  of  this  surprise  about  the  right  which  the  people  had  to  ex- 
ercise its  judgment  upon  this  question,  is  that,  lately,  the  bishops  have  not 
only  stripped  the  priests,  but  also  the  people,  of  the  holy  and  just  rights 
which  Jesus  Christ  had  given  them.  Those  who  have  carefully  studied  the 
history  of  the  church  in  the  first  centuries  know  this,  as  well  as  I  do. 

But  be  it  known,  there  are  rights  against  which  time  does  not  prescribe. 
There  are  rights  which  the  priests  and  people  have  never  lenounced,  and 
which  the  church  of  Christ  will  always  like  to  see  them  enjoy. 

I  do  not  say  that  the  bishops  are  not  ordained  to  govern  the  Christian 
people,  but  I  say  that  the  bishops  are  not  appointed  by  the  church  to  govern 
the  flock  according  to  their  caprices,  but  according  to  the  unchangeablf, 
rules  of  justice,  equity  and  truth  of  the  gospel.  In  the  primitive  church, 
every  time  that  a  bishop  forgot  this,  other  bishops  reminded  him  of  it. 

Do  we  not  see  in  the  gospel,  that  the  first  Christians  complained  bitter' v 
to  the  apostles  themselves  of  the  manner  in  which  they  had  administered 
the  goods  entrusted  to  them  }  Were  they  excommunicated  for  that  .'  Did 
they  receive  in  answer  the  insolent  reply  that  the  people  receive  to-day  .'' 
viz:  "You  are  but  the  laity,  that  does  not  concern  you.-"  No!  The 
apostles  listened  to  the  complaints  of  the  people;  they  found  them  just,  and 
the  people  were  allowed  to  choose  the  administrators  of  their  goods. 

The  people,  then,  were  looked  upon  as  something  worthy  of  attention 
and  respect,  and  were  not  tied,  as  to-day,  to  the  feet  of  a  dignitary,  and 
obliged  to  go  right  and  left  at  the  good  pleasure  of  their  pretended  master. 
The  people  were  not,  then,  bridled ;  were  not  mere  machines  to  pay  tithes, 
build  palaces,  raise  proud  cathedrals;  nor  were  thev  degraded,  demoralized, 
as  to-day;  obliged  to  believe  they  had  minds,  but  had  no  right  to  make  usb 
•f  them ;  they  were  not,  then,  as  now,  poor  beasts  of  burthen,  whose  only 
duty  is  to  obey  their  master.  But  their  wants  and  wishes  were  consulted ; 
their  voice  was  heard.  They  had  not  yet  the  idea  that  the  Holy  Ghost  wa& 
to  enlighten  only  a  certain  class  of  men,  and  that  the  rest  of  humanity  wer«, 
given  up  to  ignorance,  only  to  walk  in  the  light  of  a  few  privileged  luminaries. 

But  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  charity  and  tolerance;  this  respect  for  the  wi'.' 
and  wishes  of  the  people,  where  do  you  find  them  to-day  .'' 

On  the  contrary,  we  find  tyranny  on  the  one  side,  and  stern  and  neces- 
sary resistance  on  the  other ;  resistances  which  are  but  the  expression  of  the 
law  of  God.  Let  the  tolerant  conduct  of  the  apostles,  who  listened  with  so 
much  humility  to  the  complaints  of  the  first  Christians,  be  compared  to  that 
of  Bishop  O'Regan  when  questioned  by  the  French  people  of  Chicago  upon 


DESAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  767 

the  right  he  had  to  deprive  them  of  their  church,  to  give  it  to  another  con- 
gregation, put  them  out  of  doors,  saying:  "  You  do  not  know  your  religion; 
I  have  the  right  to  sell  your  churches,  and  the  grounds  attached  to  them, 
put  the  money  in  my  pocket,  and  eat  and  drink  where  I  like." 

This  is  what  Bishop  O'Regan  has  said  and  done;  and  this  is  what  the 
bishop  of  Canada  approves  and  sanctions  in  the  name  of  the  gospel  I  They 
try  to  make  you  believe  that  it  is  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  which  these 
high  dignitaries  preach  and  practice. 

Let  the  poor  people  of  Canada  believe  this,  if  they  wish ;  as  for  us,  in 
St.  Anne,  we  do  not,  and  never  will  believe  it.  Are  not  these  men  who  cry 
the  loudest  to  make  us  respect  the  canons  of  the  church,  the  very  men  who 
publiclly  trample  the  most  holy  laws  of  the  people  and  of  the  church  under 
their  feet  .''  How  easy  it  would  be  to  put  to  those  powerful  personages, 
question?  wliich  they  would  call  impertinent,  but  which  would  shed  great 
light  in  the  midst  of  the  profound  darkness  in  which  a  certain  corner  of  the 
world  is  kept  to-day  ? 

You  who  o\er\vhelin  us  with  curses,  and  send  us  to  hell  if  we  are  not 
ready  to  say  amen  to  all  you  say,  what  have  you  done  with  the  canon  of 
the  holy  council  of  Nice,  which  forbids  you  to  change  a  priest's  charge  with- 
out his  permission  .-* 

Where  is  the  canon  of  a  general  council  which  allows  the  bishops  to 
add  the  words:  "  usque  ad  revocationem"  in  the  powers  given  to  the  priests  ! 
While  one  of  the  canons  of  the  church  says :  "  It  is  the  authority  of  the 
canons,  and  the  examination  of  the  conduct  of  the  priests,  which  ought 
to  give  or  take  away  the  ecclesiastical  dignities,  and  not  the  -mUI  of  the 
prelates-. 

History  has  preserved  the  names  of  certain  tyrants  who  forced  the 
trembling  hand  of  a  father  to  set  fire  to  the  pile  which  consumed  his  own 
child.  Ah  !  why  do  these  bishops  of  Canada  remind  us  of  that  lamentable 
page  of  past  centuries,  in  commanding  you  to  throw  burning  coals  on  the 
pile  to  which  they  have  led  me. 

You  are  more  than  a  friend  to  me.  I  have  the  right  to  call  you 
'  Father.*  When  still  very  young,  dQmestic  misfortunes  forced  me  to  leave 
for  a  strange  country,  in  search  of  a  living;  you  stretched  out  to  me  a  help- 
ing hand.  Although  poor  yourself,  you  shared  your  bread  with  the  poor 
orphan.  You  opened  to  me  the  doors  of  the  college  where  I  studied.  And 
ever  since,  when  a  tempest  threatened  my  fragile  bark  with  shipwreck,  in 
your  arms  I  found  sure  port.  Every  time  I  received  a  wound,  in  the  strug- 
gles of  life,  in  your  affection  I  found  a  remedy. 

When  heaven  chose  your  poor  friend  to  change  the  face  of  our  dear 
countr}',  it  was  beneath  your  hospitable  roof  that  I  found  rest.  Your  hand 
was  the  last  one  which  pressed  mine,  when  in  1851  I  left  Canada  to  conse- 
crate myself  to  the  service  of  the  emigrants:  and  lastly,  when  the  thunders 
of  three  deluded  prelates  fell  upon   my  head,  I  said  to   myself:  '  I  have,  in 


768  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Canada,  a  friend,  a  father.  I  am  so  sure  of  his  heart,  that  I  do  not  eren 
need  to  call  him  to  aid ;  there  is  a  voice  in  his  soul  which  cries  to  him ; 
'  Go,  go  to  the  aid  of  thy  friend,  thy  child  ! ' 

"  I  was  not  mistaken.  On  the  24th  of  November,  you  pressed  me  to 
your  heart ;  your  words  of  peace  and  charity  cheered  my  broken  heart. 
For  the  love  of  God,  and  for  your  sake  also,  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard,  I  have 
consented  to  do  all  you  have  required  of  me.  Ah  !  why  did  you  not  come 
alone  .'  How  easily  everything  would  have  been  settled.  But  without 
knovdng  it,  you  had  with  you  a  traitor,  who  came  to  give  the  people  and 
pastor  of  St.  Anne  the  kiss  of  Judas,  before  delivering  them  into  the  hand* 
of  their  enemies. 

"  To-day  you  are  commanded  to  add  your  efforts  to  those  of  this  traitor, 
to  strike  me.  They  want  you  to  add  a  new  thorn  to  that  crown  of  shame 
which  the  bishops  have  placed  en  my  forehead. 

"  But  how  can  I  be  guilty  for  having  called  you  as  a  witness  of  the  in- 
iquities of  my  enemies  .''  Have  you  forgotten  with  what  sincerity  and 
promptitude  I  signed,  as  well  as  my  brethren  of  St.  Anne,  the  act  of  sub- 
mission to  the  Bishop  O'Regan  .-*  Have  you  forgotten  the  desolation  of  your 
heart  and  mine,  when  (on  the  conditions  you  well  know)  I  declared  to  my 
people  that  I  would  no  longer  be  their  pastor  .' 

"  Since  the  bishops  of  Canada  command  you  to  speak  in  the  name  of 
the  God  of  truth  and  justice,  I,  also,  ask  you  to  speak.  Yes,  state  to  the 
people  of  Canada,  how  shamefully  Mr.  Desaulnier  has  deceived  the  generous 
people  who  surround  me  here.  Yes  !  tell  your  surprise,  your  just  indigna- 
tion, your  bitter  sorrow,  when  Mr.  Desaulnier  refused,  in  Chicago,  to  fulfill 
the  sacred  promise  he  had  made  !  Tell  the  nature  of  the  new  document 
which  he  wanted  me  to  sign  at  Chicago.  Declare  honestly  that  you  said  to 
me:  "My  poor  friend,  you  can  not  sign  that  act  without  lying  and  dishon- 
oring yourself  forever." 

"  Since  the  bishops  of  Canada  command  you  to  speak,  raise  your  voice 
to  say  to  the  Canadian  people  what  you  wrote  to  Dr.  Letourneaux  and  to 
myself: 

"  They  do  not  wish  to  know  the  truth  in  Canada,  more  than  at  Chicago, 
about  the  shameful  conduct  of  Mr.  Desaulnier  in  this  affair  !  ! 

"Yes,  speak  !  Give  to  my  dear  Canada  the  reply  which  the  bishop  of 
Chicago  made  when  you  asked :  "  Have  you  any  accusation  in  hand  against 
the  character  of  Mr.  Chiniquy  .' 

"  I  need  yonr  testimony  upon  this  question,  for  the  bishop  of  Chicago 
forgetting  what  he  confessed  to  you,  is  circulating,  through  my  enemies,  a 
thousand  calumnies  against  me,  which  are  reproduced  to-day,  by  the  bishop 
of  Montreal. 

"  Say  to  Canada  that  the  bishop  of  Chicago  assured  you  that  he  had  in- 
terdicted me,  only  because  I  disobeyed  him  in  refusing  to  leave  St.  Anne, 
whiist,  at  the  very  time,  he  held  a  letter  brought  by  four  witnesses,   saying 


DESALLNIEK     NAMED    VICAR    GENERAL.  769 

that  I  was  ready  to  obey,  and  that  I  would  prefer  going  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  rather  than  be  interdicted. 

"  If,  having  said  all  these  things,  you  are  still  commanded  to  strike  me, 
do  so,  dear  friend.  Though  your  blows  go  more  directly  to  my  heart  than 
all  the  thunders  of  Bishop  O' Regan,  they  will  never  shake  my  constancy, 
nor  make  me  betray  my  brethren ;  they  will  neither  make  me  change  my 
convictions  nor  force  me  any  longer  to  bend  the  knee  before  men  who  wish 
us  to  submit  to  their  capricious  and  impious  commands  rather  than  to  the 
laws  of  the  God  of  justice,  truth  and  mercy,  whose  priest  I  have  the  honor 
to  be.  I  have  sworn  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  to  preach  truth  and  justice; 
nothing  will  make  me  break  my  oath. 

"  Do  vou  remember  with  what  dignity  you  refused,  one  dav,  to  bow  be- 
fore one  of  those  modern  divinities  who  believe  that  everything  is  allowed 
them  on  earth  ? 

"  Do  you  not  recollect  that  the  bishop  of  Ottawa  had  the  audacity  to 
take  one  of  your  letters  out  of  the  postotfice  and  read  it,  hoping  the  shame- 
ful act  would  never  be  known  .'  I  shall  never  forget  the  noble  indepen- 
dence with  which  you  protested  against  that  abuse  of  power,  and  with  what 
Iniiignation  you  threatened  to  drag  that  haughty  bishop  before  the  courts  of 
justice,  if  he  did  not  ask  pardon  for  that  outrage  !  Were  you  revolting 
\gainst  the  church  of  Christ  then  .'  No  !  for  you  knew  that  her  principlae 
of  truth  and  justice  could  not  sanction  such  brigandage.  So  I  did  not  revolt 
against  the  church  of  Christ,  when  I  resisted  the  insolence  and  outrages  of 
\he  bishop  of  Chicago. 

"  Like  St.  Jerome,  I  know  the  rights  of  the  bishops:  I  respect  their  au- 
thority. The  Catholic  Hierarchy  is  to  me  a  holy  and  venerable  institution. 
But  when  men  sheltering  themselves  behind  those  holy  institutions,  trample 
under  their  feet  the  principles  of  justice,  truth  and  holiness,  which  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ  inculcates,  I  will  fight  to  the  end,  with  my  poor  emigrants,  for 
the  preservation  of  their  Christian  rights. 

"  You  say  that  before  all,  we  must  be  frankly  and  sincerely  'Catholics.' 
I  answer,  yes.  But  when  one  is  wrongfully  deprived  of  this  glorious  name 
before  men,  because  he  opposes,  as  I  have  done,  the  brigandage  of  a  bishop 
who  believes  all  is  allowed  him,  he  can  remain  in  peace,  and  be  like  St. 
Paul,  who  did  not  care  what  men  said  or  thought  of  him.  To  be  anathem- 
atized, because  I  have  devoted  myself  to  the  welfare  of  my  brethren,  is  not 
such  a  sad  destiny  as  some  people  think.     St.  Paul  said: 

"  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ  for  niv  brethren, 
mv  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh." 

"  The  favor  after  which  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  sighed,  has  been  ac- 
corded me.  I  can  not  complain  of  it.  Besides,  does  not  Christ  himself  say- 
to  those  who  labor  to  scatter  seeds  of  justice  and  truth  upon  the  earth,  that 
ifiey  oui^ht  not  expect  to  be  treated  better  than  He  .' 

■  from  every  part  of  Canada  and  the  United  States  men    of  distinction 


77©  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

cease  not  to  cry :  '  Courage  ! '  It  is  true  that  several  curse  us,  but  it  is  be- 
cause they  are  forced  to  do  it.  Many  keep  silent  for  fear  of  their  masters, 
but  their  prayers  and  sympathies  are  for  us.  The  bishops  will  see,  sooner  or 
later,  that  in  order  to  retain  their  power  on  earth,  that  power  must  be  founded, 
as  in  heaven,  upon  justice  and  truth. 

"  When  the  priests  of  Canada,  to  please  the  bishops,  contrary  to  their 
convictions,  have  degraded  their  own  sacerdotal  character  in  my  person; 
when  they  have  burned  the  effigy  of  the  proscribed,  having  no  more  the 
glorious  privilege  of  burning  his  body ;  when  the  father  Avhom,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  I  have  snatched  from  an  abyss,  cursed  me;  when  this  dear  young 
man  who  has,  so  many  times,  blessed  me,  because  I  have  shown  him  the 
gospel,  the  way  of  honor  and  virtue,  by  removing  the  stumbling  block  of  in- 
temperance offered  to  his  weakness,  has  been  forced  to  curse  me ;  when  that 
poor  woman,  who,  by  the  grace  of  God,  owes  me  the  bread  she  eats,  and  the 
few  days  of  holy  felicity  she  has  enjoyed  upon  earth,  has  cursed  me ;  when 
this  fine  little  child,  who  has  so  many  times  blessed  my  name,  because  God 
made  use  of  me  to  gi\'e  him  back  a  father,  has  cursed  me,  there  will  be  a  si- 
lence of  sorrow  in  Canada,  around  my  proscribed  name. 

"  Then  a  reaction  will  take  place.  A  great  prestige  will  be  destroyed. 
A  great  power,  holy  and  benevolent  in  its  origin,  but  fallen  by  its  excesses, 
will  be  destroyed.  God  grant  that,  in  the  midst  of  those  ruins,  there  may 
be  no  tears,  no  blood  !  ! 

"  This  is  not  prophecy,  it  is  history.  Yes,  let  the  Canadian  clergy  open 
the  records  of  the  past,  and  they  will  find  where  their  blind  and  demoraliz- 
ing obedience  to  the  bisliops,  leads  them  and  their  good  and  generous  people, 
if  not  to  infidelity  and  atheism. 

"  You  advise  me,  dear  Mr.  Brassard,  to  pvit  myself  in  the  canonical 
ways ;  but  have  I  not  already  done  so  ?  Have  not  the  bishops  of  Canada  told 
you  that  the  letter  signed  by  me,  has  already  placed  me  in  that  position  .' 

"  Has  not  Mr.  Desaulnier  said,  in  your  presence,  to  my  people  and  my- 
self at  St.  Anne. 

"  Sign  this  act,  and  if  the  bishop  does  not  take  away  his  sentence  of  ex- 
communication, I  will  say  to  him:  'It  is  not  Mr.  Chiniquy,  neither  his 
people,  who  wish  a  schism ;  they  have  done  what  religion  and  honor  com- 
manded them ;  it  is  the  bishop  of  Chicago  who  majves  the  schism.' 

"What  have  we  gained  by  taking  that  public  step  .'  Nothing,  but  to  be 
cruelly  and  shamefully  betrayed. 

"  Was  not  Jesus  Christ  betrayed  only  once  by  Judas  .'  Do  not  then  ex- 
pect that  we  w  ill  be  stronger  than  the  Son  of  God.  The  bishops  of  Canada, 
by  their  emissary,  have  already  betrayed  us,  of  which  you  have  been  witness. 
The  people  and  missionary  of  St.  Anne  do  not  feel  strong  enough  to  present 
their  cheek  again  to  the  smiter. 

'•  xn  spite  of  the  clamors  which  rise  around  us,  we  are  convinced  that  we 
may  be  good  Catholics,  without  submitting  to  that  degradation  twice. 


DESAULNIER     NAMED    VICAR    GE.NERAE.  77 1 

"The  bishops  of  Canada  want  you  to  speak.  Very  well  !  My  dear  Mr. 
Brassard,  I,  also,  in.^,.vjie  you  to  speak.  In  the  name  of  the  friendship  which 
has  united  us  for  forty  years,  I  implore  you  to  tell  the  truth.  Did  you  not, 
after  reading  the  document  which  tiie  bishop  of  Chicago  commanded  me  to 
sign,  as  the  only  condition  of  peace,  say  to  me : 

"  'My  dear  friend,  you  can  not  sign  such  a  writing  without  lying  and 
dishonoring  yourself  forever  ?'  And  behold  !  to-day  you  cry  to  my  breth- 
ren to  destroy  and  abandon  me,  when  you  know  that  the  position  in  which 
I  stand  is  but  the  result  of  my  refusal  to  sign  a  most  infamous,  Iving  and  de- 
grading document. 

"These  things,  and  many  others  which  you  know,  would  serve 
wonderfully  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  people  upon  the  awful  abuse  of  power 
of  which  certain  bishops  are,  every  day,  guilty.  This  would  aid  to  unmask 
certain  modern  divinities  who  pretend  that  we  cannot  go  to  heaven  without 
their  permission ;  who  preach  that  it  is  not  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  a 
certain  passport,  of  which  they  iiold  the  patent,  which  assures  us  a  pkice 
among  the  elect  of  God.  A  sentence  founded  ujxjn  a  public  lie,  and  which 
wa6  resisted,  can  not  constitute  a  schism.  Christian  men  who,  like  the 
Catholics  of  Chicago,  Kankakee  and  SL  Anne,  resist  iniquity,  may  be  con- 
demned by  men,  but  not  by  God. 

"  I  was  not  suspended  on  the  19th  of  August,  and  so,  I  could  exercise  the 
holy  functions  of  my  ministry  the  following  morning  and  after.  It  is  the 
church  which  assures  us  of  this,  through  her  greatest  theologians.  As  it  is 
not  enough  to  say :  '  My  God  ! '  My  God  ! '  to  be  saved ;  so  it  is  not  enough 
to  cry :  '  You  are  lost  !  you  are  lost  ! '  for  one  to  be  lost.  The  Son  of  God, 
who  gave  his  life  to  save  man,  gave  us  a  thousand  proofs,  that  the  salvation 
of  our  soul  has  a  foundation  more  certain  than  the  capricious  will  of  a  sin- 
ful being.  He  has  given  to  no  one  the  power  to  save  or  condemn,  according 
to  his  pleasure.  I  f  some  bishops  and  priests  believe  this,  it  is  not  the  faith 
of  the  people  of  Chicago,  Kankakee  and  St.  Anne. 

"I  will  tell  you  again,  my  dear  Mr.  Brassard,  that  if,  in  order  to  obey 
the  bishop  of  Montreal,  you  should  strip  me  of  the  little  honor  which  sur- 
rounds my  name  in  Canada,  I  shall  still  never  forget  the  good  you  have  done 
me.  Yes!  command  my  friends  to  betray  me,  to  trample  me  under  their 
feet,  to  turn  away  from  me  in  horror:  Never  will  you  be  able  to  weaken  mv 
sentiments  of  respect  and  gratitude  for  you! 

"I  will  still  love  ar.d  bless  you;  for  I  know  the  hand  which  forced 
yours  to  do  so.  I  will  always  know  that  your  own  heart  was  first  struck  and 
wounded  by  the  blows  they  commanded  you  to  give  to  your  friend  and  son 
in  Jesus  Christ. 

"C.  Chiniquy." 

The  effect  of  that  letter  up>on  Mr.  Brassard  was  still  more 
{)owerf  ul  than  I  had  expected.  It  forced  him  to  blush  at  his  own 
cowardice,  and  to  ask  me  pardon  for  the  unjust  sentence  he  had 


'ya  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

passed  upon  me  to  obey  the  bishop.     Here  are  the  parts   of   the 
letter  bearing  iipon  that  subject: 

St.  Roch,  29  Mai,   1857. 

MoNCHER  Chiniquy: — "  Je  suis  plus  convainen  que  jamais  que  tu  n'as 
jamais  ete  interdit  legalement,  depuis  que  j'ai  appris  par  Monseigneur  de 
Montreal,  que  I'eveque  de  Chicago  t'  a  interdit  de  vive  voix,  dans  sa  cham- 
bre ;  ce  que  Ligoury  dit  etre  nul  te  de  nul  effet." 

I  am  more  than  ever  convinced  that  you  have  never  been  legally  inter- 
dicted, since  Bishop  Bourget  told  me  that  Bishop  O'Regan  had  interdicted 
you  privatelv,  "  t'/rw  voce"  in  his  private  room.  Ligoury  says  that  it  is  a 
nullity  and  that  it  can  have  no  effect.  I  beg  your  pardon  for  w^hat  I  -wrrote 
against  3'ou.  I  have  been  forced  to  do  it.  Because  I  had  not  yet  sufficient- 
ly condemned  you,  and  that  my  name,  which  you  were  citing  in  your  writings, 
was  giving  you  too  much  power,  and  a  too  clear  condemnation  of  Bishop 
O'Regan,  the  Bishop  ot  Montreal,  abusing  his  authority  over  me,  forced  me 
to  sign  that  document  against  you.  I  would  not  do  it  to-day  if  it  were  to  be 
done  again.  Keep  silence  on  what  I  tell  you  in  this  letter.  It  is  all  con- 
fidential.    You  understand  it. 

Your  devoted  friend, 

L.  M.  Brassard. 

No  priest  in  Canada  had  more  deservedly  enjoyed  the  repu- 
tation of  a  man  of  honor,  than  ISIr.  Brassard.  Not  one  had  ever 
stood  so  high  in  my  esteem  and  respect.  His  sudden  and  unex- 
pected fall,  filled  my  heart  with  an  unspeakable  sadness.  I  may 
say  that  it  snapped  the  last  thread  which  held  me  to  the  church 
of  Rome.  Till  then,  it  was  not  only  m}'  hope,  but  my  firm  con- 
viction, that  there  were  many  honest,  upright  priests  in  that 
church,  and  Mr.  Brassard  was,  to  me,  the  very  personification  of 
honesty. 

How  can  I  describe  the  shock  I  felt  when  I  saw  him,  there, 
in  the  mud,  a  monument  of  the  unspeakable  corruption  of  my 
church ! 

The  perfidious  Delilah  had  seduced  and  destroyed  this  mod- 
em Sampson,  enchained,  as  a  trembling  slave,  at  the  feet  of  the 
new  implacable  Moloch,  "  the  authority  of  the  bishop !  "  He  had 
not  only  lost  the  fear  of  God,  and  the  respect  he  owed  to  himself, 
by  publicly  declaring  that  I  was  guilty,  when  he  knew  that  I 
was  innocent,  but  he  had  so  completely  lost  every  sentiment  of 
honesty,  that  he  wanted  me  to  keep  secret  his  declaration  of  my 
innocence,  at  the  very  moment  he  was  inviting  my  whole  coun- 


DESAULNIER    NAMED    VICAR    GEXERAL. 


773 


try,  through  the  press,  to  abhor  and  condemn  me  as  a  cruninal! 
I  read  again  and  again  the  strange  letter.  Every  word  of  it 
was  destroying  the  last  illusions  which  had  concealed  from  my 
mind,  the  absolute  and  incurable  perversity  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  I  had  no  hard  feelings  against  this  last  friend  whom  she 
had  poisoned  with  the  wine  of  her  prostitutions.  I  felt  only  a 
profound  compassion  for  him.  I  pitied  and  forgave  him  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart.  But  every  word  of  his  letter  sounded 
in  my  ears  as  the  warning  voice  of  the  angel  sent  to  save  Lot 
from  the  doomed  city  of  Sodom.  "  Escape  for  thy  life.  Look 
not  behind  thee;  neither  stay  thou  in  all  the  plain.  Escape  thou 
to  the  mountain,  lest  thou  be  consumed!  " 


Chapter   LXIV. 

I  WRITE  TO  POPE  Pins  IX.  AND  TO  NAPOLEON,  EMPEBOB  OF 
FRANCE,  AND  SEND  THEM  THE  PUBLIC  DOCUMENTS  PBOV- 
ING  THE  BAD  CONDUCT  OF  BISHOP  O'REGAN-CARDINAL. 
BIDINI  ORDERED  TO  INVESTIGATE-THE  BISHOP  CALLED 
TO  ROME,  IS  FORCED  TO  RESIGN,  AND  BECOMES  A  BANKEBr- 
BISHOP  SMITH,  OF  DUBUQUE,  NAMED  ADMINISTRATOR  OF 
THE  DIOCESE  OF  CHICAGO-GRAND  VICAR  DUNN  SENT  TO 
TELL  ME  OF  MY  VICTORY  AT  ROME-I  GO  TO  DUBUQUE  TO 
OFFER  MY  SUBMISSION  TO  THE  BISHOP. 

I  HAD  not  forgotten  the  advice  given  me  by  Archbishop  Ken- 
rick,  of  St.  Louis,  April  9,  1856,  to  address  my  complaints  to 
the  Pope  himself.  But  the  terrible  difficulties  and  trials  w^hich 
had  constantly  followed  each  other,  had  made  it  impossible  to 
follow  that  advice.  The  betrayal  of  Mons.  Desaulnier  and  the 
defection  of  Mons.  Brassard,  however,  had  so  strangely  compli- 
cated my  position,  that  I  felt  the  only  way  to  escape  the  wreck 
which  threatened  myself  and  my  colony,  and  to  save  the  holy 
cause  God  had  entrusted  me,  was  to  strike  such  a  blow  to  our 
haughty  persecutor  that  he  could  not  survive  it.  I  determined  to 
send  to  the  Pope  all  the  public  accusations  which  had  been  legally 
proved  and  published  against  the  bishop,  w^ith  the  copy  of  the 
numerous  and  infamous  suits  which  he  had  sustained  before  the 
civil  courts,  and  had  almost  invariably  lost,  with  the  sentences  of 
the  judges  who  had  condemned  him.  This  took  me  nearly  two 
months  of  the  hardest  labors  of  my  life.  I  had  gathered  all 
those  documents,  w^hich  covered  more  than  200  pages  of  fools- 
cap. I  mailed  them  to  Pope  Pius  IX.,  accompanied  by  only  the 
ioUowing  words:     "Holy  Father,  for  the  sake  of  your  precious 

774 


THE    PEACE    SEALED. 


775 


lambs  which  are  slaughtered  and  devoured  in  this  vast  diocese 
by  a  ravening  wolf,  Bishop  O'Regan,  and  in  the  name  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  I  implore  your  Holiness  to  see  if  what  is 
contained  in  these  documents  is  correct  or  not.  If  eyerything  is 
found  correct,  for  the  sake  of  the  blood  shed  on  Calvary,  to  save 
our  immortal  souls,  please  take  away  from  our  midst,  the  un- 
worthy bishop  whose  daily  scandals  can  no  longer  be  tolerated 
by  a  Christian  people." 

In  order  to  prevent  the  Pope's  servants  from  throwing 
my  letter  with  those  documents  into  their  waste  paper  baskets, 
I  sent  a  copy  of  them  all  to  Napoleon  III.,  Emperor  of 
France,  respectfully  requesting  him  to  see,  through  his  ambassa- 
dor at  Washington,  and  his  consul  at  Chicago,  whether  these 
papers  contained  the  truth  or  not.  I  tokl  him  how  his  country- 
men were  trampled  under  the  feet  of  Bishop  O'Regan,  and  how 
they  were  ruined  and  spoiled  to  the  benefit  of  the  Irish  people; 
how  the  churches  built  by  the  monev  of  the  French  were  openly 
stolen,  and  transferred  to  the  emigrants  from  Ireland.  Napo- 
leon had  just  sent  an  army  to  punish  the  Emperor  of  China  on 
account  of  some  injustice  done  to  a  Frenchman.  I  told  him  "the 
injustice  done  to  that  Frenchman  in  the  Chinese  Empire  is 
nothing  to  what  is  done  here  every  day,  not  against  one,  but 
hundreds  of  your  majesty's  countrymen.  A  \vord  from  the 
Emperor  of  France  to  His  Holiness  will  do  here  what  your 
armies  have  done  in  China:  force  the  unjust  and  merciless  op- 
pressor of  the  French  of  Illinois  to  do  them  justice." 

I  ended  my  letter  bv  saying: 

"  My  grandfather,  though  born  in  Spain,  married  a  French 
lady,  and  became,  by  choice  and  adoption,  a  French  citizen.  He 
became  a  captain  in  the  French  navy,  and  for  gallant  service, 
was  awarded  lands  in  Canada,  which  by  the  fate  of  war  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Great  Britain.  Upon  retiring  from  the  service  of 
France  he  settled  upon  his  estates  in  Canada,  where  my  father 
and  myself  were  born.  I  am  thus,  with  other  Canadians  who 
have  come  to  this  country,  a  British  subject  by  birth,  an  Ameri- 
can citizen  by  adoption,  but  French  still  in  blood  and  Roman 
Catholic  in  religion.     I,  therefore,  on  the  part  of  a  noble  French 


776 


FIFTY     YEARS     IX     THE     CHURCH    OF     ROME, 


people,  humbly  ask  your  majesty  to  aid  us  by  interceding  with 
his  holiness,  Pope  Pius  IX.,  to  have  these  outrages  and  ^vrongs 
righted." 

The  success  of  this  bold  step  was  more  prompt  and  complete 
than  I  had  expected.  The  Emperor  was,  then,  all  powerful  at 
Rome.  He  had  not  only  brought  the  Pope  from  Civita  Vecchia 
to  Rome,  after  taking  that  city  from  the  hands  of  the  Italian  Re- 
publicans, a  few  years  before,  but  he  was  still  the  very  guardian 
and  protector  of  the  Pope. 

A  few  months  later,  when  in  Chicago,  the  Grand  Vicar 
Dunn  showed  me  a  hettcr  from  Bishop  O'Regan,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  go  to  Rome  and  give  an  account  of  his  administration 
in  which  he  had  said :  "  One  of  the  strangest  things  which  has  oc- 
curred to  me  in  Rome,  is  that  the  influence  of  the  Emperor  Na- 
poleon is  against  me  here.  I  can  not  understand  what  right  he 
he  has  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  my  diocese." 

I  had  learned  since,  that  it  was  really  through  the  advice  of 
Napoleon  that  Cardinal  Bidini,  who  had  been  previously  sent  to 
the  United  States  to  inquii"e  about  the  scandal  given  by  Bishop 
O'Regan,  gave  his  opinion  in  our  favor.  The  cardinal,  having 
consulted  the  bishops  of  the  'United  States,  who  unanimously  de- 
nounced O'Regan  as  unfit  and  unworthy  of  such  a  high  position, 
immediately  ordered  him  to  go  to  Rome,  where  the  Pope  uncer- 
emoniously transferred  him  from  the  bishopric  of  Chicago  to  a 
diocese  extinct  more  than  1,200  years  ago, called  "Dora."  This 
was  as  good  as  a  bishopric  in  the  moon.  He  consoled  himself  in 
his  misfortune  by  drawing  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
of  stolen  money  he  had  sent  at  different  times,  to  be  deposited  in 
the  banks  of  Paris,  and  went  to  Ireland,  where  he  established  a 
bank,  and  died  in  1865. 

On  the  nth  of  March,  1858,  at  about  10  o'clock  p.  m.,  I  wa* 
not  a  little  pleased  and  surprised  to  hear  the  voice  of  my  devoted 
friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Dunn,  grand  vicar  of  Chicago,  asking  my  hos- 
pitality for  the  night.     His  first  words  were: 

"  My  visit  here  must  be  absolutely  incognito.  In  ordering 
me  to  come  and  see  you,  the  bishop  of  Dubuque,  who  is  just 
named  administrator  of  Chicago,  advised  me  to  come  as  secretly 


THE    PEACE    SEALED.  777 

a«  possible.  He  said:  '  Your  triumph  at  Rome  is  perfect.  You 
have  gained  the  greatest  victory  a  priest  ever  won  over  his  un 
just  bishop;  but  you  must  thank  the  Emperor  Xapoleon  for  it. 
It, is  to  his  advice  which,  luider  the  present  circumstances,  is 
equal  to  an  order,  that  you  owe  the  protection  of  the  Cardinal 
Bidini.  His  report  to  the  Pope  is,  that  all  the  documents  you 
sent  to  Rome  were  correct.  The  inquiry  of  the  cardinal  has 
brought  facts  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Pope,  still  more  compro- 
mising than  what  you  have  written  against  him.  Several  bish- 
ops of  the  United  States  have  unanimously  denounced  Bishop 
O'Regan  as  a  most  depravetl  man,  entirely  unworthy  of  his  po- 
sition, and  have  advised  the  pope  to  take  him  away  and  choose 
another  bishop  for  Chicago,  It  is  acknowledged,  at  Rome,  that 
all  the  sentences  pronounced  by  that  bishop  against  you,  are  un- 
just and  null.  Our  good  administrator  has  been  advised  to  put 
an  end,  at  once,  to  all  the  troubles  of  your  colony,  by  treating 
you  as  a  good  and  faithful  priest. 

"  I  come  here,  not  only  to  congratulate  you  on  your  victory, 
but  also  to  thank  you,  in  my  name,  and  in  the  name  of  the  church, 
for  having  saved  our  diocese  from  such  a  plague ;  for  Bishop 
O'Regan  is  a  real  plague.  A  few  more  years  of  such  admin- 
istration would  have  destroved  our  holy  religion  in  Illinois. 
However,  as  you  handled  the  poor  bishop  pretty  roughly,  it  is 
suspected,  at  a  distance,  that  you  and  your  people  are  more  Prot- 
testants  than  Catholics.  We  know  better  here;  for,  from  the  be- 
ginning, it  was  evident  that  the  act  of  excommvniication,  posted 
at  the  door  of  your  chapel  by  three  priests  too  drunk  to  know 
what  they  were  about,  is  a  nullity,  having  never  been  signed  by 
the  bishop.  It  was  a  shameful  and  sacrilegious  comedy.  But, 
in  many  distant  places,  that  excommunication  was  accepted  as 
valid,  and  you  are  considered  by  many,  as  a  real  schismatic. 
Bishop  Smith  has  thought  it  advisable  to  ask  you  to  give  him  a 
written  and  canonical  act  of  submission,  which  he  will  publish  to 
show  the  world  that  you  are  still  a  good  Roman  Catholic  priest." 

I  thanked  the  grand  vicar  for  his  kind  words,  and  the  good 
news  he  was  giving  me,  and  I  asked  him  to  help  me  to  thank 
God  for  having  so  visibly  protected  and  guided  me  through  all 


778  FIFTY    YEARS    IX    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

these  terrible  difficulties.  We  both  knelt  and  repeated  the 
sublime  words  of  gratitude  and  joy  of  the  old  prophet:  "Bless 
the  Lord,  oh!  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  withip  me,  bless  His  holy 
name,"  etc.  (Ps.  ciii.)  I  then  said  that  I  had  no  objection  to  give 
the  renewed  act  of  my  faith  and  submission  to  the  church,  that  it 
might  be  jDublished.  I  took  a  piece  of  paper,  and  with  emotions 
of  joy  and  gratitude  to  God,  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  ex- 
press, I  slowly  prepared  to  write.  But  as  I  was  considering 
what  form  I  should  give  to  that  document,  a  sudden,  strange 
thought  struck  my  mind :  "  Is  this  not  the  golden  opportunity  to 
put  an  end  to  the  terrible  temptations  which  have  shaken  my  faith 
and  distressed  me  for  so  many  years,  I  said  to  myself: 

"  Is  not  this  a  providential  opportunity  to  silence  those  mys- 
terious voices  which  are  troubling  mc  almost  every  hour?  That, 
in  the  church  of  Rome,  we  do  not  follow  the  Word  of  God,  but 
the  lying  traditions  of  men  ? " 

I  determined  then  to  frame  my  act  of  submission  in  such  a 
way  that  I  would  silence  those  voices,  and  be,  more  than  ever, 
sure  that  my  faith,  the  faith  of  my  dear  church,  which  had  just 
given  me  such  a  glorious  victory  at  Rome,  was  based  upon  the 
Holy  Word  of  God,  on  the  divine  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  I  then 
w^rote  down,  in  my  own  name  and  in  the  name  of  my  people: 

"  My  lord  Bishop  Smith,  bishop  of  Dubuque  and  administrator  of  the 
diocese  of  Chicago : — We  want  to  live  and  die  in  the  holy  Catholic,  apostolic 
and  Roman  church,  out  of  which  there  is  no  salvation,  and  to  prove  this  to 
your  lordship,  we  promise  to  obey  the  authority  of  the  church  according  to 
the  word  and  commandments  of  God  as  we  find  them  expressed  in  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.  "  C.  Chiniquy." 

I  handed  this  writing  to  Mr.  Dunn,  and  said: 

"  What  do  you  think  of  this  act  of  submission.'' "  He  quickly 
read  it  and  answered: 

"It  is  just  what  we  want  from  you." 

"All  right,"  I  rejoined.     "But  I  fear  the  bishop  will  not  ac- 
cept it.     Do  you  not  see  that  I  have  put  a  condition  to  our  sub 
mission.''     I  say  that  we  will  submit  ourselves  to  the  bishop's  au- 
thority, but  only  according  to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  gospel 
Mf  Christ." 

"Is  not  that  good?"  quickh-  replied  Mr.  Dunn. 


THE    PEACE     SEALED. 


779 


"  Yes,  my  dear,  Mr.  Dunn,  this  is  good,  very  good  indeed,"  I 
answered,  "  But  my  fear  is  that  it  is  too  good  for  the  bishop  and 
the  Pope!" 

"  What  do  you  mean?  "  he  repHed. 

"I  mean  that  though  this  act  of  submission  is  very  good,  I 
fear  lest  the  Pope  and  the  bishop  reject  it." 

"  Please  explain  yourself  more  clearly,"  answered  the  grand 
vicar.     "  I  do  not  understand  the  reason  for  such  a  fear." 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Dunn,"  I  continued,  "  I  must  confess  to  you 
here,  a  thing  which  is  known  only  to  God.  I  must  show  you  a 
bleeding  wound  which  is  in  my  soul  for  many  years:  A  wound 
which  has  never  been  healed  by  any  of  the  remedies  I  have  ap- 
plied to  it.  It  is,  a  wound  which  I  never  dared  to  show  to  any 
man,  except  to  my  confessor,  though  it  has  often  made  me  suffer 
almost  the  tortures  of  hell.  You  know  well  that  there  is  not  a 
living  priest  who  has  studied  the  Holy  Scriptues  and  the  Holy 
Fathers,  with  more  attention  and  earnestness,  these  last  few  years, 
than  I  have.  It  was  not  only  to  strengthen  my  own  faith,  but 
also,  the  faith  of  our  people,  and  to  be  able  to  fight  the  battles  of 
our  church  against  her  enemies,  that  I  spent  so  manv  hours  of 
my  davs  and  nights  in  those  studies. 

"But,  though  I  am  confounded  and  ashamed  to  confess  it  to 
you,  I  must  do  it.  The  more  I  have  studied  and  compared  the 
Holy  Scriptures  and  the  Holy  Fathers  with  the  teachings  of  our 
church,  the  more  my  ^lith  has  been  shaken,  and  the  more  I  have 
been  tempted  to  think,  m  spite  of  myself,  that  our  church  has, 
long  ago,  given  up  the  Word  of  God  and  the  Holy  Fathers,  in 
order  to  walk  in  the  muddy  and  crooked  ways  of  human  and 
false  traditions.  Yes!  the  more  I  study,  the  more  I  am  troubled 
by  the  strange  and  mysterious  voices  which  haunt  me  day  and 
night,  saying: 

"Do  you  not  see  that  in  your  Church  of  Rome,  you  do  not 
follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  the  lying  traditions  of  men?" 

"  What  is  more  strange  and  painful  is  that,  the  more  I  pray 
to  God  to  silence  these  voices,  the  louder  they  repeat  the  same 
distressing  things.  It  is  to  put  an  end  to  those  awful  tempta- 
tions that  I  have  written  this  conditional  submission.     I  want  to 


780  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE     CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

prove  to  myself  that  I  will  obey  the  Word  of  God  and  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ,  in  our  church,  and  I  shall  be  happy  all  the  rest  of 
my  life,  if  the  bishops  accept  this  submission.  But  I  fear  it  will 
be  rejected."     Mr.  Dunn  promptl}-  replied: 

"  You  are  mistaken,  my  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy.  I  am  sure  that 
our  bishop  will  accept  this  document  as  canonical,  and  sufficient 
to  show  your  orthodoxy  to  the  world." 

"If  it  be  so,"  I  replied,  "I  will  be  a  most  happy  man."  It 
was  agreed  that  on  the  35th  of  March,  I  would  go  w^ith  him  to 
Dubuque,  to  present  my  act  of  submission  to  the  administfator  of 
the  diocese,  after  the  people  had  signed  it.  Accordingly,  at  7 
p.  m.  on  that  day,  we  both  took  the  train  at  Chicago  for  Dubuque, 
where  we  arrived  next  morning.  iVt  1 1  a.  m.,  I  went  to  the 
palace  of  the  bishop,  who  received  me  with  marks  of  the  utmost 
cordiality  and  affection.  I  presented  him  our  written  act  of  sub- 
mission with  a  trembling  hand,  fearing  he  would  reject  it.  He 
read  it  twice,  and  throwing  his  arms  around  me,  he  pressed  me 
to  his  heart.  I  felt  his  tears  of  joy  mixed  with  mine,  rolling 
down  my  cheeks,  as  he  said : 

"How  happy  I  am  to  see  that  submission!  How  happy  the 
Pope  and  all  the  bishops  of  the  United  States  will  be  to  hear  of 
it,  for  I  will  not  conceal  it  from  you;  we  feared  that  both  you 
and  your  people  would  separate  from  the  church  by  refusing  to 
submit  to  her  authority." 

I  answered  that  I  was  not  less  happy  to  see  an  end  tu  those 
painful  difficulties,  and  I  promised  him  that,  with  the  help  of 
God,  our  holy  church  would  not  have  a  more  faithful  priest  than 
myself. 

While  engaged  in  that  pleasant  conversation,  the  dinner  hour 
came.  He  gave  me  the  place  of  honor  on  his  right,  before  the 
two  grand  vicars,  and  nothing  could  be  more  pleasant  than  the 
time  we  spent  around  the  table,  which  was  served  with  a  good 
and  well  prepared,  though  frugal  meal.  I  was  happy  to  see  that 
the  bishop,  with  his  priests,  were  teetotalers.  No  wine  nor  beer 
to  tempt  the  weak.  Before  the  dinner  was  over,  the  bishop  said 
to  Mr.  Dunn. 

"You  will   accompany  Mr.   Chiniquy  to   St.  Anne,  in   order 


THE    PEACE    SEALED.  781 

to  announce,  in  my  name,  to  the  people,  the  restoration  of  peace, 
next  Sabbath.  No  doubt  it  will  be  joyful  news  to  the  colony  of 
Father  Chiniquy. 

"  After  so  many  years  of  hard  fighting,  the  pastor  and  the 
people  of  St.  Anne  will  enjoy  the  days  of  peace  and  rest  which 
are  now  secured  to  them." 

Then,  addressing  himself  to  me,  the  bishop  said: 

"  The  only  condition  of  that  peace  is  that  you  will  spend  fif- 
teen days  in  retreat  and  meditation  in  one  of  the  religious  houses 
you  will  choose  yourself.  I  think  that,  after  so  much  noise 
and  exciting  controversies,  it  will  do  you  good  to  pass  those  days 
in  meditation  and  prayer,  in  some  of  our  beautiful  and  peaceful 
solitudes. 

I  answered  him:  "If  your  lordship  had  not  offered  me  the 
favor  of  those  days  of  perfect  and  Christian  rest,  I  would  have 
asked  you  to  grant  it.  I  consider  it  as  a  crowning  of  all  your 
acts  of  kindness  to  offer  me  those  few  days  of  calm  and  medita- 
tion, after  the  terrible  storms  of  those  last  three  years.  If  your 
lordship  has  no  objection  to  my  choice,  I  will  go  to  the  beautiful 
solitude  where  M.  Saurin  has  built  the  celebrated  Monastery, 
College  and  University  of  St.  Joseph,  Indiana.  I  hope  that 
nothing  will  prevent  my  being  there  next  Monday.  After  going, 
next  Sabbath,  in  the  company  of  Grand  Vicar  Dunn,  to  pro- 
claim the  restoration  pf  the  blessed  peace  to  my  people  of 
St.  Anne." 

"  You  cannot  make  a  better  choice,"  answered  the  bishop. 

"  But,  my  lord,"  I  rejoined,  "  I  hope  your  lordship  will  have 
no  objection  to  giye  me  a  written  assurance  of  the  perfect  restor- 
ation of  that  long-sought  peace.  There  are  people  who,  I  know, 
will  not  believe  me,  when  I  tell  them  how  quickly  and  nobly 
vour  lordship  has  put  an  end  to  all  those  deplorable  difficulties. 
I  want  to  show  them  that  I  stand,  to-day,  in  the  same  relation 
with  my  superiors  and  the  church  in  which  I  stood  previous  to 
these  unfortunate  strifes." 

"Certainly,"  said  the  bishop,  "you  are  in  need  of  such  a  doc- 
ument from  your  bishop,  and  you  shall  have  it.  I  will  write  it 
at  once." 


782  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH>  OF    ROME. 

But,  he  had  not  yet  written  two  lines,  when  Mr.  Dunn 
looked  at  his  watch  and  said :  "  We  have  not  a  minute  to  lose, 
if  we  want  to  be  in  time  for  the  Chicago  train. 

I  then  said  to  the  bishop:  "Please,  my  lord,  address  me  that 
important  document  to  Chicago,  where  I  will  get  it  at  the  postof- 
fice,  on  my  way  to  the  University  of  St.  Joseph,  next  Monday; 
your  lordship  will  have  plenty  of  time  to  write  it,  this  after- 
noon." 

The  bishop,  having  consented,  I  hastily  took  leave  of  him, 
with  Mr.  Dunn,  after  having  received  his  benediction. 

On  our  way  back  to  St.  Anne,  the  next  day,  we  stopped  at 
Bourbonnaise  to  see  the  grand  vicar  Mailloux,  one  of  the  priests 
who  had  been  sent  by  the  bishops  of  Canada  to  help  mv  lord 
O'Regan  to  crush  me.  We  found  him  as  he  was  going  to  his 
dining  room  to  take  his  dinner.  He  was  visibly  humiliated  by 
the  complete  defeat  of  Bishop  O'Regan,  at  Rome. 

After  Mr.  Dunn  told  him  that  he  was  sent  to  proclaim  peace 
to  the  people  of  St.  Anne,  he  coldl}^  asked  the  written  proof  of 
such  strange  news. 

Mr.  Dunn  answered  him:  "Do  you  think,  sir,  that  I  would 
be  mean  enough  to  tell  you  a  lie?" 

"I  do  not  say  that  you  are  telling  me  a  lie,"  replied  Mr. 
Mailloux,  "  I  believe  what  you  say.  But,  I  want  to  know  the 
condition  of  that  unexpected  peace.  Has  Mr.  Chiniquy  made 
his  submission  to  the  church  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir,"  I  replied,  "here  is  a  copy  of  my  act  of  submis- 
sion." 

He  read  it,  and  coldly  said :  "  This  is  not  an  act  of  submission 
to  the  church,  but  only  to  the  authority  of  the  Gospel,  which  is 
a  very  different  thing.  This  document  can  be  presented  by  a 
Protestant;  but,  it  cannot  be  offered  by  a  Catholic  priest  to  his 
bishop.  I  cannot  understand  how  our  bishop  did  not  see  that  at 
once." 

Mr.  Dunn  answered  him :  "  My  dear  grand  vicar  Mailloux, 
I  have  often  been  told  that  it  does  not  do  to  be  more  loyal  than 
the  king.  My  hope  was  that  you  would  rejoice  with  us  at  the 
news  of  the  peace.    I  am  sorry  to  see  that  I  was  mistaken.    How- 


THE    PEACE    SEALED.  784 

ever,  I  must  tell  you  that  if  you  want  to  fight,  you  will  have  no- 
body to  fight  against;  for  Father  Chiniquy  was,  yesterday,  ac- 
cepted as  a  regular  priest  of  our  holv  church  by  the  administra- 
tor.    This  ought  to  satisfy  you." 

I  listened  to  the  unpleasant  conversation  of  those  two  grand 
vicars,  with  painful  feelings,  without  saying  a  word.  For,  I  was 
troubled  by  those  mysterious  voices  which  were  reiterating  in 
my  mind  the  cry:  "Do  you  not  see  that  in  the  Church  of  Rome, 
you  do  not  follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  only  the  lying  tradi- 
tions of  men  ?  " 

I  felt  much  relieved,  when  I  left  the  house  of  that  so  badly 
disjxjsed  confrere,  to  come  to  St.  Anne,  where  the  people  had 
gathered  on  the  public  square,  to  receive  us,  and  rend  the  air 
with  their  cries  of  joy  at  the  happy  news  of  peace. 

The  next  day,  27th  of  March,  was  Palm  Sunday,  one  of  the 
grand  festivities  of  the  Church  of  Rome;  there  was  an  immense 
concourse  of  people,  attracted  not  only  by  the  religious  solemnity 
of  the  feast;  but  also  by  the  desire  to  see  and  hear  the  deputy 
sent  by  their  bishop  to  proclaim  peace.  He  did  it  in  a  most  ele- 
gant English  address,  which  I  translated  into  French.  He  pre- 
sented me  a  blessed  palm,  and  I  offered  him  another  loaded  with 
beautiful  flowers,  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  as  a  public  sign 
of  the  concord  which  was  restored  between  my  colony  and  the 
authorities  of  the  church. 

That  my  Christian  readers  may  understand  my  blindness,  and 
the  mercies  of  God  towards  me,  I  must  confess  here,  to  my 
shame,  that  I  was  glad  to  have  made  my  peace  with  those  sinful 
men,  which  was  not  peace  with  my  God.  But,  that  great  God 
had  looked  down  upon  me  in  mercy.  He  was  soon  to  break  that 
peace  with  the  great  apostate  church,  which  is  poisoning  the 
world  with  the  wine  of  her  enchantments,  that  I  might  walk  in 
the  light  of  the  Gospel  and  possess  that  peace  and  joy  which 
passeth  all  understanding. 


Chapter   LXV. 

EXOEULENT  TESTIMONIAL  PROM  MY  BISHOP— MY  RETREAT- 
GRAND  VICAR  SAURIN  AND  HIS  ASSISTANT,  REV.  M.  GRAN- 
GER—GRAND VICAR  DUNN  WRITES  ME  ABOUT  THE  NEW 
STORM  PREPARED  BY  THE  JESUITS— BISHOP  SMITH,  ORDERS 
ME  BACK  TO  DUBUaUE-HE  REJECTS  THE  ACTS  OF  SUBMIS- 
SION—THE VOICE  or  GOD-THE  BISHOP  REQUIRES  A  NEW 
ACT  OF  SUBMISSION-  I  REFUSE  IT- VISION— CHRIST  OFFERS 
HIMSELF  AS  A  GIET-I  AM  FORGIVEN,  RICH  HAPPY  AND 
SAVED— BACK  TO  MY  PEOPLE. 

BISHOP  SMITH  had  fulfilled  his  promise  in  addressing  to 
me  a  testimonial  letter,  which  would  show  to  both  friends 
and  foes  that  the  most  honorable  and  lasting  peace  between  us 
was  to  succeed  the  deplorable  years  of  strife  through  which  we 
had  just  passed.  I  read  it  with  grand  vicar  Dunn,  who  was  not 
less  pleased  than  I  with  the  kind  expressions  of  esteem  towards 
my  people  and  myself  with  which  it  was  filled.  I  had  never  had 
a  document  in  which  my  pi'ivate  and  public  character  were  so 
kindly  appreciated.  I  put  it  in  my  portfolio  as  the  most  precious 
treasure  I  had  ever  possessed,  and  my  gratitude  to  the  bishop 
who  had  written  such  friendly  lines,  was  boundless.  I,  at  once, 
addressed  a  short  letter  to  thank  and  bless  him :  and  I  requested 
him  to  pray  for  me  during  the  happy  days  of  retreat  I  was  to 
spend  at  the  monastery  of  St.  Joseph, 

The  venerable  grand  vicar  Saurin,  and  his  assistant.  Rev.  M. 
Granger,  received  me  as  two  Christian  gentlemen  receive  a 
brother  priest,  and  I  may  say  that,  during  my  stay  in  the  mon- 
astery, they  constantly  overwhelmed  me  with  the  most  sincere 
marks  of  kindness.  I  found  in  them  both  the  very  best  types  of 
priests  of  Rome.  A  volume,  and  not  a  chapter,  would  be  re- 
quired, were  I  to  tell  what  I  saw  there  of  the  zeal,  devotednesa, 
ability  and  marvellous  success  of  their  labors.      Suffice  it  to  say, 

7!M 


EXCELLENT    TESTIMONIAL.  785 

that  grand  vicar  Saurin  is  justly  considered  one  of  the  largest  and 
highest  intellects  Rome  has  ever  given  to  the  United  States. 
There  is  not,  perhaps,  a  man  who  has  done  so  much  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  that  church  in  this  country  as  that  highly  gifted 
priest.  My  esteem,  respect,  I  venture  to  say,  my  veneration  for 
him,  increased  every  time  I  had  the  privilege  of  conversing  with 
him.     The  only  things  which  pained  me  were: 

1st.  When  some  of  his  inferior  monks  came  to  speak  to 
him,  they  had  to  kneel  and  prostrate  themselves  as  if  he  had 
been  a  god,  and  they  had  to  remain  in  that  humble  and  degrad- 
ing posture,  till,  with  a  sign  of  his  hand  or  a  word  from  his  lips, 
he  told  them  to  rise. 

2nd.  Though  he  promised  to  the  numerous  Protestant  par- 
ents, who  entrusted  their  boys  and  girls  to  his  care  for  their 
education,  never  to  interfere  with  their  religion,  he  was,  never- 
theless, incessantly  proselytizing  them.  Several  of  his  Protes- 
tant pupils  were  received  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  renounced 
the  religion  of  their  fathers,  in  my  presence,  on  the  eve  of  Eastw 
of  that  year. 

While,  as  a  priest,  I  rejoiced  in  the  numerous  conquests  oi 
my  church  over  her  enemies,  in  all  our  colleges  and  nunneries,  I 
objected  to  the  breach  of  promise,  always  connected  with  those 
conversions.  I,  however,  then  thought,  as  I  think  to-day,  that 
a  Protestant  who  takes  his  children  to  a  Roman  Catholic  priest 
or  nun  for  their  education,  had  no  religion. 

It  is  simply  an  absurdity  to  promise  that  we  will  respect  the 
religion  of  a  man  who  has  none.  How  can  we  respect  that 
which  does  not  exist  ? 

As  a  general  thing,  there  are  too  few  people  who  understand 
the  profound  meaning  of  our  Saviour's  words  to  his  disciples: 
*'  Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a  desert  place  and  rest  a  while." 
These  words,  uttered  after  the  apostles  had  gathered  themselves 
together  unto  Jesus,  and  told  him  all  things  both  what  they  had 
done  and  taught,  ought  to  receive  more  attention,  on  the  part  of 
those  whom  the  Son  of  God  has  chosen  to  continue  the  great 
work  of  preaching  his  Gospel  to  the  world.  I  had  iicver  before 
so  well  realized  how  good  it  was  to  be  alone   with    Christ,  and 


786  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

tell  him  all  I  had  done,  said  and  thought.  Those  few  days  of 
rest  and  communion  with  my  Saviour  were  one  of  the  greatest 
favors  my  merciful  God  had  ever  given  me. 

My  principal  occupation  was  to  read  and  meditate  on  the  Gos 
pel.  That  divine  book  had  never  been  so  precious  to  me  as 
since  God  had  directed  me  to  put  it  as  the  fundamental  stone  of 
my  faith  in  the  act  of  submission  I  had  just  given  to  my  bifhop: 
and  my  church  had  never  been  so  dear  to  me  as  since  she  bad 
accepted  that  conditional  submission.  I  felt  a  holy  pride  and 
joy  at  having  finally  silenced  the  voice  of  the  enemy  w^'iich,  so 
often,  troubled  my  faith  by  crying  to  my  soul:  "  Do  you  not  see 
that  in  your  Church  of  Rome,  you  do  not  follow  the  Woi"d  of 
God,  but  only  the  lying  traditions  of  men."  My  church,  through 
her  bishop,  had  just  given  me  what  I  considered  an  infallible 
assurance  of  the  contrar}',  by  accepting  the  document  signed  by 
me  and  my  people,  where  we  had  clearly  said  that  we  w^ould 
never  obey  any  authority  or  any  superior,  except  when  "  their 
orders  or  doctrines  would  be  based  upon  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 
My  soul  was  rejoicing  in  those  thoughts,  when,  on  the  5th  of 
April  (Monday  after  Easter)  grand  vicar  Saurin  handed  me  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Dunn,  telling  me  that  a  new  storm,  brought  by 
the  Jesuits,  and  more  formidable  than  the  past  ones,  was  about 
to  break  on  me;  that  I  had  to  prepare  for  new  and  more  serious 
conflicts  than  I  had  ever  experienced. 

The  next  morning,  Mr.  Saurin  handed  me  another  letter 
from  the  Bishop  of  Dubuque,  and  vnth  a  sympathy  which  I 
will  never  forget,  he  said: 

"  I  am  sorry  to  see  that  you  are  not  at  the  end  of  your  trou- 
bles, as  you  expected. 

"  Bishop  Smith  orders  you  back  to  Dubuque  with  words 
which  are  far  from  being  friendly." 

'  But,  strange  to  say,  such  bad  news,  which  would  have  sad- 
dened and  discouraged  me,  in  other  circumstances,  left  me  per- 
fectly calm  and  cheerful  on  that  day.  In  my  dear  Gospel,  which 
had  been  my  daily  bread,  the  last  eight  days,  I  had  found  the 
helmet  for  my  head,  the  breastplate  and  the  shield  to  protect  me, 
an<l  the  unconquerable  sword  with  which  to  fight. 


EXCELLENT    TESTIMONIAL.  787 

From  every  page,  I  heard  my  Saviour's  voice:  "  Fear  not,  I 
am  with  thee." 

When,  on  my  way  back  to  Dubuque,  I  stopped  at  Chicago, 
to  know  from  my  faithful  friend,  Mr.  Dunn,  the  cause  of  the 
new  storm.     He  said: 

"  You  remember  how  grand  vicar  Mailloux  was  displeased 
with  the  conditional  submission  you  had  given  to  the  bishop.  As 
soon  as  we  had  left  him,  he  sent  the  young  priest  who  is  with 
him,  to  the  Jesuits  of  Chicago,  to  tell  them  that  the  authority  of 
the  church  and  of  the  bishop  would  be  forever  lost,  if  Chiniquy 
were  allowed  to  submit  on  such  a  condition.  He  wanted  them 
to  notice  that  it  was  not  to  the  authority  of  the  bishops  and  the 
church  you  had  submitted;  but  only  to  the  authority  of  the 
Bible.  The  Jesuits  w^re  of  the  same  mind.  They  immediatelv 
sent  to  Dubuque,  and  said  th  the  bishop:  'Do  you  not  see  that 
Chiniquy  is  a  disguised  Protestant;  that  he  has  deceived  you  by 
presenting  you  such  an  act  of  submission.  Does  not  your  lord- 
ship see  that  Chiniquy  has  not  submitted  himself  to  your  author- 
ity, but  to  the  authority  of  his  Bible  alone  .^  Do  you  not  fear 
that  the  whole  body  of  the  bishops  and  the  Pope  himself  will 
condemn  you  for  having  fallen  into  the  trap  prepared  by  that 
disguised  Protestant? 

"  Our  administrator,  though  a  good  man  when  left  to  himself, 
is  weak,  and  like  soft  wax,  can  be  manipulated  in  every  way. 

"  The  Jesuits  who  want  to  rule  the  priests  and  the  church 
with  an  iron  rod,  and  who  are  aiming  to  change  the  Pope  and 
the  bishops  into  the  most  heartless  tyrants,  have  advised  the  ad- 
ministrator to  force  you  to  give  an  unconditional  act  of  submis- 
sion. It  is  not  the  Word  of  God  which  must  rule  us  now,  it  is 
the  old  Jupiter,  who  is  coming  back  to  rule  us  under  the  name  of 
a  modern  divinity,  called  'the  authority  of  the  bishops.'  The 
administrator  and  the  Jesuits  themselves,  have  telegraphed  your 
submission  to  several  bishops,  who  have  unanimously  answered 
that  it  must  be  rejected,  and  another  given,  without  condition,  re- 
quested from  you.  You  were  evidently  too  correct,  when  you 
told  me  the  other  day,  that  your  act  of  submission  was  too  good 
for  the  bishops  and  the  Pope.     What  will  you  do?" 


ySS  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CilURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  replied :  "  I  do  not  know  \vhat  I  will  do,  but  be  sure  of 
this,  my  dear  Mr.  Dunn,  I  will  do  what  our  great  and  merciful 
God  will  tell  me." 

"  Veiy  well,  very  well,"  he  answered,  "May  God  help  you!"* 

After  warmly  shaking  hands  with  me,  1  left  to  take  the 
train  for  Dubuque,  where  I  arrived,  next  morning.  I  went  im- 
mediately to  the  bishop's  palace.  I  found  him  in  the  company 
of  a  Jesuit,  and  I  felt  myself  as  a  poor  helpless  ship  between  two 
threatening  icebergs. 

"  Yom- lordship  wants  to  see  me  again,"  I  said. 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  want  to  see  you  again,"  he  answered, 

"  What  do  you  want  from  me  my  lord.''"  I  replied. 

"Have  you  the  testimonial  letter  I  addressed  to  you,  at  Chi- 
cago, last  week?" 

"  Yes,  my  lord,  I  have  it  with  m?." 

"Will  you  please  show  it  to  me,"  he  replied. 

"  With  pleasure,  here  it  is,"  and  I  handed  him  the  precious 
document. 

As  soon  as  he  had  assured  himself  that  it  was  the  very  letter 
in  question,  he  ran  to  the  stove  and  threw  it  into  the  fire.  I  felt 
so  puzzled  at  the  action  of  my  bishop,  that  I  remained  almost 
paralyzed;  but  soon,  coming  to  myself,  I  ran,  to  save  from  the 
flames,  that  document  which  was  more  valuable  and  precious  to 
me  than  all  the  gold  of  California,  but  it  was  too  late.  It  was 
in  ashes. 

I  turned  to  the  bishop  and  said :  "  How  can  you  take  from 
me  a  document  which  is  my  property,  and  destroy  it  without  my 
permission  ?  " 

He  answered  me  with  an  impudence  that  cannot  be  expressed 
on  paper:  "  I  am  your  superior,  and  have  no  account  to  give  you." 

I  replied :  "  Yes,  my  lord,  you  are  my  superior  indeed.  You 
are  a  great  bishop  in  our  church,  and  I  am  nothing  but  a  poor 
miserable  priest." 

"But,  there  is  an  Almighty  God  in  heaven,  who  is  as  much 
above  you  as  he  is  above  me.      That  great  God  has  granted   me 

•  That  same  Mr.  Dunn  was  also  excommunicated,  not  long^  after,  by  his  bishop,  aad 
Jied  after  publicly  refusing  to  be  relieved  from  that  sentence. 


EXCELLE.VT    TESTIMONIAL.  ^39 

rights  which  I  will  never  give  up  to  please  any  man.  In  the 
presence  of  God,  I  protest  against  your  iniquity." 

"Have  you  come  here  to  lecture  me'"  replied  tiie  bishop. 

"No,  my  lord,  I  did  not  come  to  lecture  you;  I  come  at  your 
command,  but  I  want  to  know  if  it  was  to  insult  me  as  you  have 
just  done  that  you  requested  me  to  come  here  again." 

"  I  ordered  you  to  come  here  again  because  you  deceived 
me  the  last  time  you  were  here,"  he  answered:  "  you  gave  mean 
act  of  submission  which  you  know  very  well  is  not  an  act  of  sub- 
mission.  I  accepted  it  then,  but  I  was  mistaken ;  I  reject  it  to-day." 

I  answered:  "How  can  you  say  that  I  deceived  you?  The 
document  I  presented  you,  is  written  in  good,  plain  English.  It 
is  there,  on  your  table,  I  see  it:  you  read  it  twice,  and  under- 
stood it  well.  If  you  were  deceived  by  its  contents,  you  deceived 
yourself.  You  are,  then,  a  self-deceiver  and  you  cannot  accuse 
me  of  having  deceived  vou." 

He  then  took  the  document,  lead  it  slowly:  and  when  at  the 
words,  "we  submit  ourselves  to  your  authoritv,  according  to  the 
Word  of  God  as  we  find  it  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,"  he  stopped 
and  said:  "What  do  you  mean  bv  this?" 

I  answered,  "  I  mean  what  you  see  there.  1  mean  that  neither 
I  nor  my  people  will  ever  submit  ourselves  to  anybody,  except 
according  to  the  eternal  laws  of  truth,  justice  and  holiness  of 
God,  as  we  find  them  expressed  in  the  Bible." 

He  angrily  answered,  "Such  language  on  your  part  is  sheer 
Protestantism.  I  cannot  accept  such  a  conditional  submission 
from  any  priest." 

Then,  again,  I  seemed  to  hear  the  mysterious  voice,  "Do you 
not  see  that  in  your  Church  of  Rome,  you  do  not  follow^  the 
Word  of  God,  but  the  lying  traditions  of  men?  " 

Thanks  be  to  God,  I  did  not  silence  that  voice  in  that  solemn 
hour. 

An  ardent,  though  silent  prayer,  went  from  the  bottom  of 
my  heart  to  the  mercy  seat.  With  all  the  fervor  of  my  soul  I 
said :  "  Oh  my  God !  speak,  speak  again  to  thy  poor  servant, 
and  grant  me  the  grace  to  follow  thy  Holy  Word!"  I  then  aaid 
to  the  bishop: 


79<3  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

"You  distress  me  by  rejecting  this  act  of  submission,  and 
asking  another.  Please  explain  yourself  more  clearly,  and  tell 
me  the  nature  of  the  new  one  you  require  from  me  and  my 
people." 

Taking  then  a  more  subdued  and  polite  tone,  the  bishop  said: 

"  I  hope,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  that,  as  a  good  priest,  you  do  not 
Avant  to  rebel  against  your  bishop,  and  that  you  will  give  me  the 
act  of  submission  I  ask  from  you.  Take  away  these  '  Words 
of  God,'  '  Gospel  of  Christ,'  and  '  Bible,'  from  your  present 
document,  and  I  will  be  satisfied." 

"  But,  my  lord,  with  my  people,  I  have  put  these  words 
because  we  want  to  obey  only  the  bishops  who  follow  the 
Word  of  God.  We  want  to  submit  only  to  the  church  which 
respects  and  follows  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 

In  an  irritated  manner,  he  quickly  answered :  "  Take  awa) 
from  your  act  of  submission,  those  '  Words  of  God,'  and  '  Gospel 
of  Christ,'  and  '  Bible!'  or  I  will  punish  you  as  a  rebel." 

"  My  lord,"  I  replied,  "  those  expressions  are  there  to  show 
us  and  to  the  whole  world,  that  the  Word  of  God,  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  and  the  Bible,  are  the  fundamental  stones  of  our  holy 
church.  If  we  reject  those  precious  stones,  on  what  founda- 
tions will  our  church  and  our  faith  rest?" 

He  answered  angrily:  "Mr.  Chiniquy,  I  am  your  superior, 
I  do  not  want  to  argue  with  you:  You  are  my  inferior,  your 
business  is  to  obey  me.  Give  me,  at  once,  an  act  of  submission, 
in  which  you  will  simply  say  that  you  and  your  people  will  sub- 
mit yourselves  to  my  authority,  and  promise  to  do  anything  I 
w^ill  bid  you." 

I  calmly  answered:  "  What  you  ask  me  is  not  an  act  of  sub- 
mission, it  is  an  act  of  adoration.  I  do  absolutely  refuse  to  give 
it." 

"If  it  be  so,  sir,"  he  answered,  "you  can  no  longer  be  a 
Roman  Catholic  priest." 

I  raised  my  hands  to  heaven,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice: 
"  May  God  Almighty  be  forever  blessed." 

I  took  my  hat  and  left  to  go  to  my  hotel.  When  alone,  in 
my  room,  I  locked  the  door  and  fell  on  my  knees,  to  consider,  in 


EXCELLENT    TESTIMONIAL.  79! 

the  presence  of  God,  what  I  had  just  done.  There,  the  awful, 
undeniable  truth  stared  me  in  the  face.  My  church  could  not 
be  the  Church  of  Christ!  That  sad  truth  had  not  been  revealed 
to  me  bv  any  Protestant,  nor  any  other  enemy  of  the  church.  It 
w^as  from  her  own  lips  I  had  got  it?  It  had  been  told  me  by  one 
of  her  most  learned  and  devoted  bishops  I  My  church  was  the 
deadly,  the  irreconcilable  enemy  of  the  Word  of  God,  as  I  had 
so  often  suspected!  I  was  not  allowed  to  remain  a  single  day 
longer  in  that  church  without  positively  and  publicly  giving  up 
the  Gospel  of  Christ!  It  was  evident  to  me  that  the  Gospel  was 
only  a  blind,  a  mockery  to  conceal  her  iniquities,  tyrannies,  su- 
perstitions and  idolatries.  The  only  use  of  ihe  Gospel  in  my 
church,  was  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  priests  and  people! 
It  had  no  authority.  The  only  rule  and  guide  were  the  will,  the 
passions  and  the  dictates  of  sinful  men ! 

There,  on  my  knees,  and  alone  with  God,  it  was  evident  to 
ine  that  the  voice  which  had  so  often  troubled  and  shaken  my 
faith,  was  the  voice  of  my  merciful  God  who  wanted  to  save  me. 
It  was  the  voice  of  my  dear  Saviour,  who  wanted  lu  bring  me 
■ut  of  the  ways  of  perdition  in  which  I  was  walking.  And  1 
iuid  tried  so  often  to  silence  that  voice! 

"My  God!  my  God!"  I  cried,  "The  Church  of  Rome  is 
not  thy  church.  To  obey  the  voice  of  my  conscience,  which  is 
thine,  I  gave  it  u]).  When  I  had  the  choice  between  giving  up 
the  Church  or  the  Bible,  I  did  not  hesitate.  I  could  not  give  up 
thy  Holy  Word,  I  have  given  up  Rome!  But,  O  Lord,  where 
is  thy  church?     Oh!  speak!  !    where  must  I  go  to  be  saved?" 

For  more  than  one  hour,  I  cried  to  God  in  vain;  no  answer 
came.  In  vain,  I  cried  for  a  ray  of  light  to  guide  me.  The 
more  I  prayed  and  wept,  the  greater  was  the  darkness  which 
surrounded  me!  I  then  felt  as  if  God  had  forsaken  me,  and  an 
unspeakable  distress  was  the  result  of  that  horrible  thought. 
To  add  to  my  distress,  the  thought  flashed  across  my  mind  that 
by  giving  up  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  had  given  up  the  church 
of  my  dear  father  and  mother,  of  my  brothers,  my  friends  and 
my  country.     In  fact  all  that  was  near  and  dear  to  me! 

I  hope  that  none  of  my  readers  will  ever  experience  what  it 


792  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

is  to  give  up  friends,  relatives,  parents,  honor,  country— every- 
thing! I  did  not  regret  the  sacrifice,  but  I  felt  as  if  I  could  not 
survive  it.  With  tears,  I  cried  to  God  for  more  strength  and 
faith  to  bear  the  cross  which  -was  laid  on  my  too  weak  shoulders, 
but  all  in  vain. 

Then  I  felt  that  an  implacable  war  was  to  be  declared 
against  me,  which  would  end  only  with  my  life.  The  Pope,  the 
bishops  and  priests,  all  over  the  world,  would  denounce  and 
curse  me.  They  would  attack  and  destroy  my  character,  my 
name  and  my  honor,  in  their  press,  from  their  pulpit  and  in  their 
confessionals,  where  the  man  they  strike  can  never  know  whence 
the  blow  is  coming!  Almost  in  despair,  I  tried  to  think  of 
some  one  who  would  come  to  my  help  in  that  formidable  con- 
flict, but  could  find  none.  Every  one  of  the  millions  of  Roman 
Catholics  were  bound  to  curse  me.  My  best  friends — my  own 
people — even  my  own  brothers,  were  bound  to  look  upon  me 
with  horror  as  an  apostate,  a  vile  outcast !  Could  I  hope  for 
help  or  protection  from  Protestants.''  No!  for  my  priestly  life 
had  been  spent  in  writing  and  preaching  against  them.  In  vain 
would  I  try  to  give  an  idea  of  the  desolation  I  felt,  when  that 
thought  struck  my  mind. 

Forsaken  by  God  and  man,  what  would  become  of  me.'* 
Where  would  I  go, when  out  of  that  room.'* 

Expelled  with  contempt  by  my  former  Roman  Catholic 
friends;  repulsed  with  still  more  contempt  by  Protestants; 
where  could  I  go  to  hidemv  shame  and  drag  my  miserable  exist- 
ence? How  could  I  go  again  into  that  world  where  there  was  no 
more  room  for  me;  where  there  was  no  hand  to  press  mine;  none 
to  smile  upon  me!  Life  suddenly  became  to  me  an  unbearable 
burden.  My  brain  seemed  to  be  filled  with  burning  coals.  I 
was  losing  my  mind.  Yea,  death,  an  instant  death  seemed  to  me 
the  greatest  blessing  in  that  awful  hour!  and,  will  I  say  it? 
Yes!  I  took  my  knife  to  cut  my  throat  and  put  an  end  to  my 
miserable  existence!  But  my  merciful  God,  who  wanted  only 
to  humble  me,  by  showing  me  my  own  helplessness,  stopped  my 
hand,  and  the  knife  fell  on  the  floor. 

Though  I  felt   the   pangs   of  that  desolation   for  more  than 


KXCELLEXT    TESTIMONIAL.  793 

twc  hours,  I  constantly  cried  to  God  for  a  ray  of  his  saving 
light,  for  a  word  telling  me  what  to  do,  where  to  go  to  be  saved. 
At  last,  drops  of  cold  swe^.t  began  to  cover  again  my  face  and  my 
whole  body.  The  pulsations  of  my  heart  began  to  be  very  slow 
and  weak:  I  felt  so  feeble  that  I  expected  to  faint  at  any  moment, 
or  fall  dead!  At  first  I  thonght  that  death  would  be  a  great  re- 
lief, but  then,  I  said  to  myself:  "If  I  die,  where  will  I  go,  when 
there  is  no  faith,  nor  a  ray  of  light  to  illumine  my  poor  perishing 
soul!  Oh,  my  dear  Saviour,"  I  cried,  "come  to  my  help!  Lift 
up  the  light  of  thy  reconciled  countenance  upon  me." 

In  that  very  instant,  I  remembered  that  I  had  my  dear  New 
Testament  with  me,  which  I  used  then,  as  now,  to  carry  every- 
where. The  thought  flashed  across  my  mind  that  I  would  find 
in  that  divine  book  the  answer  to  my  prayer,  and  light  to  guide 
me  through  that  dark  night  to  that  house  of  refuge  and  salvation, 
after  which  my  soul  was  ardently  longing.  With  a  trembling 
hand  and  a  praying  heart,  I  opened  the  book  at  random;  but, 
no!  not  I,  my  God  himself  opened  it  for  me.  My  eyes 
fell  on  these  words:  "YE  ARE  BOUGHT  WITH  A 
PRICE.  BE  NOT  YE  THE  SERVANTS  OF  MEN." 
(I  Cor.,  7:  23.) 

Strange  to  say!  Those  words  came  to  my  mind,  more  as  a 
light  than  an  articulated  sound.  They,  suddenly,  but  most 
beautifully  and  powerfully,  gave  me,  as  much  as  a  man  can 
know  it,  the  knowledge  of  the  great  mystery  of  a  perfect  salva- 
tion through  Christ  alone.  They,  at  once,  brought  a  great 
and  delightful  calm  to  mv  soul.  1  said  to  myself:  "Jesus 
has  bought  me,  then  I  am  His;  for  w  hen  I  have  bought  a  thing, 
it  is  mine,  absolutely  mine!  Jesus  has  bought  me!  I,  then, 
belong  to  him !  He  alone  has  a  right  over  me.  I  do  not  belong 
to  the  bishops,  to  the  Popes;  not  even  to  the  church,  as  I  have 
been  told  till  now.  I  belong  to  Jesus,  and  to  him  alone!  His 
Word  must  be  my  guide,  and  my  light  by  day  and  by  night. 
Jesus  has  bought  me,  I  said  again  to  myself;  then  He  has  saved 
me!  and  if  so,  I  am  saved,  perfectly  saved,  for  ever  saved!  for 
Jesus  cannot  save  me  by  half.  Jesus  is  my  God;  the  works  of 
God  are  perfect.  My  salvation  must,  then,  be  a  perfect  sal- 
vation 1     But   how  has  he   saved  me?     What  price  has  he  paid 


794 


FIFTY  YEARS  IN  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME. 


for  my  f>oor  guilty  soul  ?  The  answer  came  as  quickly  as 
lightning:  "He  bought  you  with  his  blood  shed  on  the  cross! 
He  saved  you  by  dying  on  Calvary !  " 

I,  then,  said  to  myself  again:  "If  Jesus  has  perfectly  saved  me 
by  shedding  his  blood  on  the  cross,  I  am  not  saved  as  I  have 
thought  and  preached  till  now,  by  my  penances,  my  prayers  to 
Mary  and  the  saints,  my  confessions  and  indulgences,  not  even 
by  the  flames  oi  purgatory. 

In  that  instant,  all  things  which,  as  a  Roman  Catholic,  I  had 
to  believe  to  be  saved — all  the  mummeries  by  which  the  poor 
Roman  Catholics  are  so  cruelly  deceived,  the  chaplets,  indulg- 
ences, scapularies,  auricular  confession,  invocation  of  the  virgin, 
holy  water,  masses,  purgatory,  etc.,  given  as  means  of  salvation, 
vanished  from  my  mind  as  a  huge  towef,  when  struck  at  the 
foundation,  crumbles  to  the  ground.  Jesus  alone  remained  in 
my  mind  as  the  Saviour  of  my  soul! 

Oh!  what  joy  I  felt  at  this  simple,  but  sublime  truth!  But 
it  was  the  will  of  God  that  this  joy  should  be  short.  It  suddenly 
went  away  with  the  beautiful  light  which  had  caused  it ;  and  my 
poor  soul  was  again  w^rapped  in  the  most  awful  darkness.  How 
ever  profound  that  darkness  was,  a  still  darker  object  presented 
itself  before  my  mind.  It  was  as  a  very  high  mountain ;  but  not 
composed  of  sand  or  stones,  it  was  the  mountain  of  my  sins.  I 
saw  them  all  standing  before  me.  And  still  more  horrified  was 
I  when  I  saw  it  moving  towards  me  as  if,  with  a  mighty  hand, 
to  crush  me.  I  tried  to  escape,  but  in  vain.  I  felt  tied  to  the 
floor,  and  the  next  moment,  it  had  rolled  over  me.  I  felt  as 
crushed  under  its  weight;  for  it  was  as  heavy  as  granite.  I  could 
scarcely  breathe!  My  only  hope  was  to  cry  to  God  for  help. 
With  a  loud  voice,  heard  by  many  in  the  hotel,  I  cried:  "O  my 
God!  have  mercy  upon  me!  My  sins  are  destroying  me!  I  am 
lost,  save  me!"  But  it  seemed  God  could  not  hear  me.  The 
mountain  was  between,  to  prevent  my  cries  from  reaching  Him, 
and  to  hide  my  tears.  I  suddenly  thought  that  God  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  such  a  sinner,  but  to  open  the  gates  of  hell 
to  throw  me  into  that  burning  furnace  prepared  for  his  enemies, 
and  which  I  had  so  richlv  deserved ! 


EXCELLENT    TESTIMONIAL.  7^5 

I  was  mistaken,  after  eight  or  ten  minutes  of  unspeakable 
agony,  the  rays  of  a  new  and  beautiful  light  began  to  pierce 
through  the  dark  cloud  which  hung  over  me.  In  that  light,  I 
clearly  saw  my  Saviour.  There  he  was,  bent  under  the  weight 
of  his  heavy  cross.  His  face  was  covered  with  blood,  the  crown 
of  thorns  was  on  his  head  and  the  nails  in  his  hands.  He  was 
looking  at  me  with  an  expression  of  compassion,  of  love,  which 
no  tongue  can  describe.  Coming  to  me,  he  said:  "I  have  heard 
thy  cries,  I  have  seen  thy  tears,  I  come  to  offer  myself  to  thee  as 
a  Gift.  I  offer  thee  my  blood  and  my  bruised  body  as  a  Gift 
to  pay  thy  debts;  wilt  thou  give  me  thy  heart?  Wilt  thou  take 
my  Word  for  the  only  lamp  of  thy  feet  and  the  only  light  of  thy 
path.^     I  bring  thee  eternal  life,  as  a  gift!  " 

I  answered :  "  Dear  Jesus,  how  sweet  art  thy  words  to  my 
soul!  Speak,  oh!  speak  again!  Yes,  beloved  Saviour,  I  want  to 
love  thee;  but  dost  thou  not  see  that  mountain  which  is  crushing 
me."*     Oh!  remove  it!  Take  away  my  sins!" 

I  had  not  done  speaking  when  I  saw  his  mighty  hand  stretched 
out.  He  touched  the  mountain,  and  it  rolled  into  the  deep,  and 
disappeared.  At  the  same  time,  I  felt  as  if  a  shower  of  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb  were  falling  upon  me  to  purify  my  soul.  And, 
suddenly,  my  humble  room  was  transformed  into  a  real  paradise. 
The  angels  of  God  could  not  be  more  happy  than  I  was  in  that 
most  mysterious  and  blessed  hour  of  my  life.  With  an  unspeak- 
able joy,  I  said  to  my  Saviour:  "  Dear  Jesus,  the  Gift  of  God, 
I  accept  thee!  Thou  hast  offered  the  pardon  of  my  sins  as  a 
gift,  I  accept  the  gift.  Thou  hast  brought  me  eternal  life  as  a 
gift!  I  accept  it!  Thou  hast  redeemed  and  saved  me,  beloved 
Saviour,  I  know,  I  feel  it.  But  this  is  not  enough.  I  do  not 
want  to  be  saved  alone.  Save  my  people  also.  Save  my  whole 
country!  I  feel  rich  and  happy  in  that  gift;  grant  me  to  show  its 
beauty  and  preciousness,  to  my  people,  that  they  may  accept  it, 
and  rejoice  in  its  possession." 

This  sudden  i-evelation  of  that  marvellous  truth  of  salvation 
as  a  Gift,  had  so  completely  transformed  me,  that  I  felt  quite 
a  new  man.  The  unutterable  distress  of  my  soul  had  been 
changed  into  an  unspeakable  joy.      My  fears  had  gone  away,  to 


796  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

be  replaced  by  a  courage  and  strength,  such  as  I  had  never  ex- 
perienced. The  Popes,  \vith  their  bishops  and  priests,  and  mil- 
lions of  abject  slaves  might,  now,  attack  me,  I  felt  that  I  was  a 
match  for  them  all.  My  great  ambition  was  to  go  back  to  my  peo 
pie  and  tell  them  what  the  Lord  had  done  to  save  my  soul.  I 
washed  my  tears  away,  paid  my  bill  and  took  the  train  which 
brought  me  back  into  the  midst  of  my  dear  countrymen.  At  that 
very  same  hour  they  were  anxious  and  excited,  for  they  had  just 
received,  at  Kankakee  City,  a  telegram  from  the  Bishop  of  Du- 
buque, telling  them :  "Turn  away  your  priest,  for  he  has  refused 
to  give  me  an  unconditional  act  of  submission." 

They  had  gathered  in  great  numbers  to  hear  the  reading  of 
that  strange  message.  But  they  unanimously  said:  "If  Mr. 
Chiniquy  has  refused  to  give  an  unconditional  act  of  submission, 
he  has  done  right,  we  will  stand  by  him  to  the  end."  However, 
I  knew  nothing  of  that  admirable  resolution.  I  arrived  at  St. 
Anne,  on  a  Sabbath  day,  at  the  hour  of  the  morning  service. 
There  was  an  immense  crowd  at  the  door  of  the  chapel.  They 
rushed  to  me  and  said:  "You  are  just  coming  froin  the  bishop; 
what  good  news  have  you  to  bring  us  ? " 

I  answered :  "  No  ne^vs  here,  my  good  friends,  come  to  the 
chapel  and  I  will  tell  you  what  the  Lord  has  done  for  my  soul." 

When  they  had  filled  the  large  building,  I  told  them. 

•'  Our  Saviour,  the  day  before  his  death,  said  to  his  disciples: 
'I  will  be  a  scandal  to  you,  this  night.'  I  musttellyou  the  same 
thing.  I  will  be,  to-day,  1  fear,  the  cause  of  a  great  scandal  to 
every  one  of  you.  But,  as  the  scandal  which  Christ  gave  to  his 
disctples,  has  saved  the  world ;  I  hope  that,  by  the  great  mercy 
of  God,  the  scandal  I  will  give  you  will  save  you.  I  was  your 
pastor  till  yesterday?  But  I  have  no  more  that  honor  to-day, 
for  I  have  broken  the  ties  by  which  I  was  bound  as  a  slave  at 
the  feet  of  the  bishops  and  of  the  Pope." 

This  sentence  was  scarcelv  finished,  when  a  universal  cry  of 
surprise  and  sadness  filled  the  church.  "  Oh !  what  does  that 
mean?"  exclaimed  the  congregation. 

"  My  dear  countrymen,"  I  added,  "  J  nave  not  come  to  tell 
you  to  follow  me  I     I  did   not  die  to   save  your  immortal  souls: 


EXCELLENT    TESTIMONIALS.  797 

I  have  not  shed  my  blood  to  buy  you  a  place  in  heaven;  but 
Christ  has  done  it.  Then  follow  Christ  and  him  alone?  Now, 
I  must  tell  you  why  I  have  broken  the  ignominious  and  unbear- 
able yoke  of  men,  to  follow  Christ.  You  remember  that,  on  the 
2!st  of  March  last,  you  signed,  with  me,  an  act  of  submission  to 
the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  with  the 
conditional  clause  that  we  would  obey  them  only  in  matters 
which  were  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  Word  of  God  as 
found  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  In  that  act  of  submission  we  did 
not  want  to  be  slaves  of  any  man,  but  the  servants  of  God,  the 
followers  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  our  hope  then  that  our  church 
would  accept  such  a  submission.  And  your  joy  was  great,  when 
vou  heard  that  Grand  Vicar  Dunn  was  here  on  the  28th  of 
March,  to  tell  you  that  Bishop  Smith  had  accepted  the  submis- 
sion. But  that  acceptation  was  revoked.  Yesterday,  I  was  told 
in  the  presence  of  God,  by  the  same  bishop,  that  he  ought  not 
to  have  accepted  an  act  of  submission  from  any  priest  or  people 
based  on  the  Gospel  of  Christ!  Yes!  yesterday.  Bishop  Smith 
rejected,  with  the  utmost  contempt,  the  act  of  submission  we  had 
given  him,  and  which  he  had  accepted  only  two  weeks  ago,  be- 
cause the  '  Word  of  God  '  was  mentioned  in  it!  When  I  re- 
spectfully requested  him  to  tell  me  the  nature  of  the  new  act  of 
submission  he  wanted  from  us,  he  ordered  me  to  take  away  from 
it  '  the  Word  of  God,  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  the  Bible,'  if  we 
wanted  to  be  accepted  as  good  Catholics!  We  had  thought,  till 
then,  that  the  sacred  Word  of  God,  and  the  Holy  Gospel  of 
Christ  were  the  fundamental  and  precious  stones  of  the  Church 
of  Rome.  We  loved  her  on  that  account,  we  wanted  to  remain 
in  her  bosom,  even  when  we  were  forced  to  fight,  as  honest 
men,  against  that  tyrant,  O'Regan.  Believing  that  the  Church 
of  Rome  was  the  child  of  the  Word  of  God,  that  it  was  the 
most  precious  fruit  of  the  divine  tree  planted  on  the  earth,  under 
the  name  of  the  Gospel,  we  would  have  given  the  last  drop  of 
our  blood  to  defend  her! 

"  But,  yesterday,  I  have  learned,  from  the  very  lips  of  the 
Bishops  of  Rome,  that  we  were  a  band  of  simpletons  in  believing 
those  things.   I  have  learned  that  the  Church  of  Rome  has  nothing 


79^  FIFTY     YEARS    IX     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

to  do  with  the  Word  of  God,  except  to  throw  it  overboard,  to 
trample  it  under  their  feet,  and  to  forbid  us  even  to  name  it  in 
the  solemn  act  of  submission  we  had  given.  I  have  been  told 
that  we  could  no  longer  be  Roman  Catholics,  if  we  persisted  in 
putting  the  Word  of  God  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  the  foun- 
dation of  our  religion,  our  faith  and  our  submission.  When  I 
was  told,  by  the  bishop,  that  I  had  either  to  renounce  the  Word 
of  God  as  the  base  of  my  submission,  or  the  title  of  priest  of 
Rome,  I  did  not  hesitate.  Nothing  could  induce  me  to  give  up 
the  Gospel  of  Christ;  and  so  I  gave  up  the  title  and  position  of 
priest  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  I  would  rather  suffer  a 
thousand  deaths  than  renounce  the  Gosjiel  of  Christ.  I  am  no 
longer  a  priest  of  Rome;  but  I  am  more  than  ever  a  disciple  of 
Christ,  a  follower  of  the  Gospel.  That  Gospel  is  for  me,  what 
it  w^as  for  Paul:  'The  jDower  of  God  unto  salvation.'  It  is  the 
bread  of  my  soul.  In  it  we  can  satisfy  our  thirst  with  the 
waters  of  eternal  life!  No!  no!  !  I  could  not  buy  the  honor  oi 
being  any  longer  a  slave  to  the  bishops  and  popes  of  Rome,  by 
giving  up  the  Gospel  of  Christ! 

"When  I  requested  the  bishop  to  give  me  the  precise  form 
of  submission  he  wanted  from  us,  he  answered :  '  Give  me  au 
act  of  submission  without  any  condition,  and  promise  that  you 
■will  do  anything  I  bid  you.'      I  replied: 

"'This  is  not  an  act  of  submission,  it  is  an  act  of  adorationV 
I  will  never  give  it  to  you.!' 

"'  If  so,'  he  said,  'you  can  no  longer  )ie  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest.' 

"  I  raised  my  hands  to  heaven,  and  with  a  loud  and  cheerful 
voice,  I  said:  'May  God  Almighty  be  forever  blessed.'  " 

I  then  told  them  something  of  my  desolation,  when  alone,  in 
my  room ;  of  the  granite  mountain  which  had  been  rolled  over  my 
shoulders,  of  my  tears  and  of  my  despair.  I  told  them  also  how 
my  bleeding,  dying  crucified  Saviour  had  brought  me  the  for- 
giveness of  my  sins;  how  he  had  offered  me  eternal  salvation  as 
a  Gift,  and  how  rich,  strong  and  hajDpy  I  felt  in  that  gift.  I 
then  offered  them  the  Gift  and  besought  them  to  accept  it. 

My  address  lasted  more  than  two  hours,  and  God  blessed  it 


EXCELLENT     TESTIMONIAL 


799 


in  a  marvellous  way.  Its  effects  were  profound  and  lasting,  but  it  is 
too  long  to  describe  here.  In  substance,  I  said:  "I  respect  you 
too  much  to  impose  myself  upon  your  honest  consciences,  or 
to  dictate  what  you  ought  to  do  on  this  most  solemn  occasion. 
I  feci  that  the  hour  has  come  for  me  to  make  a  great  sacrifice; 
I  must  leave  you!  but  no!  I  will  not  go  away  before  you  tell 
mc  to  do  so.  You  will  yourselves  break  the  ties  so  dear 
which  have  united  us.  Please,  pay  attention  to  these,  my  part- 
ing words:  "If  you  think  it  is  better  for  you  to  follow  the 
Pope  than  to  follow  Christ;  that  it  is  better  to  trust  in  the  works 
of  your  hands,  and  in  your  own  merits,  than  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  shed  on  the  cross,  to  be  saved;  if  you  think  it  is  better 
for  you  to  follow  the  traditions  of  men  than  the  Gospel;  and  if 
you  believe  that  it  is  better  for  you  to  have  a  priest  of  Rome, 
who  will  keep  you  tied  as  slaves  to  the  feet  of  the  bishops,  and 
who  will  preach  to  you  the  ordinances  of  men,  rather  than  ha\  e 
me  preach  to  you  nothing  but  the  pure  Word  of  God,  as  we  find 
it  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  tell  it  to  me  by  rising  up,  and  I  will 
go!"  But  to  my  great  surprise  nobody  moved.  The  chapel 
was  filled  with  sobs;  tears  were  flowing  from  every  eye;  but 
not  one  moved  to  tell  me  to  leave  them!  I  was  puzzled.  For 
though  I  had  hoped  that  many,  enlightened  by  the  copies  of  the 
New  Testament  I  had  given  them,  tired  of  the  tyranny  of  the 
bishops,  and  disgusted  with  the  superstitions  of  Rome,  would  be 
glad  to  break  the  yoke  with  me,  to  follow  Christ;  I  was  afraid 
that  the  greatest  number  would  not  dare  to  break  their  alleg- 
iance to  the  church,  and  publicly  give  up  her  authority.  After 
a  few  minutes  of  silence,  during  which  I  mixed  my  tears  and 
my  sobs  with  those  of  mv  people,  I  told  them:  "Why  do  you 
not,  at  once,  rise  up  and  tell  me  to  go?  You  see  that  I  can  no 
longer  remain  your  pastor  after  renouncing  the  tyranny  of  the 
bishops,  and  the  traditions  of  men,  to  follow  the  Gospel  of 
Christ  as  my  only  rule.  Whv  do  vou  not  bravely  tell  me  to  go 
away  ? " 

But  this  new  appeal  was  still  without  any  answer.  I  was 
filled  with  astonishment.  However,  it  was  evident  to  me  that  a 
great   and   mysterious   change   was  wrought   in  that   multitude. 


goo  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

Their  countenances,  their  manners  were  completely  changed. 
They  were  speaking  to  me  with  their  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and 
their  manly  faces  beaming  with  joy.  Their  sobs,  in  some  way, 
told  me  that  they  were  filled  with  new  light;  that  they  were 
full  of  new  strength,  and  ready  to  make  the  most  heroic  sacri- 
fices, and  break  their  fetters  to  follow  Christ,  and  Him  alone. 
There  was  something  in  those  brave,  honest  and  happy  faces 
which  was  telling  me  more  effectually  than  the  most  eloquent 
speech :  "  We  have  accepted  the  Gift,  we  want  to  be  rich,  happy, 
free,  and  saved  in  the  gift:  we  do  not  want  anything  else;  re- 
main among  us  and  help  us  to  love  both  the  gift  and  the  giver!  " 

A  thought  suddenly  flashed  across  my  mind,  and  with  an  in- 
expressible sentiment  of  hope  and  joy,  I  told  them: 

"  My  dear  countrymen!  The  Mighty  God,  who  gave  me 
his  saving  light,  yesterday,  can  grant  you  the  same  favor,  to-day. 
He  can,  as  well,  save  a  thousand  souls  as  one.  I  see,  in  your  no- 
ble and  Christian  faces,  that  you  do  not  want  any  more  to  be 
slaves  of  men.  You  want  to  be  the  free  children  of  God,  intel- 
ligent followers  of  the  Gospel !  The  light  is  shining,  and  you 
like  it.  The  gift  of  God  has  been  offered  to  you,  and  you  have 
accepted  it!  With  me  you  will  break  the  fetters  of  a  captivity, 
worse  than  that  of  Egypt,  to  follow  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and 
take  possession  of  the  Promised  Land:  let  all  those  who  think  it 
is  better  to  follow  Jesus  Christ  than  the  Pope,  better  to  follow 
the  Word  of  God  than  the  traditions  of  men:  let  all  those  of  you 
who  want  me  to  remain  here  and  preach  to  you  nothing  but  the 
Word  of  God,  as  we  find  it  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  tell  it  to  me, 
by  rising  up.     I  am  your  man!   Rise  up!" 

Without  a  single  exception,  that  multitude  arose!  More  than 
a  thousand  of  my  countrymen  had,  forever,  broken  their  fetters. 
They  had  crossed  the  Red  Sea  and  exchanged  the  servitude  of 
Egypt,  for  the  blessings  of  the  Promised  Land! 


Chapter  LXVl. 


TKE  SOLEMN  RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  UtTT  NEW^  POSITION  WJS 
GIVE  UP  THE  NAME  OF  ROMAN  CALHOLIC  TO  CALL  OUB- 
SELVES  CHRISTIAN  CATHOLICS-  DISMAY  OF  TH:E  ROMAJT 
CATHOLIC  BISHOPS  MY  LORD  DUQGAN,  COADJUTOR  OF  ST 
LOUIS,  HURRIED  TO  CHICAGO  HE  COMES  TO  ST.  ANNE  TO 
PERSUADE  THE  PEOPLE  TO  SUBMIT  TO  HIS  AUTHORITY  -HE 
IS  IGNOMINIOUSLY  TURNED  OUT  AND  RUNS  AWAY  IN  THE 
MIDST  OF  THE  CRIES  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


WHERE  shall  1  tind  wonls  to  express  the  sentiments  of  sur- 
prise, admiration  and  joy  I  felt  when,  after  divine  service, 
alone  in  my  humble  stiidv,  I  considered,  in  the  presence  of  God, 
what  His  mighty  hand  had  just  wrought  under  mv  eyes.  The 
l)cople  who  surrounded  the  Saviour  when  he  cried  to  Lazarus  to 
lome  forth,  were  not  more  amazed  at  seeing  the  dead  coming  out 
of  his  grave  than  I  was  when  I  had  seen  not  one,  hut  more  than  a 
thousand,  of  mv  countrymen  so  suddenlv  and  unexpectedly  com- 
ing out  from  the  grave  of  the  degrading  slavery  in  which  they 
were  born  and  brought  up.  No,  the  heart  of  Moses  was  not 
filled  with  more  joy  than  mine,  when  on  the  shores  of  the  Red 
Sea,  he  sang  his  sublime  hymns: 

"  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lonl:  for  He  hath  triumphed  glorious- 
ly. The  horse  and  his  rider,  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.  The 
Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation. 
He  is  my  God  and  I  will  prepare  him  an  habitation:  Mv  fathers' 
God  and  I  will  exalt  him." — Ex.  15:  1,  2. 

My  joy  was,  however,  suddenly  changed  into  confusion, 
when  I  considered  the  unworthincss  of  the  instrument  which 
God  had  chosen  to  do  that  work.  I  felt  this  was  onh*  the  be- 
ginning of  the  most  remarkable  religious  reform  which  had  ever 
occurred  on  this   continent   of  America,  and  I  was  dismayed  at 

3oi 


8o2  FIFTY    VKARS     IN     THE     CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

the  thought  of  such  a  task!  I  saw,  at  a  glance,  that  I  was  called 
to  guide  my  people  into  regions  entirely  new  and  unexjolored 
The  terrible  difficulties  which  Luther,  Calvin  and  Knox  had  met, 
at  almost  every  step,  were  to  meet  me!  Though  giants,  they 
had,  at  many  times,  been  brought  low  and  almost  discouraged  in 
their  new  positions.  What  would  become  of  me,  seeing  that  I 
was  so  deficient  in  knowledge,  wisdom  and  experience! 

Many  times,  during  the  first  night,  after  the  deliverance  of 
my  people  from  the  bondage  of  the  Pope,  I  said  to  my  God  in 
tears : 

"  Why  hast  not  thou  chosen  a  more  worthy  instrument  of 
thy  mercies  towards  my  brethren?"  I  would  have  shrank  be- 
fore the  task,  had  not  God  said  to  me  in  his  Word:  'For  ye  see 
your  calling,  brethren,  how  that  not  many  wise  men  after  the 
flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called ;  but  God 
hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise. 
And  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound 
the  things  which  are  mighty,  and  base  things  of  the  world  and 
things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  chosen;  yea,  the  things 
which  are  not,  to  bring  to  naught  the  things  which  are,  that  no 
flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence." — i  Cor.  i  :  26-30. 

These  words  calmed  my  fears  and  gave  me  new  courage. 
Next  morning,  I  said  to  myself:  "  Is  it  not  God  alone,  who  has 
done  the  great  things  of  yesterday?  Why  should  I  not  rely 
upon  him  for  the  things  which  remain  to  be  done? 

"  I  am  weak,  it  is  true,  but  he  is  strong  and  mighty.  I  am 
unwise,  but  he  is  the  God  of  light  and  wisdom :  I  am  sinful,  but 
he  is  the  God  of  holiness:  He  wants  the  world  to  know  that  He 
is  the  worker." 

It  would  make  the  most  interesting  book,  were  I  to  tell  all 
the  marvellous  episodes  of  the  new  battle  my  dear  contrymen 
and  I  had  to  fight  against  Rome,  in  those  stormy  but  blesseil 
days.  Let  me  ask  my  readers  to  come  with  me  to  that  Roman 
Catholic  family  and  see  the  surprise  and  desolation  of  the  wife 
and  children  when  the  father  returned  from  public  service  and 
said :  "  My  dear  wife  and  children,  I  have,  forever,  left  the 
Church  of  Rome,  and   hope   that  you  will   do   the   same.      The 


SOLEMN    RtSPOXSIBILITIES.  Soj 

ignominious  chains  by  which  we  were  tied,  as  the  slaves  of  the 
bishops  and  of  the  Pope,  are  broken.  Christ  Jesus  alone  will 
reign  over  us  now.  His  Holy  Word  alone  will  rule  and  guide 
us.  Salvation  is  a  gift.  I  have  accepted  it  and  am  happy  in  its 
possession." 

In  another  house,  the  husband  had  not  been  able  to  come  to 
church,  but  the  wife  and  children  had.  It  was  now  the  wife 
who  announced  to  her  husband  that  she  had,  forever,  renounced 
the  usurped  authority  of  the  bishops  and  the  Pope:  and  that  it 
was  her  firm  resolution  to  obey  no  other  master  than  Christ,  and 
accept  no  other  religion  than  the  one  taught  in  the  Gospel. 

At  first,  this  was  considered  only  as  a  joke;  but  as  soon  as 
it  was  realized  to  be  a  fact,  there  were,  in  many  places,  confusion, 
tears,  angry  words  and  bitter  discussions.  But  the  God  of  truth, 
light  and  salvation  was  there;  and  as  it  was  His  work,  the  storms 
were  soon  calmed,  the  tears  dried,  and  peace  restored. 

A  week  had  scarcely  passed,  when  the  Gospel  cause  had 
achieved  one  of  the  most  glorious  victories  over  its  implacable 
enemy,  the  Pope.  In  a  few  days,  405  out  of  500  families  which 
were  around  me  in  St.  Anne,  had  not  only  accepted  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  as  their  only  authority  in  religion;  but  had  publicly 
given  up  the  name  of  Roman  Catholics,  to  call  themselves 
Christian  Catholics. 

A  few  months  later,  a  Romish  priest,  legally  questioned  on 
the  subject,  by  the  Judge  of  Kankakee,  had  to  swear  that  only 
fifteen  families  had  remained  Roman  Catholics  in   St.  Aime. 

A  most  admirable  feature  of  this  religious  movement,  was 
the  strong  determination  of  those  who  had  never  been  taught  to 
read,  to  lose  no  time  in  acquiring  the  privilege  of  reading  for 
themselves  the  Divine  Gospel  which  had  made  them  free  from 
the  bondage  of  man.  Half  of  the  people  had  never  been  taught 
to  read  while  in  Canada;  but  as  their  children  were  attending 
the  schools  we  had  established  in  different  parts  of  the  colony, 
every  house,  as  well  as  our  chapel,  on  Sabbath  days,  was  soon 
turned  into  a  school  house,  where  our  school  boys  and  girls  were 
the  teachers,  and  the  fathers  and  mothers,  the  pupils.  In  a  short 
tame,  there   were  but   few,  except  those  who  refused    to   leave 


SOA  FIFTY     YEARS    IN     THE    CHURCH    OF     ROMK. 

leave  Rome,  who  could  not  read  for  themselves  the  Holy 
Word  of  God. 

But,  however  great  the  victory  we  had  gained  over  the  Pope, 
it  was  not  yet  complete.  It  was  true  that  the  enemy  had  re- 
ceived a  deadly  wound.  The  beast,  with  the  seven  heads,  had 
its  principal  one  severed.  The  usurped  authority  of  the  bishops 
had  been  destroyed,  and  the  people  had  determined  to  accept 
none,  but  the  authority  of  Christ.  But  many  false  notions,  drank 
with  the  milk  of  their  mothers,  had  been  retained.  Many  errors 
and  superstitions  still  remained  in  their  minds,  as  a  mist  after  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  to  prevent  them  from  seeing  clearly  the  saving 
light  of  the  Gospel. 

It  was  my  duty  to  destroy  those  superstitions,  and  root  out 
these  noxious  weeds.  But,  I  knew  the  formidable  difficulties  the 
reformers  of  the  15th  century  had  met,  the  deplorable  divisions 
which  had  spread  among  them,  and  the  scandals  which  had  so 
seriously  retarded  and  compromised  the  reformation. 

I  cried  to  God  for  wisdom  and  strength.  Never  had  I  un- 
derstood so  clearly,  as  I  did  at  that  most  solemn  and  difficult 
epoch  of  my  life,  the  truth  that  prayer  is  to  the  troubled  mind 
what  oil  is  to  the  raging  waves  of  the  sea. 

My  people  and  I,  as  are  all  Roman  Catholics,  were  much 
given  to  the  worship  of  images  and  statues.  There  were  four- 
teen beautiful  pictures  hung  on  the  walls  of  our  chapel  called: 
*'The  Way  of  the  Cross,"  on  which  the  circumstances  of  the 
passion  of  Jesus  Christ  were  represented,  each  surmounted  with 
a  cross.  One  of  our  favorite  devotional  exercises,  was  to  kneel, 
three  or  four  times  a  week,  before  them,  prostrate  ourselves  and 
say,  with  a  loud  voice:     "Oh  I  holy  cross  we  adore  thee." 

We  used  to  address  our  most  fervent  prayers  to  them,  as  if 
they  could  hear  us,  asking  them  to  change  our  hearts  and  purify 
our  souls!  Our  blind  devotions  were  so  sincere  that  we  used  to 
bow  our  heads  to  the  ground  before  them.  I  may  say  the  same 
of  a  beautiful  statue,  or  rather  idol,  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  repre- 
sented as  a  child  learning  to  read  at  the  feet  of  her  mother,  St. 
Anne. 

The  group  was  a  masterpiece  of  art,  sent  to  me  by  some 


SOLEMN    RESPONSIBILITIES.  605 

iich  friends  from  Montreal,  not  long  after  I  had  left  that  city  to 
form  the  colony  of  St.  Anne,  in  1S53.  We  had  frequently  ad- 
dressed our  most  fervent  prayers  to  those  statues,  but  after  the 
blessed  pentecost  on  which  we  had  broken  the  yoke  of  the  Pope, 
I  never  entered  my  church  without  blushing  at  the  sight  of  those 
iilols  on  the  altar. 

I  would  have  given  much  to  have  the  pictures,  crosses  and 
images  removed,  but  dare  not  lay  hands  suddenly  on  them.  I 
was  afraid,  lest  I  should  do  harm  to  some  of  my  jjeople  who,  it 
seemed  to  me,  were  yet  too  weak  in  their  religious  views  to  bear 
it.  I  was  just  then  reading  how  Knox  and  Calvin  had  made 
bonfires  of  all  those  relics  of  old  Paganism,  and  I  wished  I  could 
do  the  same;  but  I  felt  like  Jacob,  who  could  not  follow  the 
rapid  march  of  his  brother,  Esau,  towards  the  land  of  Seir. 
''  The  children  were  tender  and  the  flocks  and  herds  were 
young.  If  men  had  overdriven  them  one  day,  all  the  flocks 
\v<juld  have  died." — Gen.  33:  13. 

Our  merciful  God  saw  the  perplexity  in  which  1  was,  and 
taught  me  how  to  get  rid  of  those  idols  without  harming  the  weak. 

One  Sabbath,  on  which  I  preached  on  the  2nd  Command- 
ment: ••'  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thyself  any  graven  image," 
etc.,  I  remained  in  the  chapel  to  pray  after  the  people  had  left. 
I  looked  up  to  the  group  of  statues  on  the  altar,  and  said  to  them : 
"My  good  ladies,  you  must  come  down  from  that  liigh  |x>sition. 
God  Almighty  alone  is  worshipped  here  now;  if  you  could  walk 
out  of  this  place,  I  would  politely  invite  you  to  do  it.  But  you 
are  nothing  but  mute,  deaf,  blind  and  motionless  idols.  You 
have  eyes,  but  you  cannot  see;  ears,  but  you  cannot  hear;  feet, 
but  you  cannot  walk.  What  will  I  do  with  you  now?  Your 
reign  has  come  to  an  end." 

It  suddenly  came  to  my  mind  that  when  I  had  put  these 
statues  on  their  high  pedestal,  I  had  tied  them  with  a  very 
slender,  but  strong  silk  cord,  to  prevent  them  from  falling.  I 
said  to  myself:  "If  I  were  to  cut  that  string,  the  idols  would 
surely  fall,  the  first  day  the  people  would  shake  the  floor  when 
entering  or  going  out."  Their  fall  and  destruction  would  then 
scandalize     no     one.      I    took    my    knife    and  scaled  the  altiir. 


8o6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROMK. 

cut  the  string,  and  said:  "  Now,  my  good  ladies,  take  care  of 
yourself,  especially  when  the  chapel  Is  shaken  by  the  wind,  or 
the  coming  in  of  the  people." 

I  never  witnessed  a  more  hearty  laugh  than,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  religious  services,  on  the  next  Sabbath.  The  chapel, 
beino-  shaken  by  the  action  of  the  whole  people  who  fell  on  their 
knees  to  pray,  the  two  idols,  deprived  of  their  silk  support,  after 
a  couple  of  jerks  which,  in  former  days,  we  might  have  takqn 
for  a  friendly  greeting,  fell  down  with  a  loud  crash,  and  broke 
into  fragments.  Old  and  young,  strong  and  weak,  and  even 
babes  in  the  faith,  after  laughing  to  their  heart's  content,  at  the 
sad  end  of  their  idols,  said  to  each  other:  "How  foolish  and 
b)lind  were  we,  to  put  our  trust  in  and  pray  to  these  idols,  that 
they  might  protect  us  when  they  cannot  take  care  of  them- 
selves!" 

The  last  vestige  of  idol  worship  among  our  dear  converts, 
disappeared  for  ever  with  the  dust  and  broken  fragments  of 
these  poor  helpless  statues.  The  very  next  day,  the  people  them- 
selves took  away  all  the  images  before  which  they  had  so  often 
abjectly  prostrated  themselves,  and  destroyed  them. 

From  the  beginning  of  this  movement,  it  had  been  my  plan 
to  let  the  people  draw  their  own  conclu^ons  as  much  as  possible 
from  their  own  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I  used  to  direct 
their  steps,  in  such  a  way  that  they  might  understand  that  I  was 
myself  led  with  them  bv  the  mighty  and  merciful  arm  of  God, 
in  our  new  ways. 

It  was  also  evident  to  me  that,  from  the  beginning,  the  great 
majority,  after  searching  the  Scriptures  with  prayerful  attention, 
had  found  out  that  Purgatory  was  a  diabolical  invention  used  by 
the  priests  of  Rome,  to  enrich  themselves,  at  the  expense  of  their 
poor  blind  slaves.  But  I  was  also  convinced  that  quite  a  num- 
ber were  not  yet  altogether  free  from  that  imposture. 

I  did  not  know  how  to  attack  and  destroy  that  error  without 
wounding  and  injuring  some  of  the  weak  children  of  the  Gospel. 
After  much  praying,  I  thought  that  the  best  way  to  clear  the 
clouds  which  were  still  hovering  around  the  feeblest  intelli- 
gences, was  to  have  recourse  to  the  following  device: 


SOLEMN     RESPONSIK1I.ITIKS.  S07 

The  All-Souls  Day  (ibt  Nov.)  had  conic,  when  it  was  the 
usage  to  take  up  collections  for  the  sake  of  having  prayers  and 
masses  said  for  the  souls  in  purgatory.  I  then  said  to  the  people, 
from  the  pulpit:  "You  have  been  used  from  your  infancy,  to 
collect  money,  to-day,  in  order  to  have  prayers  said  for  the  souls 
in  purgatory.  Since  we  have  left  the  Church  of  Rome,  for  the 
Church  of  Christ,  we  have  spent  many  pleasant  hours  together 
in  reading  and  meditating  upon  the  Gospel.  You  know  that 
we  have  not  found  in  it  a  single  word  about  purgatory. 
From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  that  divine  book,  we 
have  learned  that  it  was  only  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
shed  on  the  cross,  that  our  guilty  souls  could  be  purified  from 
their  sins.  I  know,  however,  that  a  few  of  you  have  retained 
something  of  the  \  iews  taught  to  you,  when  in  the  Church  of 
Rome,  concerning  purgatory.  I  do  not  want  to  trouble  them 
by  useless  discussions  on  the  subject,  or  by  refusing  the  money 
they  want  to  give  for  tlje  souls  of  their  dear  departed  parents 
and  friends.  The  only  thing  1  want  to  do  is  this:  You  used  to 
ha\  c  It  small  box  passed  to  you  to  receive  that  money.  To-day, 
instead  of  one  box,  two  boxes  will  be  passed,  one  white,  the 
other  black.  Those  who,  like  myself,  do  not  belivc  in  purga- 
tory, will  put  their  donations  in  the  white  box,  and  the  money 
will  be  given  to  the  poor  widows  and  orphans  of  the  parish,  to 
help  them  to  get  food  and  clothing  for  next  winter.  Those  of 
you  who  still  believe  in  purgatory,  will  put  their  money  into  the 
black  box,  for  the  benefit  of  the  dead.  The  only  favor  I  ask  of 
them  is,  that  they  should  tell  me  how  to  convey  their  donations 
to  their  departed  friends.  1  tell  vou  frankly  that  the  money 
you  give  to  the  priests,  never  goes  to  the  benefit  of  the  souls  of 
purgatory.  The  priests,  evervwhere,  keep  that  money  for  their 
own  bread  and  butter.' 

My  remarks  were  followed  bv  a  general  smile,  Thirty-five 
dollars  were  put  in  the  white  box  for  the  orphans  and  widows, 
and  not  a  cent  fell  into  the  box  for  the  souls  of  purgatory. 

From  that  dav,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  our  dear  con- 
verts were  perfectly  rid  of  the  ridiculous  and  saorilegious  belief 
in  purgatory.     That  is  the  way  I  have  dealt  with  all   the  errors 


bob        MITV  VKARS  IX  JHE  CHLKCU  OF  KOMt;. 

and  idolatries  of  Rome.  We  had  two  public  meetings  every 
week,  when  our  chapel  was  as  well  filled  as  on  Sabbath.  After 
the  religious  exercises,  every  one  had  the  liberty  to  question  me 
and  argue  on  the  various  subjects  announced  at  the  last  meeting. 

The  doctrines  of  auricular  confession,  prayers  in  an  unknown 
language,  the  mass,  holy  water  and  indulgences  \vere  calmly  ex- 
amined, discussed  and  thrown  overboard,  one  after  the  other,  in 
a  very  short  time.  The  good  done  in  those  public  discussions 
was  incalculable.  Our  dear  converts  not  only  learned  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity,  but  they  learned  also  how  to  defend  and 
preach  them  to  their  relations,  friends  and  neighbors.  Many 
would  come  from  long  distances  to  see  for  themselves  that  strange 
reliofious  movement  which  was  making  so  much  noise  all  over 
the  country.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  few  of  them  went  back 
without  having  received  some  rays  of  the  saving  light  which  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness  was  so  abundantly  pouring  upon  me  and 
my  dear  brethren  of  St.  Anne. 

Three  months  after  our  exit  from  the  land  of  bondage,  we 
were  not  less  than  six  thousand  French  Canadians  marching 
towards  the  Promised  Land. 

How  can  I  express  the  joy  of  my  soul,  when,  under  cover  of 
the  darkness  of  night,  I  was  silently  pacing  the  streets  of  our 
town,  I  heard,  from  almost  every  house,  sounds  of  reading  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  or  the  melodies  of  our  delightful  French 
hymns!  How  many  times  did  I  then,  uniting  my  feeble  voice 
with  that  old  prophet,  say  in  the  rapture  of  my  joy:  "  Bless  the 
Lord,  O!  my  soul:  and  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy 
name." 

But  it  was  necessary  that  such  a  great  and  blessed  work 
should  be  tried.  Gold  cannot  be  purified  without  going  through 
the  fire. 

On  the  27th  of  July,  a  devoted  priest,  through  my  friend, 
Mr.  Dunn,  of  Chicago,  sent  me  the  following  copy  of  a  letter, 
written  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Illinois,  my  lord 
Duggan,  to  several  of  his  co-bishops: 

"  The  schism  of  the  apostate,  Chiniquy,  is  spreading  with  an 
incredible  and  most  irresistible  velocity.      I  am  told   that   he   has 


SOLEMN     RESPONSIBILITIES. 


809 


not  less  than  ten  thousand  followers  from  his  countrymen. 
Though  I  hope  that  this  number  is  an  exaggeration,  it  shows 
that  the  evil  is  great;  and  that  \\c  must  not  lose  any  time  in  try- 
ing to  open  the  eyes  of  the  deluded  people  he  is  leading  to  per- 
dition. I  intend  (D.  V.)  to  visit  the  very  citadel  of  that 
deplorable  schism,  next  Tuesday,  the  3rd  of  August.  As 
I  speak  French  almost  as  well  as  English,  I  will  address  the 
deluded  people  of  St.  Anne  in  their  own  language.  My  inten- 
tion is  to  unmask  Chiniquy,  and  show  what  kind  of  a  man  he  is. 
Then  I  will  show  the  people  the  folly  of  believing  that  they 
can  read  and  interpret  the  Scriptures  by  their  own  private 
juilgment.  After  which,  I  will  easily  show  them  that  out  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  there  is  no  salvation.  Prav  to  the  blessed 
Virgin  Marv,  that  she  may  help  me  reclaim  that  j>o<)r  deceived 
people." 

Having  read  that  letter  to  the  people  on  the  first  Sabbath  of 
August,  I  said : 

"•  We  know  man  only  after  he  has  been  tried.  So  wc 
know  the  faith  of  a  Christian  oulv  after  it  has  been  throuorh  the 
fire  of  tribulations.  I  thank  God  that  next  Tuesday  will  be  the 
day  chosen  by  Him  to  show  the  world  that  you  are  worthy 
of  being  in  the  front  rank  of  the  great  army  Jesus  Christ  is 
gathering  to  fight  his  implacable  enemy,  the  Pope,  on  this  con- 
tinent. 

Let  every  one  of  you  come  and  hear  what  the  bishop  has  to 
say.  Not  only  those  who  are  in  good  health,  must  come;  but 
even  the  sick  must  be  brought  and  hear  and  judge  for  themselves. 
If  the  bishop  fulfills  his  ])r(^miso  to  show  vou  that  I  am  a  de- 
praved and  wicked  man,  vou  must  turn  me  out.  Vou  must 
give  up  or  burn  your  Bibles,  at  his  bidding,  if  he  proves  that 
you  have  neither  the  right  to  read,  nor  the  intelligence  to  under- 
stand them;  and  if  he  shows  you  that,  out  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  there  is  no  salvation,  you  must,  without  an  hour's  delay, 
return  to  that  church  and  submit  yourselves  to  the  Pope's 
bishops.  But  if  he  fails  (^as  he  surely  will  do),  you  know  what 
you  have  to  do.  Next  Tuesday  will  be  a  most  glorious  day  for 
us  all.      A  great  and  decisive   battle  will  be  fought  here,  such  as 


8lO  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

this  continent  has  never  witnessed,  between  the  great  principles 
of  Christian  truth  and  liberty,  and  the  principles  of  lies  and 
tyranny  of  the  Pope.  I  have  only  one  word  more  to  say:  From 
this  moment  to  the  solemn  hour  of  the  conflict,  let  us  humbly, 
but  fervently  ask  our  great  God,  through  His  beloved  and 
eternal  Son,  to  look  down  upon  us  in  his  mercy,  enlighten  and 
strengthen  us,  that  we  may  be  true  to  Him,  to  ourselves  and  to 
His  Gospel;  and  then  the  angels  of  heaven  will  unite  with  all  the 
elects  of  God  on  earth  to  bless  you  for  the  great  and  glorious 
victory  you  will  win." 

Never  had  the  sun  shone  more  brightly  on  our  beautiful  hill 
than  on  the  3rd  of  August,  1S58.  The  hearts  had  never  felt  so 
happy,  and  the  faces  had  never  been  so  perfectly  the  mirrors  of 
joyful  minds,  as  on  that  day,  among  the  multitudes  which  began 
to  gather  from  every  corner  of  the  colony,  a  little  after  12 
o'clock,  noon. 

Seeing  that  our  chapel,  though  very  large,  would  not  be 
able  to  contain  half  the  audience,  we  had  raised  a  large  and  solid 
platform,  ten  feet  high,  in  the  middle  of  the  public  square,  in 
front  of  the  chapel.  We  covered  it  with  carpets  and  put  a  sofa, 
with  a  good  number  of  chairs,  for  the  bishop,  his  long  suite  of 
priests,  and  one  for  myself,  and  a  large  table  for  the  different 
books  of  references  I  wanted  to  have  at  hand,  to  answer  the 
bishop. 

At  about  2  o'clock  p.  m.,  we  perceived  his  carriage,  followed 
by  several  others  filled  with  priests.  He  was  dressed  in  his 
white  surplices,  and  his  ofHcial  "  bonnet  quarre"  on  his  head, 
evidently  to  more  surely  command  the  respect  and  awe  of  the 
multitude. 

I  had  requested  the  people  to  keep  silence  and  show  him  all 
the  respect  and  courtesy  due  a  gentleman  who  was  visiting  them 
for  the  first  time. 

As  soon  as  his  carriage  was  near  the  chapel,  I  gave  a  signal, 
and  up  went  the  American  flag  to  the  top  of  a  mast  put  on  the 
sacred  edifice.  It  was  to  warn  the  ambassador  of  the  Pope  that 
he  was  not  treading  the  land  of  the  holy  inquisition  and  slavery, 
wut  the  land  of  Freedom  and  Liberty.   The  bishop  understood  it 


SOLExMN     KESPONSIBILITIES.  Si  I 

For,  raising'  his  liead  to  see  that  splendid  flag  of  stripes  and 
stars,  waving  to  the  breeze,  he  became  pale  as  death.  And  his 
uneasiness  did  not  abate,  when  the  thousands  around  him  rent 
the  air  with  the  cry:  "  Hurrah!  for  the  flag  of  the  free  and  the 
brave!"  The  bishop  and  his  j^rcists  thought  this  was  the  signal 
1  had  given  to  slaughter  them ;  for  they  had  been  told  several 
times,  that  I  and  my  people  were  so  depraved  and  wicked  that 
their  lives  were  in  great  danger  among  us.  Several  priests  who 
had  not  much  relish  for  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  jumped  from 
their  carriages  and  ran  away,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the 
crowd.  Perceiving  the  marks  of  the  most  extreme  terror  on  the 
face  of  the  bishop,  I  ran  to  tell  him  that  there  was  not  the  least 
danger,  and  assured  him  of  the  pleasure  we  had  to  see  him  in 
our  midst. 

I  offered  my  hand  to  help  him  down  from  his  carriage,  but 
he  refused  it.  After  some  minutes  of  trembling  and  hesitation, 
he  whispered  a  few  words  in  the  ear  of  his  grand  vicar,  Mail- 
loux,  who  was  well  known  by  my  people,  and  of  whom  I  have 
already  spoken.  I  knew  that  it  was  by  his  advice  that  the  bishop 
was  among  us,  and  it  was  by  his  instigation  that  Bishop  Smith 
had  refused  the  submission  we  had  given  him. 

Rising  slowly,  he  said  with  a  loud  voice:  "  My  dear  French 
Canadian  countrymen:  Here  is  your  holy  bishop.  Kneel  down 
and  he  will  give  you  his  benediction." 

But  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  poor  grand  vicar,  this  so  well 
laid  plan  for  beginning  the  battle,  failed  entirely.  Not  a  single 
one  of  that  immense  multitude  cared  for  the  benediction.  No- 
body knelt. 

Thinking  that  he  had  not  spoken  loud  enough,  he  raised  his 
voice  to  the  highest  pitch,  and  cried : 

"My  dear  fellow  countrymen:  This  is  your  holy  bishop. 
He  comes  to  visit  you.  Kneel  down  and  he  will  give  you  his 
benediction." 

But  nobody  knelt,  and  what  was  worse,  a  voice  from  the 
crowd  answered: 

"  Do  you  not  know,  sir,  that  here,  we  no  longer  bend  the 
knee  before  any  man?     It  is  only  before  God  we  kneel." 


Si  2  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

The  whole  people  cried :  "  Amen  ! "  to  that  noble  answer.  I 
could  not  restrain  a  tear  of  joy  from  falling  down  my  cheeks, 
when  I  saw  how  this  first  effort  of  the  ambassador  of  the  Pojie 
to  entrap  my  people,  had  signally  failed.  But,  though  I  thanked 
God  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for  this  first  success  He  had 
given  to  his  soldiers,  I  knew  the  battle  was  far  from  being 
over. 

I  implored  him  to  abide  with  us,  to  be  our  wisdom  and  our 
strength  to  the  end.  I  looked  at  the  bishop,  and  seeing  his 
countenance  as  distressed  as  before,  I  offered  him  my  hand 
again,  but  he  refused  it  the  second  time  with  supreme  disdain: 
However,  he  accepted  the  invitation  I  gave  him  to  come  to  the 
platform. 

When  half  way  up  the  stairs,  he  turned,  and  seeing  mc  fol- 
lowing him,  he  put  forth  his  hand  to  j^revent  me  from  ascend- 
ing any  further,  and  said: 

"  I  do  not  want  you  on  this  platform.  Go  down  and  let  my 
priests  alone  accompany  me." 

I  answered  him :  "  It  may  be  that  you  do  not  want  me  there. 
But  I  want  to  be  at  your  side,  to  answer  you.  Remember  that 
you  are  not  on  your  own  ground  here;  but  on  mine!" 

He  then,  silently  and  slowly,  walked  up.  When  on  the  plat- 
form, I  offered  him  a  good  arm  chair,  which  he  refused,  and  sat 
on  one  of  his  own  choice,  with  his  priests  around  him.  I  then 
addressed  him  as  follows: 

"  My  lord,  the  people  and  pastor  of  St.  Anne  are  exceeding- 
ly pleased  to  see  ^'ou  in  their  midst.  We  promise  to  listen  atten- 
tively to  what  you  have  to  say,  on  condition  that  we  have  the 
privilege  of  answering  you." 

He  answered,  angrily :  "  I  do  not  want  you  to  say  a  word, 
here." 

Then,  stepping  to  the  front,  he  began  his  address  in  French, 
with  a  trembling  voice.  But  it  was  a  miserabl^-^  failure  from 
beginning  to  end.  In  vain  did  he  try  to  prove  that  out  of  the 
Church  of  R»me,  there  is  no  salvation.  He  failed  still  more 
miserably  to  prove  that  the  people  have  neither  the  right  to  read 
the  Scriptures,  nor  the  intelligence  to  understand  them.    He  said 


SOLKMV    RESPONSIBILITIES.  813 

such  ridiculous  things  on  that  point,  that  the  people  went  into  fits 
of  laughter,  and  some  said: 

"That  is  not  true.  You  do  not  know  what  you  are  talking 
about.     The  Bible  says  the  very  contrary." 

But  I  stopped  them  by  reminding  them  of  the  promise  they 
had  made  of  not  interrupting  him. 

A  little  before  closing  his  address,  he  turned  to  me  and  said: 

"  You  are  a  wicked,  rebel  priest  against  your  holy  church. 
Go  from  here  into  a  monastery  to  do  penance  for  your  sins.  You 
say  that  you  have  never  been  excommunicated  in  a  legal  way! 
Well,  you  will  not  say  that  any  longer,  for  I  excommunicate  you 
now  ])c'fore  this  whole  people." 

I  interrupted  him  and  said:  "  You  forget  that  you  have  no 
right  to  excommunicate  a  man  who  has  publicly  left  your  church 
long  ago." 

He  seemed  to  realize  that  he  had  made  a  fool  of  himself  in 
uttering  such  a  sentence,  and  stopped  speaking,  for  a  moment. 
Then,  recalling  his  lost  courage,  he  took  a  new  and  impressive 
manner  of  speaking.  He  told  the  people  how  their  friends, 
their  relatives,  their  very  dear  mothers  and  fathers,  in  Canada, 
were  weeping  over  their  apostacy.  He  spoke  for  a  time,  with 
great  earnestness,  of  the  desolation  of  all  those  who  loved  them, 
at  the  news  of   their  defection    from    their   holy  mother  church. 

Then,  resuming,  he  said: 

'"'■  My  dear  friends:  Please  tell  me  what  will  be  your  guide 
in  the  ways  of  God,  after  you  have  left  the  holy  church  of  your 
fathers,  the  church  of  your  country;  who  will  lead  you  in  the 
ways  of  God  ? " 

Those  words,  which  had  been  uttered  with  great  emphasis 
and  earnestness,  were  followed  by  a  most  complete  and  solemn 
silence.  Was  that  silence  the  result  of  a  profound  impression  made 
on  the  crowd,  or  was  it  the  silence  which  always  precedes  the 
storm?      I  could  not  say. 

But  I  must  confess  that,  though  I  had  not  lost  confidence  in 
God,  I  was  not  without  anxiety.  Though  silent  and  ardent 
prayers  were  going  to  the  mercy-seat,  from  my  heart,  I  felt  that 
that  poor  heart  was  troubled  and  anxious,  as  it   had  never  been 


SlA  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

before.  I  could  have  easily  answered  the  bishop  and  confound, 
ed  him,  in  a  few  words;  but  I  thought  that  it  was  much  better 
to  let  the  answer  and  rebuke  come  from  the  people. 

The  bishop,  hoping  that  the  long  and  strange  silence  was  a 
proof  that  he  had  successfully  touched  the  sensitive  chords  of  the 
hearts,  and  that  he  was  to  win  the  day,  exclaimed  a  second  time 
with  still  more  power  and  earnestness : 

"  My  dear  French  Canadian  friends:  I  ask  you,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  your  Saviour  and  mine,  in  the  name  of  your 
desolated  mothers,  fathers  and  friends,  who  are  weeping  along 
the  banks  of  your  beautiful  St.  Lawrence  River.  I  ask  it  in  the 
name  of  your  beloved  Canada!  Answer  me!  now  that  you  re- 
fuse to  obey  the  holy  Church  of  Rome,  who  will  guide  you  in 
the  ways  of  salvation?" 

Another  solemn  silence  followed  that  impassionate  and  earn- 
est appeal.  But  this  silence  was  not  to  be  long.  When  I  had 
invited  the  people  to  come  and  hear  the  bishop,  I  requested  them 
to  bring  their  Bibles.  Suddenly,  we  heard  the  voice  of  an  old 
farmer,  who,  raising  his  Bible  over  his  head,  with  his  two  hands, 
said: 

"  This  Bible  is  all  we  want  to  guide  us  in  the  ways  of  God. 
We  do  not  want  anything  but  the  pure  Word  of  God  to  teach 
us  what  we  must  do  to  be  saved.  As  for  you,  sir,  fou  had  better 
go  away  and  never  come  here  any  more." 

And  more  than  5,000  voices  said:  "Amen!"  to  that  simple 
and  yet  sublime  answer.  The  whole  crowd  filled  the  air  with 
cries:  "The  Bible!  the  Holy  Bible,  the  Holy  Word  of  God  is 
our  only  guide  in  the  ways  of  eternal  life!  Go  away,  sir,  and 
never  come  again !  " 

These  words,  time  and  again  repeated  by  the  thousands  of 
people  who  surrounded  the  platform,  fell  upon  the  poor  bishop's 
ears  as  formidable  claps  of  thunder.  They  were  ringing  as 
his  death  knell  in  his  ears.  The  battle  was  over,  and  he  had 
lost  it. 

Bathed  in  his  tears,  suffocated  by  his  sobs,  he  sat,  or  to  speak 
more  correctly,  he  fell  into  the  arm  chair,  and  I  feared,  at  first, 
lest  he  should  faint.      When  I  saw  that  he  was  recovering,  and 


SOLEMN    RESPONSIBILITIES.  815 

Strong  enough  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say,  I  stepped  to  the  front 
of  the  platform.  But  I  had  scarcely  said  two  words,  when  I  felt 
as  if  the  claws  of  a  tiger  were  on  my  shoulders.  I  turned  and 
found  that  it  was  the  clenched  fingers  of  the  bishop,  who  w^as 
shaking  me,  while  he  was  saying  with  a  furious  voice: 

"No!  no!  not  a  word  from  you." 

As  I  was  about  to  show  him  that  I  had  a  right  to  refute  what 
he  had  said,  my  eyes  fell  on  a  scene  which  baffles  all  description. 
Those  only  who  have  seen  the  raging  waves  of  the  sea,  sud- 
denly raised  by  the  hurricane,  can  have  an  idea  of  it.  The  peo- 
ple had  seen  the  violent  hand  of  the  bishop  raised  against  me, 
they  had  heard  his  insolent  and  furious  words  forbidding  me  to 
say  a  single  word  in  answer;  and  a  universal  cry  of  indignation 
was  heard : 

"The  infamous  wretch!  Down  with  him!  He  wants  to 
enslave  us  again!  he  denies  us  the  right  of  free  speech!  he  re- 
fuses to  hear  what  our  pastor  has  to  reply!     Down  with   him!" 

At  the  same  time,  a  rush  was  made  by  many  toward  the 
platform,  to  scale  it,  and  others  were  at  work  to  tear  it  down. 
That  whole  multitude,  absolutely  blinded  by  their  uncontrollable 
rage,  were  as  a  drunken  man  who  does  not  know  what  he  does. 
I  had  read  that  such  things  had  occurred  before,  but  I  hope  I 
shall  never  see  it  again.  I  rushed  to  the  head  of  the  stairs  and, 
with  great  difficulty,  repulsed  those  who  were  trying  to  lay  their 
hands  on  the  bishop.  In  vain,  I  raised  my  voice  to  calm  them, 
and  make  them  realize  the  crime  they  wanted  to  commit.  No 
voice  could  be  heard  in  the  midst  of  such  terrible  confusion.  It 
was  very  providential  that  we  had  built  the  scaffold  with 
strong  materials,  so  that  it  could  resist  the  first  attempt  to 
break  it. 

Happily,  we  had  in  our  midst  a  very  intelligent  young  man, 
called  Bechard,  who  was  held  in  great  esteem  and  respect.  His 
influence,  I  venture  to  say,  was  irresistible  over  the  people.  I 
called  him  to  the  platform,  and  requested  him,  in  the  name  of 
God,  to  appease  the  blind  fury  of  that  multitude.  Strange  to 
say,  his  presence,  and  a  sign  from  his  hand,  acted  like  magic. 

"Let  us  hear  what  Bechard  has  to  say,"  whispered  every  one 


8l6  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

to  his  neighbor,  and  suddenly,  the  most  profound  calm  succeeded 
the  most  awful  noise  and  confusion  I  had  ever  witnessed.  In  a 
few  appropriate  and  eloquent  words,  that  young  gentleman, 
showed  the  people  that,  far  from  being  angry,  they  ought  to  be 
glad  at  the  exhibition  of  the  tyranny  and  cowardice  of  the 
bishop.  Had  he  not  confessed  the  wickedness  of  his  address 
when  he  refused  to  hear  the  answer?  Had  he  not  confessed  that 
he  was  the  vilest  and  most  impudent  of  tyrants,  when  he  had 
come  into  their  very  midst  to  deny  them  the  sacred  i-ight  of 
speech  and  reply?  Had  he  not  proved,  before  God  and  man, 
that  they  had  done  well  to  reject,  forever,  the  authority  of  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  when  he  was  giving  them  such  an  unanswer- 
able proof  that  that  authority  meant  the  most  unbounded  tyranny 
on  his  part,  and  the  most  degraded  and  ignominious  moral  degra- 
dation on  the  part  of  his  blind  slaves." 

Seeing  that  they  were  anxious  to  hear  me;  I  then  told  them: 
"Instead  of  being  angry,  you  ought  to  bless  God  for  what 
you  have  heard  and  seen  from  the  Bishop  of  Chicago.  You 
have  heard:  and  you  are  witnesses  that  he  has  not  given  us  a 
single  argument  to  show  that  we  were  wrong,  when  we  give  up 
the  words  of  the  Pope  to  follow  the  Words  of  Christ.  Was  he 
not  right  when  he  told  you  that  there  was  no  need,  on  my  part, 
to  answer  him !  Dp  you  not  agree  that  there  was  nothing  to 
answer,  nothing  to  refute  in  his  long  address!  Has  not  our  mer- 
ciful God  brought  that  bishop  into  your  midst,  to-day,  to  show 
you  the  truthfulness  of  what  I  have  so  often  told  you,  that  there 
was  nothing  manly,  nothing  honest,  or  true  in  him?  Have  you 
heard  from  his  lips  a  single  word  which  could  have  come  from 
the  lips  of  Christ?  A  word  which  could  have  come  from  that 
great  God  who  so  loved  the  world  that  he  sent  his  eternal  Son 
to  save  it,  on  the  simple  condition  that  we  should  repent,  love 
and  trust  in  Him.  Was  there  a  single  sentence  in  all  you  have 
heard  which  would  remind  you  that  salvation  through  Christ 
was  a  gift?  that  eternal  life  was  a  free  gift  offered  to  all  those 
who  accepted  him  as  their  true  and  only  Saviour?  Have  you 
heard  anything  from  him  to  make  you  regret  that  you  are  no 
longer  his  obedient  and  abject  slaves?" 


EXCELLENT    TESTIMONIAL.  8l^ 

"No!  no!"   they  replied. 

"  Then,  instead  of  being  angry  with  that  man,  you  ought  t© 
thank  him  and  let  him  j^o  in  peace,"  I  added. 

"Yes!  yes!"  replied  the  people,  "  but  on  condition  that  he 
lihall  never  come  aj^ain." 

Then  Mons.  Bechard  stepped  to  the  front,  raised  his  hat,  and 
cried  with  his  powerful,  melodious  voice: 

"People  of  St.  Anne!  vou  have  just  gained  the  most  glori- 
ous victory  which  has  ever  been  won  by  a  people  against  their 
tyrants.  Hurrah  for  St.  Anne,  the  grave  of  the  tyranny  of  the 
Bishops  of  Rome  in  America!" 

That  whole  multitude,  filled  with  joy,  rent  the  air  with  the 
cry:  "Hurrah  for  St.  .\nne,  the  grave  of  the  tyranny  of  the 
Bishops  of  Rome  in  America!" 

I  then  turned  towards  the  jjoor  bishop  and  his  priests,  whose 
distress  and  fear  were  bevonil  ilescription,  and  tt)ld  them: 

"  You  see  that  the  people  forgive  you  the  indignity  of  your 
conduct,  by  not  allowing  me  to  answer  you;  but  I  coimsel  you 
not  to  repeat  that  insult  here.  Please  take  the  advice  they  gave 
you;  go  away  as  quickly  as  possible.  I  will  go  with  you  to  your 
carriage,  thnnigh  the  crowd,  and  I  pledge  myself  that  you  will 
be  safe,  provided  you  do  not  insult  them  again." 

Opening  their  ranks,  the  crowd  made  a  passage,  through 
which  I  led  the  bishop  and  his  long  suite  of  priests,  to  their  car- 
riages. 

This  was  done  in  a  most  profound  silence.  Only  a  few 
women  whispering  to  the  prelate,  as  he  was  hurrying  by: 

"  Away  with  you,  and  never  come  here  again.  Hencefor- 
ward we  follow  nothing  but  Christ." 

Crushed  by  waves  of  humiliation,  such  as  no  bishop  had  ever 
met  with  on  this  continent,  the  weight  of  the  ignominy  which 
he  had  reaped  in  our  midst  completel\'  overpowered  his  mind, 
and  ruined  him.  He  left  u>^  to  wander  every  day  nearer  the  re- 
gions of  lunacy.  That  bishop,  whose  beginning  had  been  so 
brilliant,  after  his  shameful  defeat  at  St.  Anne,  on  the  3rd  of 
August,  1858,  was  soon  to  end  his  broken  career  in  the  lunatic 
asylum  at  St.  Louis,  where  he  is  still  confined  to-day. 


Chapter  LXVII. 

BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  EVENTS  FROM  ICY  CON- 
VERSION TO  THIS  DAY— MY  NARROW  ESCAPES— THE  END  OF 
THE  VOYAGE  THROUGH  THE  DESERT  TO  THE  PROMISED 
LAND. 

THE  marvellous  powei-  of  the  Gospel  to  raise  a  man  above 
himself  and  give  him  a  supernatural  strength  and  w^isdora 
in  the  presence  of  the  most  formidable  difficulties  has  seldom 
been  more  gloriously  manifested  than  on  the  3rd  of  August, 
1858,  on  the  hill  of  St.  Anne,  Illinois. 

Surely  the  continent  ot  America  has  never  seen  a  more  ad- 
mirable transformation  of  a  whole  people  than  w^as,  then  and 
there,  accomplished.  With  no  other  help  than  the  reading  of 
the  Gospel,  that  people  had,  suddenly,  exchanged  the  chains  of 
the  most  abject  slavery  for  the  royal  scepter  of  Liberty  which 
Christ  offers  to  those  who  believe  in  Him! 

By  the  strength  of  their  faith  they  had  pulverized  the  gigan- 
tic power  of  Rome,  put  to  flight  the  haughty  representatives  of 
the  Pope,  and  had  raised  the  banners  of  Christian  Liberty  on 
the  very  spot  marked  by  the  bishop  as  the  future  citadel  of  the 
empire  of  Popery  in  the  United  States. 

Such  work  was  so  much  above  my  capacity,  so  much  above 
the  calculation  of  my  intelligence,  that  I  felt  that  1  was  more  its 
witness  than  its  instrument.  The  merciful  and  mighty  hand  of 
God  was  too  visible  to  let  any  other  idea  creep  into  my  mind; 
and  the  only  sentiments  which  filled  my  soul  were  those  of  an 
unspeakable  joy,  and  of  gratitude  to  God. 

But  I  felt  that  the  greater  the  favors  bestowed  upon  us  from 
heaven,  the  greater  were  the  responsibilities  of  my  new  position. 

The  news  of  that  sudden  religious  reformation  spread  with 
lightning  speed  all  over  the  continents  of  America  and  Europe, 
and  an  incredible  number  of  inquiring  letters  reached  me  from 
every  corner.  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  Congregationalists, 
Baptists,  and    Presbyterians,  of    every  rank   and  color,  kindly 

818 


MY     NARROW    ESCAPES.  819 

pressed  me  to  give  them  some  details.  Of  course,  those  letters 
were  often  accompanied  by  books  considered  the  most  apt  to 
induce  me  to  join  their  particular  denominations. 

Feeling  too  young  and  inexpert  in  the  ways  of  God  to  give  a 
correct  appreciation  of  the  Lord's  doings  among  us,  I  generally- 
answered  those  kind  enquirers  by  writing  them:  "Please  come 
and  see  with  your  own  eyes  the  marvellous  things  our  merciful 
God  is  doing  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  you  will  help  us  to  bles& 
him." 

In  less  than  six  months,  more  than  one  hundred  venerable 
ministers  of  Christ,  and  prominent  Christian  laymen  of  different 
denominations,  visited  us.  Among  those  who  first  honored  us 
with  their  presence  was  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Helmuth,  of  Lon- 
don, Canada;  then,  the  learned  Dean  of  Quebec,  so  well  known 
and  venerated  by  all  over  Great  Britain  and  Canada.  He  visited 
us  twice,  and  was  one  of  the  most  blessed  instruments  of  the 
mercies  of  God  towards  us. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  those  eminent  Christians,  without  any 
exception,  after  having  spent  from  one  to  twenty  days  in  study- 
ing for  themselves  this  new  religious  movement,  declared  that 
it  was  the  most  remarkable  and  solid  evangelical  reformation 
among  Roman  Catholics,  they  had  ever  seen.  The  Christians 
of  the  cities  of  Chicago,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  Boston,  etc.,  having  expressed  the  desire  to  hear 
from  me  of  the  doings  of  the  Lord  among  us,  I  addressed  them 
in  their  principal  churches,  and  was  received  with  such  marks  of 
kindness  and  interest,  for  which  I  shall  never  be  able  sufficiently 
to  thank  God. 

I  have  previously  said  that  we  had,  at  first,  adopted  the  beau- 
tiful name  of  Christian  Catholics,  but  we  soon  perceived  that  un- 
less we  joined  one  of  the  Christian  denominations  of  the  day,  we 
were  in  danger  of  forming  a  new  sect. 

After  many  serious  and  prayerful  considerations,  it  seemed 
that  the  wisest  thing  we  could  do  was  to  connect  ourselves  with 
that  branch  of  the  vine  which  was  the  nearest,  if  not  identical 
with  that  of  the  French  Protestants,  which  gave  so  many  mar- 
tyrs to  the  Ch*urch  of  Christ.     Accordingly,  it  was  our  privilege 


^90  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

to  be  admitted  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Uunited  States. 
The  Presbytery  of  Chicago  had  the  courtesy  to  adjourn  their 
meeting  from  that  city  to  our  humble  town,  on  tlie  15th  of  April, 
i860,  when  I  presented  them  with  the  names  of  nearly  2,000 
converts,  who,  with  myself,  were  received  into  full  communion 
with  the  Church  of  Christ. 

This  solemn  action  was  soon  followed  by  the  establishment 
of  missions  and  congregations  in  the  cities  and  towns  of  Chicago, 
Aurora,  Kankakee,  Middleport,  Watseka,  Momence,  Sterling, 
Manteno,  etc.,  where  the  light  of  the  Gospel  had  been  received 
by  large  numbers  of  our  French  Canadian  emigrants,  whom  I 
had  previously  visited. 

The  census  of  the  converts  taken  then  gave  us  about  6,500 
precious  scfuls  already  wrenched  from  the  iron  grasp  of  Popery. 
It  was  a  result  much  beyond  my  most  sanguine  hopes,  and  it 
would  be  difficult  to  express  the  joy  it  gave  me.  But  my  joy 
was  not  without  a  mixture  of  anxiety.  It  was  impossible  for  me, 
if  left  alone,  to  distribute  the  bread  of  life  to  such  multitudes, 
scattered  over  a  territory  of  several  hundred  miles.  I  determined, 
with  the  help  of  God,  to  raise  a  college,  where  the  chil- 
dren of  our  converts  would  be  prepared  to  preach  the 
Gospel. 

Thirty-two  of  our  young  men,  having  offered  themselves,  I 
added,  at  once,  to  my  other  labors,  the  daily  task  of  teaching 
them  the  preparatory  course  of  study  for  their  future  evangeli- 
cal work. 

That  year  (i860)  had  been  chosen  by  Scotland  to  celebrate 
the  tercentenary  aniversary  of  her  Reformation.  The  committee 
•of  management,  composed  of  Dr.  Guthrie,  Professor  Cun- 
ningham and  Dr.  Begg,  invited  me  to  attend  their  general  meet- 
ings in  Edinburgh.  On  the  16th  of  August,  it  was  my  privi- 
lege to  be  presented  by  those  venerable  men  to  one  of  the  grand- 
est and  noblest  assemblies  which  the  Church  of  Christ  has  ever 
seen.  After  the  close  of  that  great  council,  which  I  addressed 
twice,  I  was  invited,  during  the  next  six  months,  to  lecture  in 
jrreat  Britain,  France  and  Switzerland,  and  to  raise  the  funds 
necessary  for  our  college.      It  is  durinor  that  tour  that  I  had    the 


MY     NARROW    ESCAPES.  bar 

privilege  of  addressing,  at  St.  Etienne,  the  Synod  of  the  Free 
Protestant  Church  of  France,  lately  established  through  the  in- 
domitable energy  and  ardent  piety  of  the  Rev.  Felix  Monod. 

Those  six  months'  efforts  were  crowned  with  the  most  com- 
plete success,  and  more  than  $15,000  were  handed  me  for  our 
college,  by  the  disciples  of  Christ. 

But  it  w^as  the  will  of  God  that  1  should  pass  through  the 
purifying  fires  of  the  greatest  tribulations.  On  my  return  from 
Europe  into  my  colony,  in  the  beginning  of  1861,  I  found  every- 
thing in  confusion.  The  ambition  of  the  young  men  I  had  in- 
vited to  preach  in  my  place,  and  in  whom  I  had  so  imprudently- 
put  too  much  confidence,  encouraged  by  the  very  man  I  had 
chosen  for  my  representative  and  my  attorney  during  my  ab- 
sence, came  very  near  ruining  that  evangelical  work,  by  sowing 
the  seeds  of  division  and  hatred  among  our  dear  converts. 
Through  the  dishonest  and  false  reports  of  those  two  men,  the 
money  I  had  collected  and  left  in  England,  (in  the  hands  of  a 
gentleman  who  was  bound  to  send  it  at  mv  order)  was  retained 
nearly  two  years,  and  lost  in  the  failure  of  the  Gelpeck  New 
York  Bank,  through  which  it  was  sent.  The  only  way  we  found 
to  save  ourselves  from  ruin,  was  to  throw  ourselves  into  the  hands 
of  our  Christian  brothers  of  Canada. 

A  committee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  composed  of  Rev's. 
Dr.  Kemp,  Dr.  Cavan  and  Mr.  Scott,  was  sent  to  investigate  the 
cause  of  our  trouble,  and  they  soon  found  them. 

Dr.  Kemp  published  a  critical  resume  of  their  investigation, 
which  clearly  showed  where  the  trouble  lay.  Our  integrity  and 
innocence  were  publicly  acknowleged,  and  we  were  solemnly 
and  officially  received  as  members  of  the  Presbvterian  Church 
of  Canada,  on  the  iith  of  June,  1S63. 

We  may  properly  acknowledge  here  that  the  Christian  de- 
votedness,  the  admirable  ability  and  zeal  of  the  late  Dr.  Kemp  in 
performance  of  that  work,  has  secured  to  him  our  eternal  gratitude. 

In  1874,  ^  ^^^  again  invited  to  Great  Britain  \fy  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  prepare  the  congratulatory  address  of  the 
English  people  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany  and  Bismark,  for 
their  noble  resistance  to  the  encroachments  of   Popery.     I  ad- 


822  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF     ROME. 

dressed  the  meetings  held  for  that  purpose  in  Exter  Hall,  under 
the  Presidency  of  Lord  John  Russell,  on  the  37th  of  January, 
1874.  The  next  day,  several  Gospel  ministers  pressed  me  to 
publish  my  twenty-five  years'  experience  of  auricular  confession, 
as  an  antidote  to  the  criminal  and  too  successful  efforts  of  Dr. 
Pusey,  who  wanted  to  restore  that  infamous  practice  among  the 
Protestants  of  England. 

After  much  hesitation  and  many  prayers,  I  wrote  the  book 
entitled:  "The  Priest,  the  Woman  and  the  Confessional," 
which  God  has  so  much  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  many,  that 
twenty-nine  editions  have  already  been  published.  It  has  been 
translated  into  many  languages. 

I  spent  the  next  six  months  in  lecturing  on  Romanism  in  the 
principal  cities  of  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

On  my  return,  pressed  by  the  Canadian  Church  to  leave  my 
colony  of  Illinos,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  preach  in  Canada,  I  went 
to  Montreal,  where,  in  the  short  space  of  four  years,  we  had  the 
unspeakable  joy  of  seeing  seven  thousand  French  Canadian  Ro- 
man Catholics  and  emigrants  from  France,  publicly  renounce 
the  errors  of  Popery,  to  follow  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

In  1878,  exhausted  by  the  previous  years  of  incessant  labors, 
I  was  advised,  by  my  physicians,  to  breathe  the  bracing  air  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  I  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  spent  two 
months  lecturing  in  San  Francisco,  Portland,  Oregon,  and  in 
Washington  Territory,  where  I  found  great  numbers  of  my 
French  countrymen,  many  of  whom  received  the  Gospel  with  joy. 

Under  the  auspices  and  protection  of  my  Orange  brethren,  I 
crossed  the  Pacific  and  went  to  the  Antipodes,  lecturing  two 
years  in  Australia,  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand.  It  would  re- 
quire a  large  volume  to  tell  the  great  mercies  of  God  towards 
me  during  that  long,  perilous,  but  interesting  voyage.  During 
those  two  years,  I  gave  610  public  lectures,  and  came  back  to  my 
colony  of  St.  Anne  with  such  perfectly  restored  health,  that  I 
could  say  with  the  Psalmist:  "Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  thy 
youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle's." 

But  the  reader  has  the  right  to  know  something  of  the  dan- 
gers through  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  make  me  pass. 


MY     NARROW    ESCAPES.  S23 

Rome  is  tne  same  to-day  as  she  was  when  she  burned  John 
Huss  and  Wishart,  and  when  she  caused  70,000  Protestants  to  be 
slaughtered  in  France,  and  100,000  to  be  exterminated  in 
Piedmont  and  Italy. 

On  the  31st  of  December,  1S69,  I  forced  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Bishop  Foley,  of  Chicago,  to  swear  before  the  civil  court,  at 
Kankakee,  that  the  following  sentence  was  on  exact  translation 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  taught  to-day  in  all 
the  Roman  Catholic  seminaries,  colleges  and  universities,  through 
the  " Summa  Theologica"  of  Thomas  Aquinas  (vol.  4,  p.  90), 
"Though  heretics  must  not  be  tolerated  because  they  deserve  it, 
we  must  bear  with  them,  till  by  a  second  admonition,  they  may 
be  brought  back  to  the  faith  of  the  church.  But  those  who, 
after  a  second  admonition,  remain  obstinate  to  their  errors,  must 
not  only  be  excommunicated,  but  they  must  be  delivered  to  the 
secular  power  to  be  exterminated." 

It  is  on  account  of  this  law  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which 
is  to-day,  in  full  force,  as  it  was  promulgated  for  the  first  time, 
that  not  less  than  thirty  public  attempts  have  been  made  to  kill 
me  since  my  conversion. 

The  first  time  I  visited  Quebec,  in  the  spring  of  1S59,  fifty 
men  were  sent  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec  (Baillargeon)  to  force 
me  to  swear  that  I  would  never  preach  the  Bible,  or  to  kill  me 
in  case  of  my  refusal. 

At  4  o'clock,  a.  m.,  sticks  were  raised  above  my  head,  a 
dagger  stuck  in  my  breast,  and  the  cries  of  the  furious  mob  were 
ringing  in  my  ears: 

"Infamous  apostate!.  Now  you  are  in  our  hands,  you  are  a 
dead  man,  if  you  do  not  swear  that  you  will  never  preach  your 
accursed  Bible." 

Never  had  I  seen  such  furious  men  around  me.  Their  eyes 
were  more  like  the  eyes  of  tigers  than  of  men.  I  expected,  every 
moment,  to  receive  the  deadly  blow,  and  I  asked  my  Saviour  to 
come  and  receive  my  soul.  But  the  would-be  murderers,  with 
more  horrible  imprecations  cried  again : 

"  Infamous  renegade!  Swear  that  you  will  never  preach  any 
more  your  accursed  Bible,  or  you  are  a  dead  man!" 


824  FIFTY     VKAKS    IX     THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

I  raised  my  eyes  and  hands  towards  heaven,  and  said:  "  Oh! 
my  God!  hear  and  bless  the  last  words  of  thy  poor  servant:  I 
solemnly  swear,  that  so  long  as  my  tongue  can  speak,  I  will 
preach  thy  Word,  as  I  find  it  in  the  Holy  Bible! " 

Then  opening  my  vest  and  presenting  my  naked  breast,  I  said : 

"Now!     Strike!" 

But  my  God  was  there  to  protect  me :  they  did  not  strike.  I 
went  through  their  ranks  into  the  streets,  where  I  found  a  carter, 
who  drove  me  to  Mr.  Hall,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  for  that  day. 
I  showed  him  my  bleeding  breast,  and  said : 

"I  just  escaped,  almost  miraculously,  from  the  hands  of  men 
sworn  to  kill  me,  if  I  preach  again  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  I  am^ 
however,  determined  to  preach  again  to-day,  at  noon,  even  if  I 
have  to  die  in  the  attempt."  I  put  myself  under  the  protection 
of  the  British  flag. 

Soon  after,  more  than  1,000  British  soldiers  were  around  me, 
with  fixed  bayonets.  They  formed  themselves  into  two  lines 
along  the  streets,  through  which  the  mayor  took  me,  in  his  own 
sleigh,  to  the  lecture  room.  I  could  then  deliver  my  address  on 
"The  Bible,"  to  at  least  10,000  people,  who  were  crowded  inside 
and  outside  the  walls  of  the  large  building.  After  this,  I  had 
the  joy  of  distributing  between  five  and  six  hundred  Bibles  to 
that  multitude,  who  received  them  as  thirsty  and  hungry  people 
receive  fresh  water  and  pure  bread,  after  many  days  of  starvation. 

I  have  been  stoned  20  times.  The  principal  places  in  Can- 
ada where  I  was  struck  and  wounded,  and  almost  miraculously 
escaped,  were:  Quebec,  Montreal,  Ottawa,  Charlotte  Town, 
Halifax,  Antigonish,  etc.  In  the  last  mentioned,  on  the  loth  of 
July,  1873,  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  P.  Goodfellow,  standing  by  me 
when  going  out  of  his  church,  was  also  struck  several  times  by 
stones  which  missed  me.  At  last,  his  head  was  so  badly  cut, 
that  he  fell  on  the  ground  bathed  in  blood.  I  took  him  up  in 
my  arms,  though  wounded  and  bleeding  myself.  We  would 
surely  have  been  slaughtered  there,  had  not  a  noble  Scotchman, 
named  Cameron,  opened  the  door  of  his  house,  at  the  peril  of 
his  own  life,  to  give  us  shelter  against  the  assassins  of  the  Pojje. 
The  mob,  furious  that  we  had    escaped,  broke  the  windows  and 


MY    NARROW    ESCAPES.  825 

beseiged  the  house  from  lo  a.  m.  till  3  next  morning.  Many 
times,  they  threatened  to  set  fire  to  Mr.  Cameron's  house,  if  he 
did  not  deliver  me  into  their  hands  to  be  hung.  They  were 
prevented  from  doing  so,  only  from  fear  of  burning  the  whole 
town,  composed  in  part,  of  their  own  dwellings.  Several  times, 
they  put  long  ladders  against  the  walls,  with  the  hope  of  reach- 
ing the  upper  rooms,  where  they  could  find  and  kill  their  victim. 

All  this  was  done  under  the  very  eyes  of  five  or  six  priests, 
who  were  only  at  a  distance  of  a  few  rods. 

At  Montreal,  in  the  winter  of  1S70,  one  evening,  coming  out 
of  Cote  Street  Church,  where  I  had  preached,  accompanied  bv 
Principal  MacVicar,  we  fell  into  a  kind  of  ambuscade,  and  re- 
ceived a  volley  of  stones  which  would  have  seriously,  if  not 
fatally,  injured  the  doctor,  had  he  not  been  protected  from  head 
to  foot  by  a  thick  fur  cap  and  overcoat,  worn  in  the  cold  days  of 
winter  in  Canada. 

After  a  lecture  given  at  Paramenta,  near  Sydney,  Australia, 
I  was  again  attacked  with  stones  by  the  Roman  Catholics.  One 
struck  my  left  leg  with  such  force  that  I  thought  it  was  broken, 
and  was  lame  for  several  days. 

In  New  South  Wales,  Australia,  I  was  beaten  with  whips 
and  sticks,  which  left  marks  upon  my  shoulders. 

At  Horsham,  in  the  same  Province,  on  the  istof  April,  1879, 
the  Romanists  took  possession  of  the  church  where  I  was  speak- 
ing, rushed  toward  me  with  daggers  and  pistols,  crving: 

"Kill  him!     Kill  him!" 

In  the  tumult,  I  providentially  escaped  through  a  secret  door. 
But  I  had  to  crawl  on  hands  and  knees  a  pretty  long  distance,  in 
a  ditch  filled  with  mud,  not  to  be  seen,  and  escape  death.  When 
I  reached  the  hospitable  house  of  Mr.  Cameron,  the  windows 
were  broken  with  stones,  much  of  the  furniture  destroyed,  and 
it  was  a  wonder  I  escaped  with  my  life. 

At  Ballarat,  in  the  same  province,  three  times  the  houses  where 
I  lodged,  were  attacked  and  broken.  Rev.  Mr.  Inglis,  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  ministers  of  the  city,  was  one  of  the  many  who 
were  wounded  by  my  side.  The  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Quick  came 
also  nearly  being  killed  while  I  was  under  their  hospitable  roor. 


S26  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

In  the  same  city,  as  I  was  waiting  for  the  train  at  the  station, 
a  well  dressed  lady  came  as  near  as  possible  and  spat  in  my  face. 
I  was  blinded,  and  my  face  covered  with  filth.  She  immediately 
fled,  but  was  soon  brought  back  by  my  secretary  and  a  police- 
man, who  said: 

"  Here  is  the  miserable  woman  who  has  just  insulted  you, 
what  shall  we  do  with  her  ? " 

I  was  then  almost  done  cleaning  my  face  with  my  handker- 
chief, and  some  water,  brought  by  some  sympathizing  friends. 
I  answered: 

"Let  her  go  home  in  peace.  She  has  not  done  it  of  her  own 
accord,  she  was  sent  by  her  confessor,  she  thinks  she  has  done  a 
good  action.  When  they  spat  in  our  Saviour's  face,  he  did  not 
punish  those  who  insulted  him.  We  must  follow  his  example." 
And  she  was  set  at  liberty,  to  the  great  regret  of  the  crowd. 

The  very  next  day  (21st  of  April),  at  Castlemain,  I  wa» 
again  fiercely  attacked  and  wounded  on  the  head,  as  I  came  from 
addressing  the  people.  One  of  the  ministers,  who  was  standing 
by  me,  was  seriously  wounded  and  lost  much  blood. 

At  Greelong,  I  had  again  a  very  narrow  escape  from  stone* 
thrown  at  me  in  the  streets. 

In  1S70,  while  lecturing  in  Melbourne,  the  splendid  capital 
of  Victoria,  Australia,  I  received  a  letter  from  Tasmania,  signed 
by  twelve  ministei's  of  the  Gospel,  saying: 

"We  are  much  in  need  of  you  here,  for  though  the  Protest- 
ants are  in  the  majority,  they  leave  the  administration  of  the 
country  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  Roman  Catholics,  who 
rule  us  with  an  iron  rod.  The  Governor  is  a  Roman  Catholic, 
etc.  We  wish  to  have  you  among  us,  though  we  do  not  dare  to 
invite  you  to  come.  For  we  know  that  your  liie  will  be  in 
danger,  day  and  night,  while  in  Tasmania.  The  Roman  Cath- 
olics have  sworn  to  kill  you,  and  we  have  too  many  reasons  to 
fear  that  they  will  fulfill  their  promises.  But,  though  we  do  not 
dare  ask  you  to  come,  we  assure  you  that  there  is  a  great  work 
for  you  here,  and  that  we  will  stand  by  you  with  our  people.  If 
you  fall,  you  will  not  fall  alone." 

I  answered:  "  Are  we  not  soldiers  of  Christ, and  must  we  aat 


MY    NARROW    ESCAPES.  827 

be  ready  and  willing  to  die  for  him,  as  he  died  for  us?   I  will  go."' 

On  the  25th  of  June,  as  I  was  delivering  my  first  lecture  in 
Hobart  Town,  the  Roman  Catholics,  with  the  approbation  of 
their  bishop,  broke  the  door  of  the  hall,  and  rushed  towards  me, 
crying:  "Kill  him!  kill  him!"  The  mob  was  only  a  few  feet 
from  me,  brandishing  their  daggers  and  pistols,  when  the  Pro- 
testants threw  themselves  between  them  and  me,  and  a  furious 
hand-to-hand  fight  occurred,  during  which  many  wounds  were 
received  and  given.  The  soldiers  of  the  Pope  were  overpowered, 
but  the  Governor  had  to  put  the  city  under  martial  law  for  four 
days,  and  call  the  whole  militia  to  save  my  life  from  the  assa^ 
sins  drilled  by  the  priests. 

In  a  dark  night,  as  I  was  leaving  the  steamer  to  take  the 
train,  on  the  Ottawa  River,  Canada,  twice,  the  bullets  of  the  mur- 
derers whistled  at  no  more  than  two  or  three  inches  from  my  ears. 

Severals  times,  in  Montreal  and  Halifax,  the  churches  where 
I  was  preaching  were  attacked  and  the  windows  broken  by  the 
mobs  sent  by  the  priests,  and  several  of  my  friends  were 
wounded  (two  of  whom,  I  believe,  died  from  the  effects  of  their 
wounds)  whilst  defending  me. 

The  17th  of  June,  1SS4,  ^^ter  I  had  preached,  in  Quebec,  on 
the  text:  "  What  would  I  do  to  have  Eternal  Life,"  a  mob  of 
more  than  1,500  Roman  Catholics,  led  by  two  priests,  broke  the 
windows  of  the  church,  and  attacked  me  with  stones,  with  the 
evident  object  to  kill  me.  More  than  one  hundred  stones  struck 
me,  and  I  would  surely  have  been  killed  there,  had  I  not  had, 
providentially,  two  heavy  overcoats  which  I  put,  one  around  my 
head,  and  the  other  around  my  shoulders.  Notwithstanding 
that  protection,  I  was  so  much  bruised  and  wounded  from  head 
to  feet,  that  I  had  to  spend  the  three  lollowiug  weeks  on  a  bed 
of  suffering,  between  life  and  death.  A  young  friend,  Zotique 
Lefebre,  who  had  heroically  put  himself  between  my  would-be 
assassin  and  me,  escaped  only  after  receiving  six  bleeding  wounds 
in  the  face. 

The  same  year,  1884,  in  the  month  of  November,  I  was  at- 
t&CKed  with  stones  and  struck  several  times,  when  preaching  and 
in  coming  out  from  the  church  in  the  city  of  Montreal.  Numbers 


FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

of  policemen  and  other  friends  who  came  to  my  rescue  were 
wounded,  my  life  was  saved  only  by  an  organization  of  a  thous- 
and young  men,  who,  under  the  name  of  Protestant  Guard, 
wrenched  me  from  the  hands  of  the  would-be  murderers. 

When  the  bishops  and  priests  saw  that  it  was  so  difficult  to 
put  me  out  of  the  way  with  stones,  sticks  ond  daggers,  they  de- 
termined to  destroy  my  character  by  calumnies,  spread  every- 
where, and  sworn  before  civil  tribunals  as  gospel  truths. 

During  eighteen  years,  they  kept  me  in  the  hands  of  the 
sheriffs,  a  prisoner,  under  bail,  as  a  criminal.  Thirty-two  times, 
my  name  has  been  called  before  the  civil  and  criminal  courts  of 
Kankakee,  Joliet,  Chicago,  Urbana  and  Montreal,  among  the 
names  of  the  vilest  and  most  criminal  of  men. 

I  have  been  accused  by  Grand  Vicar  Mailloux  of  having 
killed  a  man  and  thrown  his  body  into  a  river  to  conceal  my 
crime.  I  have  been  accused  of  having  set  fire  to  the  church  of 
Bourbonnais  and  destroyed  it.  Not  less  than  seventy-two  false 
witnesses  have  been  brought  by  the  priests  of  Rome  to  support 
this  last  accusation. 

But  thanks  be  to  God,  at  every  time,  from  the  very  lips  of 
the  perjured  witnesses,  we  got  the  proof  that  they  were  swear- 
ing falsely,  at  the  instigation  of  their  father  confessors.  And 
my  innocence  was  proved  by  the  very  men  who  had  been  paid 
to  destroy  me.  In  this  last  suit,  I  thought  it  was  my  duty  as  a 
Christian  and  citizen,  to  have  one  of  those  priests  punished  for 
having  so  cruelly  and  publicly  trampled  under  his  feet  the  most 
sacred  laws  of  society  and  religion.  Without  any  vengeance  on 
my  part,  God  knows  it,  I  asked  the  protection  of  my  country 
against  those  incessant  plots.  Father  Brunei,  found  guilty  of 
having  invented  those  calumnies  and  supported  them  by  false 
witnesses,  was  condemned  <^o  pay  $2,500  or  go  to  gaol  for  four- 
teen years.  He  preferred  the  last  punishment,  having  the 
promise  from  his  Roman  Catholic  friends  that  they  would 
break  the  doors  of  the  prison  and  let  him  go  free  to  some  re- 
mote place.  He  was  incarcerated  at  Kankakee ;  but  on  a  dark 
and  stormy  night,  six  months  later,  he  was  rescued,  and  fled  to 
Montreal  (900  miles).     There,  he   made   the   Roman   CatholicB 


MY    NARROW    ESCAPES.  Szl, 

believe  that  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  dressed  in  a  beautiful 
white  robe,  had  come  in  person  to  open,  for  him,  the  gates  of 
the  prison. 

I  do  not  mention  these  facts  here,  to  create  bad  feelings 
against  the  poor  blind  slaves  of  the  Pope.  It  is  only  to  show  to 
the  world  that  the  Church  of  Rome  of  to-day  is  absolutely  the 
same  as  when  she  reddened  Europe  with  the  blood  of  millions 
of  martyrs. 

My  motive  in  speaking  of  those  murderous  attacks  is  to  in- 
duce the  readers  to  help  me  to  bless  God  who  has  so  mercifully 
saved  me  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  More  than  any  living 
man,  I  can  say  with  the  old  prophet:  "  The  Lord  is  my  Shep- 
herd, 1  shall  not  want."  With  Paul,  I  could  often  say:  "We 
are  troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed.  We  are  per- 
plexed, but  not  in  despair:  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken,  cast 
down,  but  not  destroyed:  always  bearing  about  in  the  body 
the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus,  might  be 
manifest  in  our  body." 

Those  constant  persecutions,  far  from  hindering  the  onward 
march  of  the  evangelical  movement  to  which  I  have  consecrated 
my  life,  seem  to  have  given  it  a  new  impulse  and  a  fresher  life. 
I  have  even  remarked  that  the  very  day  after  I  had  been  bruised 
and  wounded,  the  number  of  converts  had  invariably  increased. 
I  will  never  forget  the  day,  after  the  terrible  night  when  more 
than  a  thousand  Roman  Catholics  had  come  to  stone  me,  and  on 
which  I  had  received  a  severe  wound,  more  than  one  hundred  of 
my  countrymen  asked  me  to  enroll  their  names  under  the  banner 
of  the  Gospel  and  publicly  sent  their  recantation  of  the  errors  of 
Rome  to  the  bishop.  To-day,  the  Gospel  of  Christ  is  advancing 
with  an  irresistible  power  among  the  French  Canadians  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Oceans.  We  find  numbers  of  con- 
verts in  almost  every  town  and  city  from  New  York  to  San 
Francisco.  Rallied  around  the  banners  of  Christ,  they  form  a 
large  army  of  fearless  soldiers  of  the  Cross.  Among  those  con- 
verts, we  count  now  twenty-five  priests,  and  more  than  fifty 
joung  zealous  ministers  born  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 

In  hundreds  of  places,  the  Church  of  Rome   has   lost   her 


830  FIFTY    YEARS    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    ROME. 

past  prestige,  and  the  priests  are  looked  upon  with  indifference, 
if  not  contempt,  even  by  those  who  have  not  yet  accepted  the 
light. 

A  very  remarkable  religious  movement  has  also  been  lately 
inaugurated  among  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics,  under  the  lead- 
ership of  Rev'ds.  O'Connor  and  Quinn,  which  promises  to 
keep  pace  with,  if  not  exceed  the  progress  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  French. 

To-day,  more  than  ever,  we  hear  the  Good  Master's  voice: 
"  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the  fields,  for  they  are  white 
already  to  harvest." 

Oh!  may  the  day  soon  come  when  all  my  countrymen  will 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Lamb  and  come  to  wash  their  robes  in  his 
blood!  Will  I  see  the  blessed  hour  when  the  dark  night  in 
which  Rome  keeps  my  dear  Canada  will  be  exchanged  for  the 
bright  and  saving  light  of  the  Gospel.'' 

At  all  events,  I  cannot  but  bless  God  for  what  mine  eye* 
have  seen  and  mine  ears  have  heard  of  his  mercy  towards  mv 
and  my  countrymen.  From  my  infancy  he  has  taken  me  int^ 
his  arms  and  led  me  most  mercifully,  through  ways  I  did  not 
know,  from  the  darkest  regions  of  superstition,  to  the  blessed 
regions  of  light,  truth  and  life! 

From  the  day  he  granted  me  to  read  his  divine  word  on  my 
dear  mother's  knees,  to  the  hour  He  came  to  me  as  "  the  Gift  of 
God,"  He  has  not  let  a  single  day  pass  without  speaking  to  me 
some  of  His  warning  and  saving  words.  I  have  not  always  paid 
sufficient  attention  to  His  sweet  voice,  I  confess  it  to  my  shame. 
My  mind  was  so  filled^ with  the  glittering  sophisms  of  Rome, 
that  many  times  I  refused  to  yield  to  the  still  voice  which  was 
almost  night  and  day  heard  in  my  soul.  But  my  God  was  not 
repelled  by  my  infidelities,  as  the  reader  will  find  in  this 
book.  When  driven  away  in  the  morning.  He  came  back  in  the 
silent  hours  of  the  night.  For  more  than  twenty-five  years. 
He  forced  me  to  see  as  a  priest,  the  abominations  which  exist 
inside  the  walls  of  the  modern  Babylon,  I  may  say.  He  took  me 
by  the  lock  of  mine  head,  as  He  did  with  the  prophet  of  old, 
and  said : 


MY    NARROW     ESCAPES.  831 

"  Son  of  man,  lift  up  thine  ejes  now  the  way  towards  the  North  and 
behold,  northward  at  the  gate  of  the  altar,  this  image  of  Jealousy  in  the  entry. 
He  said  furthermore  unto  me :  Son  of  man,  seest  thou  what  they  do,  even 
the  great  abominations  that  the  house  of  Israel  committeth  here,  that  I  should 
go  far  off  from  my  sanctuary?  But  turn  thee  yet  again,  and  thou  shalt  see 
greater  abominations.  And  he  brought  me  to  the  door  of  the  court;  and 
when  I  looked,  behold  a  hole  in  the  wall.  Then  said  he  unto  me,  son  of  man, 
dig  now  in  the  wall ;  and  when  I  had  digged  in  the  wall,  and  behold  the 
wicked  abominations  that  they  do  here.  So  I  went  and  saw;  and  behold 
every  form  of  creeping  things,  and  abominable  beasts  and  all  the  idols  of  the 
house  of  Israel,  portrayed  upon  the  walls  round  about.  And  there  stood  be- 
fore them  seventy  men  of  the  ancients  of  the  house  of  Israel,  and  in  the 
midst  of  them  stood  Zaazaniah,  the  son  of  Shaphan,  with  every  man  his 
censer  in  his  hand ;  and  a  thick  cloud  of  incense  went  up. 

"  Then  said  he  unto  me :  Son  of  man,  hast  thou  seen  what  the  ancients 
of  the  house  of  Israel  do  in  the  dark,  every  man  in  the  chambers  of  his  ima- 
gery.-' for  they  say  the  Lord  has  forsaken  the  earth.  He  said  also  unto  me: 
turn  the  yet  again,  and  thou  shalt  see  greater  abominations  than  they  do. 
Then  he  brought  me  to  the  door  of  the  gate  of  the  Lord ;  and,  behold,  there 
sat  women  weeping  for  Tammuz. 

"Then  said  he  unto  me:  Hast  thou  seen  this,  O  son  of  man.'  Turn  thee 
yet  again,  and  thou  shalt  see  greater  abominations  than  these.  And  he 
brought  me  into  the  inner  court  of  the  Lord's  house,  and,  behold,  at  the 
temple  of  the  Lord,  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  were  about  five  and 
twenty  men,  with  their  backs  towards  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  their 
faces  toward  the  east;  and  they  worshipped  the  sun  toward  the  east. 

"  Then  he  said  vmto  me :  Hast  thou  seen  this,  O  son  of  man .'  Is  it  a  light 
thing  to  the  house  of  Judah  that  they  commit  the  abominations  which  they 
commit  here.'  for  they  have  filled  the  land  with  violence  and  have  returned 
to  provoke  me  into  anger ;  and  lo !  they  put  the  branch  to  their  nose.  There- 
fore, will  I  also  deal  in  fury ;  mine  eyes  shall  not  spare,  neither  will  I  have 
pity;  and  they  cry  in  mine  ears,  with  a  loud  voice,  yet  will  I  not  hear 
them."     (Ezek.  S.) 

I  can  sav  with  John : 

"  One  of  the  seven  angels  said  unto  me:  I  will  show  unto  thee  the  judg^ 
ment  of  the  great  whore  that  sitteth  upon  many  waters ;  with  whom  the  kings 
of  the  earth  have  committed  fornication,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  have 
been  made  drunk  with  the  wine  of  her  fornications.  So  he  carried  me  away 
into  the  wilderness ;  and  I  saw  a  woman  sit  upon  a  scarlet  colored  beast  full 
of  names  of  blasphemy  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  And  the  woman 
was  arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet  color,  and  decked  with  gold  and  precious 
stones  and  pearls,  having  a  golden  cup  in  her  hand  full  of  abominations  and 
fillhiness  of  her  fornication:  and  upon  her  forhead  was  a  name  written: 
'  Mystery,  Babylon,  the  Great,  the  mother  of  the  harlots  and  abomination* 


$7.2  FIFTY    YEARS    IN     THE     CHURCH    OK     KOMK. 

of  the  earth.'  And  I  saw  the  woman  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints, 
and  ^dth  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus ;  and  when  I  saw  her  I  wondered 
with  great  admiration."     (Rev.  17.) 

And  after  the  Lord  had  shown  ine  all  these  ahominations,  he 
took  me  out  as  the  eagle  takes  his  young  ones  on  his  wings. 
He  brought  me  into  his  beautiful  and  beUn  ed  Zion  and  he  set 
mv  feet  on  the  rock  of  my  salvation.  There,  he  quenched  my 
thirst  with  the  pure  waters  which  flow  from  the  fountains  of 
eternal  life,  and  he  gave  me  to  eat  the  true  bread  which  comes 
from  heaven. 

Oh!  that  I  might  go  all  over  the  world,  through  this  book, 
and  say  with  the  psalmist:  "Come,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I 
will  declare  what  he  hath  done  for  my  soul. 

Let  all  the  children  of  (lod  who  will  read  this  book  lend  me 
their  tongues  to  praise  the  Lord.  Let  them  lend  me  their  hearts, 
to  love  him.  For,  alone,  I  cannot  praise  him,  I  cannot  love  him 
as  he  deserves.  When  I  look  upon  the  seventv-eight  years  which 
have  passed  over  me,  mv  heart  leaps  for  joy,  for  I  find  myself 
at  the  end  of  trials.      I  have  nearly  crossed  the  desert. 

Only  the  narrow  stream  of  Jordan  is  between  me  and  the 
new  Jerusalem.  I  alreadv  hear  the  great  voice  out  of  heaven, 
saying:  ''Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  Ood  is  with  men,  and  he 
will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  he  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes;  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crving,  neither  shall  there  be  any 
more  pain;  for  the  former  things  have  passed  away.  Me  that 
overcometh  shall  inherit  all  things."      (Rev.  21:34.) 

Rich  w'ith  the  unspeakable  gift  which  has  been  given  me, 
and  pressing  my  dear  Bible  to  my  heart,  as  the  richest  treasure, 
I  hasten  my  steps  with  an  unspeakable  jov  toward  the  Land  of 
Promise.  Lalready  hear  the  angel's  voice  telling  me:  "Come: 
the  Master  calls  thee!" 

A  few  days  more  and  the  bridegroom  will  say  to  my  soul : 
"Surely  I  come  quickly."  And  I  will  answer:  "Even  so,  come 
Lord  Jesus."     Amkn. 


^ 


:r  ■    ^    p  J..:.-.V-     J.  .■■  V-<>Tt."-    ■■.  "    '.    'Jo     .  ,      '  ^' 


-.J-  ^•'  - 


f<i5bv:r 


:^.^- 


J^^v 


A: 


,r  ■'.-*<,  >>*, 


;:':v^' 


j. 


•^:x^.^ 


x^;n.v 


